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I have 4 lug wheels that are 14" tall.
Pretty soon I'll want new tyres so if I can find a deal on a light wheels to go with them, it'd be a nice upgrade.

On my 08 Civic, I could feel extra punch from the motor on lighterweight wheel-tyre combo.
The EA82 is a bit of a slug, so lighter wheels would probably be a very noticeable improvement.

Either 4x140 (Ugly, MY or L) or 4x100 for Sherpa and Fiori

It could also be worth comparing the rolling diameter of the tyres on your car to what it had from factory to see if someones put larger tyres on it. If so reducing the rolling diameter will give you shorter geaing and more punch.

Reducing the size of your rims is probably the most effective way of losing wheel weight.
13" rims will each be about .5kg lighter than 14's. On my L series when i compared my 14" rally rims to my sunraysias steel wheels i could barely tell the difference in weight (both 14x6). Good luck finding wheels!

I think I was deceived into thinking alloy = a lot lighter. My not very scientific comparison was with mismatchng tyres fitted to steelie and alloy on crapper scales and thnk it may have been less than 2 kgs lighter for the alloy at around 16.5 kg.
Another deception can be the increasing rim diameter ends up with greater rolling circumference. Think I found my 195 50 15 have just 3mm more than the factory 175 75 13 , well within the allowable 15mm increase.Old Peugeots shared same PCD as old Subes and nothin' else from our knowledge , limiting our swapability

Finding alloy rims for the 4x140 subi pattern gives you very few choices; they are subaru Puegeot and custom.

From memory you have the 14 inch sunraysia keep them as they are virtually unbreakable, especially off road.

TOONGA

TOONGA wrote:Finding alloy rims for the 4x140 subi pattern gives you very few choices; they are subaru Puegeot and custom.

From memory you have the 14 inch sunraysia keep them as they are virtually unbreakable, especially off road.

TOONGA

I'll insert a close-up of my rims

Alloys don't mean lighter, always.
Cows get huge eating grass.

I wanted to compare the wheel weights before deciding, if possible.
Or just look at the structure of the wheels.
Some alloys are bloody heavy because they added a lot of styling to them.

I found some great alloys for my 08 Civic for winter rims.
They ended up being 4lbs lighter than my stock alloys, just being 1" shorter diameter.
there were other alloy rims of the same size as my lighter set that were heavier.
And then I found tyres that were 2 lbs lighter than stock (195/65R-15 vs 205/55R-16)
So my total weight savings was 6lbs per corner, and the diameter was actually a smidgen taller with the smaller wheels.
If I can save 1+ lbs at each corner it would be worth a small expense.

I don't think I want to go back to the 13" rims as I like the stance and ground clearance of my 185/70R-14's.
Plus I would need to purchase 13" rims, which seems a bit backwards imho.

Unless you can easily find meaty tyres for 13" rims.
185-195/75R-13's anyone?

there are people out there with 13 inch alloy rims in WA

and I Know you can get light truck 13 inch tyres, 185r 13. Ive even seen 195r 13 inch light truck tyres.

TOONGA

TOONGA wrote:there are people out there with 13 inch alloy rims in WA

and I Know you can get light truck 13 inch tyres, 185r 13. Ive even seen 195r 13 inch light truck tyres.

TOONGA

I don't want to lose the ground clearance I've gained with 185/70R-14's.
Are wheel and tyre combos always lighter on 13's?

Are there more tyre options (tread, widths etc.) for the 14" rim?

There are more tyre options with a 14" rim, but if you can find what you want in a 13 then it doesn't matter.

No one could empirically say a 13 inch rim and tyre is always lighter. I guess generally 13" rims will be lighter over a 14", but whats the most weight you could save? Maybe 1kg per rim. Going by the general rule that 1kg on a wheel equals about 10kg on a car thats equates to a saving of about 40kg. So i think you could safely experiment to see if you can tell the diference in power with and without a 80kg passenger. I don't think it would be significant, but i could be wrong. Personally I think the easiest way to get back some performance after fitting larger tyres is to change the gearing to 3.9 or 4.1 diffs.

Unfortunately few things are easy, simple or cheap when it comes to an L series. A liberty or impreza on the other hand...

If you're after a light weight 14 inch rim I suggest you STEER CLEAR of the scorpion rims - they're the heaviest rim I've had for the L series, but they look shit hot!

Cheers

Bennie

Venom wrote:There are more tyre options with a 14" rim, but if you can find what you want in a 13 then it doesn't matter.

No one could empirically say a 13 inch rim and tyre is always lighter. I guess generally 13" rims will be lighter over a 14", but whats the most weight you could save? Maybe 1kg per rim. Going by the general rule that 1kg on a wheel equals about 10kg on a car thats equates to a saving of about 40kg. So i think you could safely experiment to see if you can tell the diference in power with and without a 80kg passenger. I don't think it would be significant, but i could be wrong. Personally I think the easiest way to get back some performance after fitting larger tyres is to change the gearing to 3.9 or 4.1 diffs.

Unfortunately few things are easy, simple or cheap when it comes to an L series. A liberty or impreza on the other hand...

