OP has no intention of tracking the car and thus trap speeds and such are of little concern. But even with that in mind:

They saw a 4% degradation in 0-60 across the entire span. So less than the tenth per size increase. They actually saw a 0.3 sec increase in 0-60 across 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19's. There are also other variables at play. They saw a speedo error of 3mph (at 70mph) on the 19's vs the 15's which means that the overall diameter of the tire was larger as sizes went up even when trying to keep them equal through sidewall height. The impact of the larger diameter plays into acceleration and fuel economy as well, so some of that 4% is because of this. They also went from a 195 to a 235 in width across the test so rolling resistance also increased tire to tire, which has some amount of impact (especially on fuel economy). And all of this does not cover test error. C&D have had some pretty poor test methods in the past and it is a car mag, so they are doing things only to the level they need to put out a new article. They do not discuss their full test method so it is hard to see this. Could have been one run per tire, or 10 runs. How close in the day where they? What was the weather? In other words lots to ask there. But even if all that was perfect, we are talking about less than 0.075 sec increase per wheel size difference average since you have to factor in the diameter portion.

As far as fuel economy, even if it were 10% worse (it will not be because again, a portion of that was due to diameter increase and rolling resistance) that would for me at least take my average from about 25 mpg to about 22.5. I drive my S2k 5000 miles per year. So at that rate, if the lighter wheels actually gained me 10% percent on their own that would amount to about $66 in fuel savings per year. If you drive your S more, say 10,000 miles per year, that goes up to $132 per year. So if those lighter wheels cost you $500 more, you would still be losing money for the first 3.8 years of owning them (at 10,000 miles per year and $3 per gallon fuel average). So after that time, you would be saving a whopping $132 per year in gas if you go absolutely best case and do not factor in the effects of the diameter change they encountered due to the sizes they had to choose from.

So yeah... on a daily driver, dont worry about it. If you are competing against a clock, then sure, but you will also be concerned with a lot of other weight savings as well!

This is one of those examples of when something is theoretically a benefit, but in all practical purposes is not really worrying about a lot.

 

Et Ceteris Paribus, wheel weight differences are definitely noticeable. The lighter and less powerful the car, the more noticeable, particularly in transient response.

Whether that translates to faster times/improved MPG/etc is a whole different debate.

Since the S is all about driving feel and driver involvement, I'd say it actually matters a whole lot. Nobody in their right mind would put on a stock sized wheel that weighs 25+ lbs cause it feels horrible.

 

obviously heavier wheels and tires make a difference as unsprung weight creates more rotational force, Motortrend, https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2...-drive-review/, reviewed the 2021, Civic Type R LE, noticing considerable difference in cornering speed

 

Well there is that AND .....

AND

Hint... those tires also make the car corner faster cause they are grippier!

And again, way more change than just some lighter wheels. Also no lap time data I could find. It "felt faster" was their measure. And once again, the OP stated he has NO intention of tracking the car and is asking how much difference it makes on the STREET in daily driver. And of course, their scientific data was "it feels better".

No one is saying lighter is not better. But we are talking about a practical difference on a street driven daily driver. Not something measured against a clock (which MT didnt even do in their comparison) on a track in competition where those small differences matter.

 

On the street unless you are going from boat anchors to something really light you probably won't notice a difference. My friend who has a 2017 Civic si went from the stock 18x8 wheels which weigh about 28lbs to 17x9 RPF1s which weight 15.9lbs and that was a noticeable difference. The ride quality increased significantly, although part of it was likely due to the terrible stock tires on that thing. The stock 17's aren't actually that heavy so I doubt you'd notice much, if any difference.


If you include tire weight I believe the stock 17s actually weigh less than the stock 16s.

For the track wheel weight isn't the most important factor, width and rigidity (resist flex and camber loss when cornering) will generally net faster times

 

my experience is going back and forth between 16” to 245 ap2v2, and tsw Nurburgring 255 SQ on ap1.

 

If you still have access to those sets and a scale would you mind weighing them?

The 16'' wheels and tires should be heavier. If you replaced the staggered AP1 wheels with 2 sets of of AP2 rear wheels for a square setup the fronts should only be about 1lbs heavier and the rear about 1lb lighter.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/wheels-t...weight-657019/

Of course the tires you are running could change things

 

yes I will try to get this info. In my case, tire weight is the big factor. 4 lbs of extra tire per corner.