ebeighe said:
pointlomadave said:
Wheels: Konig Zero-in 15x6.5" @ 13.4 lbs
Tires: Hankook 195/65/15 @ 17.2 lbs....Total of 30.6 lbs....
I measured setup on New Leaf S @ 40.5 lbs
so the stock SL / SV 17" alloy wheels plus tires are about 50 pounds each.
the stock S 16" steel wheel plus tire are about 40 pounds each
and your modified setup is about 30 pounds each
wow, that's a big difference!
wouldn't that make a big/noticeable efficiency difference?
UPDATE: bought the setup really cheap, and sold it shortly after. Hard to really notice any appreciable range gain. Tire was virtually same height as OEM at 25" and setup was lighter, conservative offset so as no to upset the aero profile. Hard to compare new to used tires tho regarding rolling resistance. Anyway, seemed to not be as beneficial as lightweight swaps on other cars due to the Leafs abilty to regen. Basically, lighter wheels take less effort to spin up (win) but produce less regen because the car slows down quicker generating less power on slow down. The heavier wheels take more energy to spin up but that same coast down under regen will take longer and so more energy is produced to make up for it. Essentially, use more/gain more vs. use less/gain less regarding electricity. So, it was essentially a wash. Rolling resistance isn't a wash however, so if you go wider with tires and/or wheels, you will suffer some range loss and if your wheel offset is aggressive it will cause some aero disturbance too that will compromise your range.
REGARDING THE JUKE SUSP:
I still would like to try to Cusco Juke rear sway bar, but just can't get behind spending $300 for such a small increase in roll stiffness. As mentioned somewhere else on the web, the Juke doesn't have near the weight over the back wheels that the Leaf does, so anything made for the Juke would need to be even more robust for a Leaf...theoretically. But, I'm also starting to think that it couldn't hurt (except the pain to my wallet) to try it out. I'll keep my eyes peeled for a used one cuz I'm not interested in $300 for just a rear sway bar.
Wheels/Tires:
I've gone thru so many sets of wheels/tires. Just a couple weeks ago, I got a set of 17x8 +28 (pretty aggressive offset) with some COntinental 225/50/17 Extreme Contact Sports for our 2017 Leaf and also put a camber kit in it up front set to full neg camber like I did in my 2013 Leaf. Grip isn't at the 245/45/17 & 17x9 levels with the ultra sticky Bridgestone RE71R tires I had. But, they were also extremely noisy tires...unbearable for such an otherwise serene and smooth car...ruined the nature of the car but handling was INCREDIBLE! (so long as there was no passengers in the back (since the rear susp is already too soft).
I also bought a set of new 18x8 +30 with 225/45/18's cuz they were just too cheap to pass up in the same wheel as the 17x8 I bought. Got a budget tire on there so don't expect much in the way of ultimate grip but the shorter sidewall will tighten up the steering response some.
With the tire setups I chose, they are 1" or so taller than OEM, taking up at least a little of the monstrous fender gap. That also adds ground clearance for parking curbs, steep driveways, etc but creates a bit of an aerodynamic sacrafice, but at road car speeds, those compromises are minimal. If you mount wheels with offsets as aggressive as mine, you WILL WANT TO put a neg camber kit up fron otherwise the top of the tires will poke out beyond the fenders and look dumb. And with a camber kit comes moderately increased tire wear and the need for an alignment.
Any other questions, shoot a reply or PM! =)
