GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

LIGHTWEIGHT Wheels

C

CW_R32

New member
Location
Charlotte
I just ordered and installed 18"x8 OZ Ultraleggera's in Matt Bronze, 45 offset to replace the the OEM 19" Pretorrias and Conti sportcontact tires...
They came mounted with tires (Mich PS4S) and total weight was more than spec sheet from TireRack: 43.6-8 lbs, call it 43.7lbs avg and round up to 44lbs.
18x8 Ultraleggeras are supposed to be 19lb.
245/40-18 (245 not a typo) are listed at 23lbs.
I was a bit bummed that both of those listed weights are probably a lb light.

I was also blown away that the stock 19"x8" Pretorias with worn to the wear marks 235/35-19 Conti's weighed only 39.5lbs. They are worn to the end of life, they have almost 30k mi and 5yrs on them, but still I don't see how there is more than 2lb of rubber worn from when new.

I was trying to get a bit more tire/air volume but thought I would be beating OEM weight by a couple lbs instead of adding 16lbs. lol
 
OldVWFan

OldVWFan

Go Kart Champion
Location
NW Arkansas
Car(s)
17 GTI Sport
CW_R32 said:
I just ordered and installed 18"x8 OZ Ultraleggera's in Matt Bronze, 45 offset to replace the the OEM 19" Pretorrias and Conti sportcontact tires...
They came mounted with tires (Mich PS4S) and total weight was more than spec sheet from TireRack: 43.6-8 lbs, call it 43.7lbs avg and round up to 44lbs.
18x8 Ultraleggeras are supposed to be 19lb.
245/40-18 (245 not a typo) are listed at 23lbs.
I was a bit bummed that both of those listed weights are probably a lb light.

I was also blown away that the stock 19"x8" Pretorias with worn to the wear marks 235/35-19 Conti's weighed only 39.5lbs. They are worn to the end of life, they have almost 30k mi and 5yrs on them, but still I don't see how there is more than 2lb of rubber worn from when new.

I was trying to get a bit more tire/air volume but thought I would be beating OEM weight by a couple lbs instead of adding 16lbs. lol
Click to expand...
On Tirerack.com most the Continental 235/35-19 tires weigh 21 lbs and from Google the 19 x8 Pretorias weigh 22.2 lbs, thus giving a total possible weight of 43.2 lbs as compared to you new weight of 43.7 so not much difference. 18x8 wheels less weight, but larger tire
 
C

CW_R32

New member
Location
Charlotte
OldVWFan said:
On Tirerack.com most the Continental 235/35-19 tires weigh 21 lbs and from Google the 19 x8 Pretorias weigh 22.2 lbs, thus giving a total possible weight of 43.2 lbs as compared to you new weight of 43.7 so not much difference. 18x8 wheels less weight, but larger tire
Click to expand...
Yes in theory... but unless you can wear 4lbs of rubber off a 21lb tire, something is off. I guess I have motivation to spoon those tires off to discover the actual weight of the Pretoria 19x8 wheel, and how light can a tire get when it is totally worn.

Perhaps it didn't come across, but using the spec sheet and google search for weights, is how I expected my OEM 19" tire/wheel to be 43lb, and my new 18" lighter wheel setup to be 42lb. Actually measuring the weight of things will teach you a lot about how marketing works in a world of repeaters. Trust but verify. haha.

I did come across some guesstimates of the 19" Pretoria weighing just under 21lbs. I debated going hardcore weight weenie and rocking the 17" Uglyritas (Alleggerita HLT) with a 235/45-17 but decided they were just too ugly. I am a form follows function kind of guy, but that was a bridge too far.

I suspect the 19" Pretoria is closer to 20lbs than it is 22lb. Its a great looking wheel, I just wanted a bit more sidewall without requiring an All-Track lift kit. :)
 
bfury5

bfury5

Autocross Champion
Location
CT
Contis usually run heavier than Michelins in general - contis have a softer sidewall and it's pretty noticeable. 43lb for that setup sounds about right, my rpf1 and a052 were sub 40, but I would never drive those on the street.

I trust the tire rack weight for wheels + tires much more than I trust the OEM weight for the prets
 
Malttv5

Malttv5

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Australia
Car(s)
2015 mk7 R , 2015 Po
New wheels Koya PMF03 18x8.5 ET45 CB 57.1 , 8kgs getting ceramic coated Thursday ,then wait 4 weeks for PS4S wait longer for Eagle F1 Supersport or just get a set of Portenza Sport now and save $400 on a set .
IMG_20220208_211601[13896].jpg

Cheers
 
Last edited:
C

CW_R32

New member
Location
Charlotte
bfury5 said:
I trust the tire rack weight for wheels + tires much more than I trust the OEM weight for the prets
Click to expand...
I trust myself much more than I trust tire rack for actual weights. haha

Seriously the real problem is here is that going by tire rack spec weight, my wheels/tire assemblies were 2lbs heavier than they should have been. And you can chalk that up to measurement system variation/accuracy, except that the OEM wheels and tires were >2lbs lighter than they were supposed to be with the same scale and methodology.

I finally pulled tires off the pretorias.

The 19x8 OEM Pretorias are 21lbs. The (very)used OEM 235/35-19 Conti tires were 18lbs. 3lbs lighter than the spec sheet for them. Is it conceivable that 8/32" band of 25" diameter x 8 wide" tire compound weighs 3lbs? I don't know I tried to geek out and find the actual density of tire rubber, but could only find rubber which is too light to make sense (its about 20in^3 or 330cc). Maybe they are lighter than 21lbs to start with, who knows.

Either way, the Pretorias are really light for a VW 19" factory wheel, and I added 4lbs/corner by swapping to OZ Ultraleggera 18's with 245 wide Michelin PS4S's when I supposed to be dropping a few lbs based on listed weights. To be fair, its not apples to apples as I don't know what the Contis actually weighed new, and perhaps they did lose 3lbs over their well used life. But when these PS4S's are done I will find out if the 18" OZ Ultraleggera's are actually 19lbs. ;-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top