My goals were to get something better looking than the stock steel wheels and not see a decrease in MPGs. I really wanted to go 16 or 17 inch but the wheel and tire weights were more than stock so I stayed with 15". I had a hard time deciding between the Konig Feather and Konig Zero-In so I ordered one of each from Discount Tire to see what they looked like on the car. Sorry for the crappy pics, just took them with my phone. From what other people have posted, the stock steel wheel weighs 15.4 pounds. Hopefully the pics work... The 15X16.5 Feather weighed in at just under 12 pounds. The 15X16.5 Zero-In weighed in at 14 pounds. After putting both wheels on the car I liked the Zero-In better as it had the red stripe inside and the black looks better with tinted windows and other black accents on the car. I shipped the Feather back to Discount Tire with no hassles. The one thing I really liked about the Feather is that it only had one set of holes for the studs compared to the Zero-In that had two sets. Stock steel wheel and tire combo weighed a little over 30 pounds. I wrapped the wheels in Bridgestone Ecopia 422, 185X60R15 and moved the TPMS sensors from the stock wheels over. Total weight was just over 28 pounds, so 2 pounds per wheel less than stock. Here are some quick pics I took in the driveway, haven't had time to take any good ones yet. I also wrapped the front bumper with 3M matte black vinyl. Tinted the windows, de-badged, and put on a shark fin. I'm pretty happy with them although I'd really like to have 17 inch wheels. Maybe next year, lol. I went with the 185 tire width thinking the smaller contact patch would yield slightly better mileage, but looking at it now the fatter 195 might look a little better. The difference in total diameter is only -.9% so the odometer is within 1mph of stock. Ride quality is about the same as stock, can't really tell a difference. Mileage is probably better, it's hard to say where the difference is though. I've been getting better MPGs since I put them on, but the weather has been getting warmer too. It's been pretty cold this year (damn global warming). I believe gas companies are switching to summer blends which helps. Also the car is still breaking in, I only have a couple thousand miles on it. I'll run the steel wheels in the winter since I was happy with the traction the Turanza EL400 tires got.
Looks really good, you picked some great looking wheels. Love the wrapped bumper too. Have you tested the mileage gain or loss?
This is a great post. I appreciate that you took the time to take the weights and photograph everything.
Choosing good looking wheels is not as important as choosing lightweight tires. For that reason 17" wheels especially are not so good because the tires are heavier than OEM tires by a significant amount. Worse, if the diameter of your new tires exceeds the diameter of the OEM tires your acceleration, leisurely already, and mpg will take a hit. The biggest tires I can recommend are 195/55x15's on 15x7 wheels or 195/50x16 tires on 16x7 wheels. Since the performance level is important we'll let you decide on your tires from specs on Tire Rack, but Enkei RPF1 pretty well had the lightest wheels. Just remember, lighter wheels are not nearly as important as tires for mpg/acceleration due to the weight farther from the hub. nd note that the heavier the tire the smaller diameter the better, about a quarter-inch per 2 pounds. Good luck.
Even more important than the weight is the tire design. It's imperative that you choose a LRR design. Between two tires of the same weight there can be a 5mpg difference if one is very LRR and the other is not.
