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Cruze 16" steel wheels and 205/55-16 Nokian R2s for winter

3840 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Sh3nks, Feb 24, 2018

Packard V8

Discussion Starter · Nov 28, 2017

For the first time in fifty-five years, steel wheels and tires were lighter than the OEM aluminum wheels and tires. I literally couldn't believe how heavy the Bolt OEM tire/wheel combination is. I've been bucking tires for more than fifty years and those are some of the heaviest little suckers I've ever picked up. Since I had the steel wheels and Nokians mounted at a tire store, I didn't have the opportunity to get a unit weight, but when moving the 16" Saab aluminum wheels and wider tires to make a space to store the 17" Bolt wheel/tire, the weight difference was huge.

The subjective ride difference is difficult to quantify, as tire sidewall construction plays into it, but I've always been able to tell when I put a lighter unsprung weight combination on and the short ride home seemed to improve the ride on our rough streets.

Does anyone have a specification as to how much weight the self-sealing goop adds to the tire?

BTW, the 16"s seem to be 3/4" shorter; I'll get a GPS confirmation as to how much speedo error this incurs.

jack vines

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XJ12

· #2 · Nov 28, 2017

Packard V8 said:
Does anyone have a specification as to how much weight the self-sealing goop adds to the tire?

according to a 2013 press release, the goop only adds a pound per tire: http://www.tirebusiness.com/article...ealing-tire-technology-could-be-a-gamechanger

but this article talks about how they get the tire to have low rolling resistance. which may mean a heavier tire to get it stiff enough:
https://www.wired.com/2016/05/hidden-battle-make-perfect-tires-electric-car-divas/
"For the Bolt, coming later this year, Michelin delivered what it calls its best tire ever, at least in terms of rolling resistance. That’s the tendency for a tire to deform, requiring more energy to keep it rolling. The less energy you expend there, the farther you go on a charge, making a stiffer tire optimal. The tradeoff, though, is comfort."

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Packard V8

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 29, 2017 (Edited)

FWIW, I found my calibrated grunting was correct. The web says a weight of 22.5# for the Michelin and 19# for the Nokians I used. That's 3.5# less just for the tire. The Bolt wheel weighs 23# and the steel wheel 19#, so that 4# less or a total of 7.5# x 4 wheels is a reduction of 30# of unsprung weight. as the man says, That's HUGE!

And yes, as mentioned, the Michelins are stiff and heavy for a reason; there will be a reduction of range from the Nokians, but given the Bolt's envelope, the loss won't be a problem for our driving.

jack vines

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