thinking about going to 18" on the C36

I'd like to keep the original wheel look
but I want to lose some of that weight
Is it a hard ask? any ideas?

What's the recommended limit of unsprung weight reduction while keeping stock suspension?
I'm not interested in sacrificing performance over looks.

who's got the real-world experiences here?
thanksalot

 

Well i'm not too sure what the original c36 wheels are but if you are looking for a light performance wheels you'd definitely want to check out wheels made by AMG, HRE, BBS. HRE competitions are some of the lightest rims and strongest rims.

 

yeah, i've got some 18" amg monos on my c43 and my car slowed down noticeably. i'm looking to get rid of my amg's and find something lighter or even go smaller now...

 

most forged wheels will be considerably lighter however any aftermarket cast wheel should also be slightly lighter than the OEM amg wheels

 

here is what you should do:

1) change wheels
2) change tires
3) change brakes

This will reduce the US weight by a lot if done right.

For wheels, the lightest you will find will be one of two. HRE competition, or Renntech Monolites. Both are light, but the Renntechs are stronger wheels and will not bend as easily. After that you can look at BBS, these are mostly very light but there are limited offsets for MB. Then the next best choice there is O.Z. (Superlegerra) in the single piece, HRE in the single piece, iForged in single piece, etc. Then you go to 3 piece wheels, you will find wider variety of offsets but any multi-piece wheel will inherently be slightly heavier. Good multi-piece wheels (lightweight) are made by HRE, iForged, BBS, Kleemann, etc. These will be between 25-30 pounds, the Renntech monolite is 20 pounds in a 19x9. Stay away from chrome.

For tires, check the weights. This makes a bigger difference than the wheel because the weight sits at the outer end of the rotational mass. This is more important than weight that sits towards the center as it takes more energy the further out it is to accelerate/decelerate the mass. There can be 4-5 pound differences in tires alone. The Michelin Pilot Sport and PS2 are very good tires that are also relatively light.

Brakes. Change your rotors to a "floating hub" design. These use a lightweight center attached by small screws to the actual rotor itself, whereas the factory rotors (except on the 2005+ SL55/65 and CL55/65 as far as I know) are one piece cast and a good 10 pounds heavier each than floating rotors from Brembo, or Stoptech.

You can check a lot of wheel and tire weights at the Tire Rack's website. www.tirerack.com. To check wheel weights click the "wheel closeup" button under the upgrade garage and you will get more detailed specs like offset and weight. For tires, choose a tire and at the top you will see "specs"... click that and you will get tire weights. Thank you Tire Rack for a nice website.

For brakes, the calipers will vary a little, but the killer is the rotor... I received some info from Neal at Euroteck Motorsports on Brembo and Stoptech specs (along with some excellent prices) on the rotors, you can contact him. www.euroteckmotorsports.com.

If you do all this, say save 10 pounds with Renntech monolites, 4 pounds with the tire, 10 pounds with the rotor, 2 pounds with the caliper, you have saved 26 pounds per wheel, that is an incredible amount. Some theory says 1 pouns US weight = 10 pounds sprung weight.... but even if its just 2 pounds or 3 pounds per 1 pound, it is the equivalent of taking several hundred pounds out of your car's chassis. Your car will accelerate, handle, and brake better, and you will ALSO notice much better ride quality believe it or not.

Good luck and let me know if you have other questions.

 

ssr gt1 or some centerline forged if u don't car for looks too much and want some light wheels

 

that's some good info. i really like how my 18" monos look on my ride. anyone seen pics of renntech wheels on a w202? also, about brakes, what would be a brake upgrade for a c43 while still losing weight? from what i understand, changing my brakes and keeping everything stock will cost a lot of $$$, and it's almost that time for me...

 

Wow, that was an amazing post amg2go, thanks for all the info. The previous owner of my C43 said he had the floating rotors put in when he replaced factory, but wasn't really sure what the benefit was, or at least he couldn't describe it to me. Seems something as easy as saying they weigh less shouldn't be too difficult. Makes me wonder if they are truly the better design, anyway to visible inspect with the wheels on?

 

No problem. On a floating hub the center section is physically only connected to the rest of the rotor by small screws... usually a different color even. On a standard rotor its all cast. Like these two. On the left are two floating rotors.

 

get a stoptech kit for the front. The rears don't really do much, if you do it its more for looks or saving weight. Talk to neal at euroteck, he will get you a very good deal on a set of stoptechs for your car. www.euroteckmotorsports.com