RE: MO Comp wheels & unsprung weight

[audidudi@mindspring.com (Jeffrey J. Goggin)]

>I've been considering new wheels for my A4 30v, and the MO's made it to my
>consideration list.  So I contacted them, and asked them about the price
>and weight of the wheels.  For the 17x7.5, they told me that it would be
>25 lbs a wheel!  I know there's alot of weight at each corner as it is,
>but that would be about 10-12 pounds more per corner, including tires.

I think that's a little high ... my 8x17s weighed exactly 24 pounds and 10
ounces according to the high-zoot scale in my local Post Office lobby.
(BTW, this digital scale reads to a tenth of a pound and has a maximum
weight limit of 75 pounds.  It's perfect for weighing car parts, is
available 24 hours a day and FREE!)

>My question is, how much of a difference in handling would it be?  Any
>ballpark ideas?  The other wheels that I'm looking at are Borbet type T
>wheels and BBS RC's, though the BBS's don't come in quite the size that I
>was looking for (17x7.5).

In general, 17" wheels are going to be heavier than 15s or 16s, period.
Yes, keeping unsprung weight low is desirable but like everything in life,
sometimes you have to compromise on some parameters to optimize a few
others.  Overall, considering price and reliability -- I have been running
the Compomotive MOs for two years and just over 55k miles, and have yet to
turn any of them into coffee tables -- I'm willing to live with the few
extra pounds.  Besides, I think they look GREAT on my cars!  The only other
wheels I'd consider would be from either Dymag or Technomagnesio (real
racing wheels, in other words) and they run $800 per!

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