# Super light wheels...



## HoustonRhino (Sep 23, 2012)

Just curious, I was interested in a set of Gram Lights but they don't offer anything with our bolt pattern.

I really like the look of the stock wheels but if some people's goal is higher mpg, I wonder if there's a company that makes super light wheels to fit our platform.?


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

The OEM Eco wheels made by Alcoa are 17 lbs, if MotorTrend is to be believed. In rotating them, they certainly are light for a fairly large wheel. My 16" snow wheels/tires and our Fit's 16" wheels weigh more. 

I'm not sure that one can do much better without spending a boatload of cash. The gas savings would be miniscule in comparison to the initial outlay for a lighter 16" or 17" wheel.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

sciphi said:


> The OEM Eco wheels made by Alcoa are 17 lbs, if MotorTrend is to be believed. In rotating them, they certainly are light for a fairly large wheel. My 16" snow wheels/tires and our Fit's 16" wheels weigh more.
> 
> I'm not sure that one can do much better without spending a boatload of cash. The gas savings would be miniscule in comparison to the initial outlay for a lighter 16" or 17" wheel.


Agreed. 

Collectively, the 17" Eco forged alloy wheels weigh 21lbs less than the 16" 1LT cast alloy wheels. You're going to spend a lot of money beating that.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Collectively, the 17" Eco forged alloy wheels weigh 21lbs less than the 16" 1LT cast alloy wheels. You're going to spend a lot of money beating that.


I've been looking into the wheel weights a bit more & think that 21lbs less is including the tires, the rims are only about 3lb lighter(per rim) from what I can figure. The OE goodyears on the eco are rated at 19lb on tirerack, the 1LT OE firestones are 21lbs. That same goodyear retail(NON OE tire) on tirerack is 21lb, the 1LT firestone 22lb. GM put extra light version of the goodyear on the eco to shave even more weight off, once the stock tires are replaced the difference is much less. If you buy the ecos goodyear retail tires in 16in they weigh the same, 21lbs as the retail 17in goodyear.

Looking at wheels I could not find one aftermarket 17in wheel that could beat/match the ecos 17.8lb a wheel. I could find 16in wheel that were only 17.3lb though(Sparco assetto Gara wheels). as 17in wheels they jump to 18.7lb. 

When you need a new set of tires look at the tire weights to shave off weight without needing to buy all new rims. Looking at all the same size tires I seen 1-8lb difference between tires/brands. 
.


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## Bakertw (Sep 29, 2012)

I too have been thinking about different ways to make this happen. Unfortunately my best idea to date (ok, most do-able) would be some kind of a hub swap, or fabricate new hub. I do agree the weight of stock eco wheels are excellent for factory effort, but I would like to add some style as well as maintaining decent performance. 

Oh and some numbers for refrence:

Gram Lights 57C Cast 15x7 13.5
Gram Lights 57C Cast 16x7 15.4
Gram Lights 57C Cast 17x7.5 18
Gram Lights 57F Forged 17x7.5 15
Gram Lights 57F Forged 18x8.5 20
Gram Lights 57Maximum Cast 15x6.5 13
Gram Lights 57Maximum Cast 16x7 15
Gram Lights 57Maximum Cast 17x7 17.5
Gram Lights 57Maximum Cast 18x7.5 20.3
Gram Lights 57Optomize Cast 16x6.5 15.5
Gram Lights 57Optomize Cast 17x7.5 17.5
Gram Lights 57Optomize Cast 18x7.5 19.3
Gram Lights 57Pro Cast 15x7.5 16.8
Gram Lights 57Pro Cast 17x7 19.5
Gram Lights 57S Cast 16x7 16
Gram Lights 57S Cast 17x7.5 17.5
Gram Lights 57S Cast 18x7.5 19.5
Gram Lights 57S Cast 18x8.5 20
Gram Lights T57-RC Cast 17x7 18.5
Gram Lights T57-RC Cast 17x8 20
Gram Lights T57-RC Cast 18x7.5 20Rota Slipstream Cast 15x6.5 11.9

I used Rota's on my saturn back in the day. Before they turned saturns into corporate clone cars.
Rota Slipstream Cast 15x7 12.9
Rota Slipstream Cast 15x7.5 13.7
Rota Slipstream Cast 15x8 14.7
Rota Slipstream Cast 16x7 13.9
Rota Slipstream Cast 17x7.5 19
Rota Slipstream Cast 17x8.5 21.1
Rota Speed 5 Cast 15x7 12.7
Rota Stage 5 Cast 15x6.5 17.6
Rota Stage 5 Cast 16x7 20.1
Rota Subzero Cast 15x6.5 12.9
Rota Subzero Cast 16x7 14.5
Rota Subzero Cast 17x7 16.5
Rota Subzero Cast 17x7.5 16.9
Rota Subzero Cast 18x7.5 19


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

If the Eco wheels are your cup of tea, I'd buy them off an Eco owner who wants to sell them for whatever reason. They are available regularly for much less than aftermarket wheels/tires.


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## iraqivet (Nov 2, 2012)

email me i have a set of eco wheels with brand new falken 452 21/45/17 tires for sale $1000 plus shipping 

[email protected]


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Keep aerodynamics in mind if your sole purpose in swapping wheels is an increase in fuel efficiency, especially on the highway.

The Eco wheel is a spoked wheel, but has very little open area. Generally speaking, aerodynamic wheels have a very closed face design... look at the ugly wheels on Honda hybrids. Honda wouldn't have taken the time to make an uglier hybrid-specific wheel if there was no benefit.


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