im sure this has been asked b4 but wading thro a million back forum topics can be much tedious but 2 the point i recently brought a set of arospeed 18x7.5 gold rs-gt rims(not installed yet) and they are a wee bit heavier than the stock enkei 16's(has anyone ever lifted one of these rims without rubber there so light) anyway im looking for ways to compensate for the weight without adding power. ive already dropped about 30 - 40 kgs(70 - 80 pounds yankies) through exhausts,cai,flywheel and im also getting a dry carbon hood and trunk, also considering lightweight driveshaft.

 

get lighter wheels if it worries you that much, you'll have to remove a lot of weight from your car to compensate for all that unsprung weight.

 

^^ i think the point was he wants to KEEP his heavy wheels and make up for it elsewhere.

Only other mod that I could see, yet impractical, is to take out the passenger seat and the soft top. i think the soft top will give you back 40-50 lbs???

 

Oh I get that part, but trying to make up for heavy wheels by lightening the car just seems counter-intuitive. Physics are playing against you when you add a heavy and bigger wheel to any car. Dry carbon isn't exactly cheap, these wheels better be really awesome if you want to lighten the car so much you're going that route.

Lightweight brake rotors would make some progress in the right direction though, if they're available. Lightened rotating and unsprung weight is goooood.

 

this is an easy answer. MAKE MORE POWER.

 

aftermarket seats allways help and look sweet

 

don't worry about it, you'll never feel the difference, it won't matter unless you are planning to track or make it into a full race car.

then again, you can always go on a diet and lose 20lbs to compensate for the heavier wheels...

 

Increasing unsprung mass generally isnt a good thing, and its hard to compensate for. BUT, you are only marginally increasing unsprung mass, so not as much of an issue. What can you do? Lightweight spindles,hubs, control arms, brake calipers. Shedding 15lbs of unsprung mass will make a much larger difference than shedding 15lbs of sprung mass.

Personally, I would just buy lighter wheels. I'm not a big believer in taking something and making it worse.

In my opinion, you can notice a difference. I recently switched out the front brake calipers on my 83 944. This saved 7lbs per side, and the front suspension works much better now due to the loss in mass.

 

so what you are saying, if and when you go street racing you take a massive dump so the car handles better...

 

Honestly it's going to be a very negligible difference. Additionally...did you get 7.5 wide all the way around? That might end up a little...strange.