Thanks. I think it's easier if I stay with my 14's. Just curious in case I see a deal on alloys though.

I can actually feel a bit of difference when I pick up my co-worker. Probably close to 80kg. My car feels a bit more awake when he's not there. (L Series quite gutless )

How hard and expensive is a gear swap in a L Series?
I think I like the gearing where it is for freeway speeds.
there's no tach (yet) so I can't tell how fast it's turning...

What is the powerband of a EA82 motor?
I have no idea where the torque and power peaks (RPM peaks) are.

Thanks.

*LOL Bennie, I'll take function over fashion, especially with this pig of a motor.
(not bad on flat land, but it doesn't seem happy with hills)

2nd Hand Yank wrote:What is the powerband of a EA82 motor?

One word: Shite.

2nd Hand Yank wrote:*LOL Bennie, I'll take function over fashion

I got them due to the factory offset. Their sexiness is just a bonus, plus I'm into offroading and these will be very difficult to break, not that I'll be trying to!

Cheers

Bennie

2nd Hand Yank wrote:Thanks. I think it's easier if I stay with my 14's. Just curious in case I see a deal on alloys though.

i think you will notice a lower profile tyre more for the reduced radius than the weight. the 14s will look better anyway, if you want to go faster get a lower profile tyre. this of course will be a disadvantage off-road, but will give it a bit more fight.

(and venom, yeh you can notice the extra weight of a passenger with an EA :P )

2nd Hand Yank wrote:What is the powerband of a EA82 motor?
I have no idea where the torque and power peaks (RPM peaks) are.

as its been said before, make it scream if you want to go quicker, just let the revs fly. I know they dont have a tacho, but in normal driving i change ebout every 20km/hr (ie: 20-1st, 40-2nd,...). if you want to get something out of it then, 40, 70, 105 km/hr and 4th after that.
also, try putting premium or 98ron in there. you will notice the difference in power, and i am convinved i get better fuel eco as well. on 95premium and with a hyclone (and driving nicely) i have got around 9.2l/100k. i always run premium in normal driving, and when i go 4wding use 98 ron and fuel additive. definitaly makes the motor a bit more lively .

I think i had my L series for less than 3 months before i put the EJ25 in it. Then i realised it was ridiculous to drive around town with front wheel drive.

Advance the timing if you put a higher ron fuel in the car to take more advantage. You'll need to keep putting the higher octane fuel in though or keep changing your timing back an forth to suit the fuel octane.

I don't think its economically more efficient to use a higher octane fuel in terms of extra cost to fuel efficiency benefits, but it certainly does make a difference to power. If you work out the cost to power benefit of a weber or EJ conversion you could probably put 98 RON in your car for 10 years for only a fraction of the cost. That's a gross generalisation but i think the logic is sound

El_Freddo wrote:If you're after a light weight 14 inch rim I suggest you STEER CLEAR of the scorpion rims - they're the heaviest rim I've had for the L series, but they look shit hot!

Cheers

Bennie

+1

2nd Hand Yank wrote:Thanks. I think it's easier if I stay with my 14's. Just curious in case I see a deal on alloys though.

I can actually feel a bit of difference when I pick up my co-worker. Probably close to 80kg. My car feels a bit more awake when he's not there. (L Series quite gutless )

How hard and expensive is a gear swap in a L Series?
I think I like the gearing where it is for freeway speeds.
there's no tach (yet) so I can't tell how fast it's turning...

What is the powerband of a EA82 motor?
I have no idea where the torque and power peaks (RPM peaks) are.

Thanks.

*LOL Bennie, I'll take function over fashion, especially with this pig of a motor.
(not bad on flat land, but it doesn't seem happy with hills)

El_Freddo wrote:One word: Shite.

Cheers

Bennie

Think Bennie summed it up quiet nicely for you here.. The EA82 after a few hundred thousand kms has pretty much become the worst engine ever produced by Subaru. Pretty much just a Weber carby is the best mod or in many peoples views.. EJ it !!

My wheels are Sunraysias (sp?) in case anyone was wondering.

How wide a tyre can I put on a Sunraysia?

205/65R-14?
215/65R-14 or 215/60R-14?
I know 195 isn't too wide.
I don't know what tyre sizes are available here,
but 205/65R-14 is shorter than 195/70R-14,
and 215/65R-14 is about 0.25" taller than 195/70R-14.

What can a Weber carb do for an old EA82?

Performance Superlites would be your best bet for a 4x140 light(ish) wheel. You'd be up for about $190 a piece though.

Speedy Desert Rats are 6 inch wide, 225/60R14 would work.

Here's a link matching tyre size to optimal rim width. 225 is starting to get a bit wide for a 6" tyre. It will physically fit but one you start going beyond a certain there is a lot of flex in the side wall when cornering, essentially negating any benefits of having extra contact with the road. I run 225/60-14 on my Valiant and they suit the 7" rims it has.

http://customwheelsmarket.com/rimwheelwidth1.html

How wide are Sunraysia wheels?

My 185's on them make it look like it can handle at least 205...
Probably the bigger issue is inboard-side tyre clearance.