I bought my 2000 Protégé ES used in June 2007. It had the factory 15" alloys and BFGoodrich g-Force Sport in the stock 195/55-15 size. I’ve been really impressed with the tires. Two of them are nearing the wear bars, so I’ve been thinking about new wheels and tires. I’ve decided to stay with 15-inchers instead of going with a plus-1 or -2 upgrade. I want to keep things pretty light and reduce unsprung weight if possible. I don’t push the car hard enough on public roads to need/justify the increased grip a wider tire would get me. I have plenty of fun with the 195s.

I’ve been looking at wheels on the Tire Rack’s website. One great thing Tire Rack does is show you the weights of most of their wheels and tires. It occurred to me that I didn’t know how much my factory wheels weighed, though I assumed they were on the heavy side. I was thinking 17-18lbs apiece. I have snows on the car currently, so I took the bathroom scale outside to weigh one of the wheels and tires.

According to the Tire Rack’s website, my tires weigh 20lbs each. Weigh the combo, subtract the tire weight, and you have the weight of the wheel, right?

I’m a bit blown away – my wheels only weigh 14lbs. Nearly all the wheels I like and would consider buying are 2-4lbs heavier than my factory wheels. Forget that. (I weighed it three times, once with me holding it, to make sure I wasn’t imagining things.)

So, guess who doesn’t have to spend $400-ish on new wheels? (Leaves more money to build a shop later this year…)