I've definitely done less than rational things of the like in the pursuit of saving money.Originally Posted by zonker
I presume that your overall goal with weight reduction is performance rather than range. The wheel design isn't optimized for aerodynamics, and wider tires (than OEM) to properly fit the 7" width will also degrade the range.
True but I hope to minimize that with a lower resistance tire in conjunction with the lighter weight wheel.
For the most part, I'm doing the tire and wheel change mostly for appearance, but I think with a tighter fit in the wheel cavity might help offset the drag created by a slightly larger footprint. And the footprint increase is arguably nil. Compared to the stock OEM firestone firehawk tire, the tread width of the firestone fuel champion tire is within 1/16" of it, and has more rain grooves meaning less rubber actually touching the tarmac. The 195/55's I've chosen have a relative narrow tread with a rounded sidewall, which I'm hoping to negate the shape a bit with the 7" rim, much like the OEM 6.5" rim does in the back with the original 185/55's. The only thing I cannot fix aerodynamically is the wheel openings and the rim lip area and that I'm giving up due to aesthetics. The only fix I see there is fitting a flat disc wheel cover over the wheel to make it flush and I'm not willing to go that far at this point (never say never, right?). Once I have the tires and wheels secured, I might try running a week of commutes with the new meats then put the old ones on and gauge the difference.
In addition, I plan on lowering the car an inch and putting spats in front of all four tires much like what can be seen on many newer cars to improve their aero numbers.
Some tire spat images:
Last edited by zonker; 12-20-2017 at 11:47 PM.
I can some real world experience now with the antigravity battery - I bought hjz911's battery and put it in my car. I've had the battery discharge to the point of locking the keys in the column twice now - once while listening to the radio and having the hatch open for about 30 minutes, and another when I did not put the car on the evse for 3 days. The battery just does not have a lot of reserve capacity.
To solve this problem on my end, I'll be putting a small solar panel charger in the car when it's left stationary for an extended amount of time.
But I think the better compromise between weight reduction and usability for many out there will be to fit a garden mower battery like I did on my Abarth. It's not under 5 lbs like the antigravity battery, but it's less than half the weight of the stock almost 39 lb battery.
A small update - the 500e has still been doing commuter duty for a couple weeks with the new wheels and 195/55-15 Firestone Fuel Champion tires. Weight wise, the new wheels and tires come in with an additional 8 lbs weight savings, so with the current setup of removed passenger seat and oem driver's seat I am 189 lbs lighter than where I started.
Also, I'm happy to say that the wider tires and lighter wheels do not seem to have disturbed the range - in fact I may have picked up an additional 0.1mi/kWh. Last week I had a couple days where I traveled the 40 mile commute and arrived home with over 60 percent of remaining battery.
Could this mean I might be able to achieve a true 100 mile range??
Last edited by zonker; 01-10-2018 at 12:26 AM.
Definitely in warm weather. It's possible with the stock car under favorable conditions.
So with 200 lbs weight reduction how much did you range increase?
Yeah, I'm interested too. Any update?
His experiment came to an unfortunate end: http://www.fiat500usaforum.com/showt...-Final-Chapter
I'm back on the hunt (sort of). Buzz is about ready to start accepting more mods. At this point, compared to where I left it, I've re-installed both front seats, replaced the track-lite 15x7 wheels with some Avid.1 15x6.5 wheels, and mounted a bracket to secure a U1-R lawn tractor battery for 12 volt duty.
Weight wise, the wheels are about a pound lighter per corner, but the oem seats put about 40 lbs back in and the U1-R battery is about 12 lbs heavier than the antigravity battery. So, 189 - 4 + 40 + 12 = 141 lbs lighter than stock. For my 40 mile commute, I am using anywhere from 44 percent to 50 percent of the battery.
From this point, I think I'm going to add tire spats and some underbody covers to smooth things out.
2017 124 Spider Classica - modded tastefully
2013 500e - 189 lb lighter
1974 X1/9 - modestly restified
1971 124 Spider(s) - latest resto project
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