Would an additional 4 lbs. per tire be noticeable? (tire weight, not air)

[wbwanzer]

Currently I'm running OE tires on my '23 Santa Fe with 2.5T engine. If I replaced them with tires that weigh 4 lbs. more, would that be noticeable as far as acceleration and stopping? I realize that increased tire weight, being rotational mass, doesn't help, but is 4 something I would notice? It's an SUV weighing approximately 4,000 lbs.. Obviously I'm not racing or tracking a Santa Fe so every tenth of a second doesn't really matter, but I enjoy the car as is and don't want to bog it down. I'll guess that one or two extra pounds would not be significant, but maybe four lbs. is. Any insight?

Thanks

 

[edyvw]

Currently I'm running OE tires on my '23 Santa Fe with 2.5T engine. If I replaced them with tires that weigh 4 lbs. more, would that be noticeable as far as acceleration and stopping? I realize that increased tire weight, being rotational mass, doesn't help, but is 4 something I would notice? It's an SUV weighing approximately 4,000 lbs.. Obviously I'm not racing or tracking a Santa Fe so every tenth of a second doesn't really matter, but I enjoy the car as is and don't want to bog it down. I'll guess that one or two extra pounds would not be significant, but maybe four lbs. is. Any insight?

Thanks

4lbs is IMO noticeable. Mostly I see an increase in mpg in winter when I downsize to 235/65 R18 from 255/50 R20.
So, if anything, you might take mpg hit.

 

[Doc8404]

What do you mean you’re adding mass????

 

[Four Rings]

I agree 4-lbs additional rotating mass per corner is noticeable (ride, accel., and decel.). IMHO the difference is subtle, but detectable. Furthermore, I notice the effects of the mass change more readily when going from heavier to lighter.

 

[dubber09]

With a heavier tire your car has greater momentum while moving so in theory you can coast farther thus saving gas
IMHO, in real life you will not notice the difference in acceleration, braking and gas mileage.

 

[twouvakind]

Don't know about you but the title suggested PSI to me, is weighing a tire a thing?

 

[wbwanzer]

I would not be weighing a tire. I can get the weight of a tire from TireRack.

 

[Kira]

A guy set 4 new tires he mistakenly ordered out on the curb with a For Sale sign.
He claimed he'd take a small hit on price to avoid the work of returning them.
I hefted one of them and was amazed how light it was. They 'had to' be flimsy.

Since weight often plays into a good's quality; where does the line between weak tires and stronger tires lie?
You might want a tire made "4 pounds better".
Anybody ever take notice? I never thought of it.

 

[SaberOne]

Back when I swapped out my stock wheels with Forgeline billet SC1’s @ 4-1/2~ pounds less, I definitely noticed a difference. Roll-off from a stop was much more responsive, and breaking required less pressure. After a few thousand miles, I swapped back to my stock wheels in order to take my custom wheels in for balancing. That’s when I really knew how much I gained from the 4.5 lbs reduction. It literally felt like I had the parking break on when I pulled out from a stop. The car was really sluggish as though I had 20 pounds in each tire.

 

[SC Maintenance]

You will loose some mpg. How many - not sure. How much is the total weight of the OEM tire?

 

[wbwanzer]

OEM tire is 26 lbs., per Tire rack. There are a couple tires I like that are 27 and 28 lbs. But the tire that I would really like to try is 30 lbs. When the time comes I'll probably pick the 27 or 28. I don't want to use the OE tire again.

 

[wbwanzer]

Back when I swapped out my stock wheels with Forgeline billet SC1’s @ 4-1/2~ pounds less, I definitely noticed a difference. Roll-off from a stop was much more responsive, and breaking required less pressure. After a few thousand miles, I swapped back to my stock wheels in order to take my custom wheels in for balancing. That’s when I really knew how much I gained from the 4.5 lbs reduction. It literally felt like I had the parking break on when I pulled out from a stop. The car was really sluggish as though I had 20 pounds in each tire.
View attachment 229078

I like those wheels. Very nice look.

 

[dubber09]

Back when I swapped out my stock wheels with Forgeline billet SC1’s @ 4-1/2~ pounds less, I definitely noticed a difference. Roll-off from a stop was much more responsive, and breaking required less pressure. After a few thousand miles, I swapped back to my stock wheels in order to take my custom wheels in for balancing. That’s when I really knew how much I gained from the 4.5 lbs reduction. It literally felt like I had the parking break on when I pulled out from a stop. The car was really sluggish as though I had 20 pounds in each tire.
View attachment 229078

The picture suggests you are a 'driving enthusiast' thus you pay close attention to and notice things, and likely have no passenger and little in the cars trunk.
How much difference do you notice when you have full tank and almost empty? Does it justify to drive with less gas in the tank on regular basis?
Another thing I wanna mention is with new tires when they have full tread it feels they are more sluggish in acceleration.

 

[wpod]

Back when I swapped out my stock wheels with Forgeline billet SC1’s @ 4-1/2~ pounds less, I definitely noticed a difference. Roll-off from a stop was much more responsive, and breaking required less pressure. After a few thousand miles, I swapped back to my stock wheels in order to take my custom wheels in for balancing. That’s when I really knew how much I gained from the 4.5 lbs reduction. It literally felt like I had the parking break on when I pulled out from a stop. The car was really sluggish as though I had 20 pounds in each tire.
View attachment 229078

Lower profile tire than stock?

 

[NiwradND]

you won't notice a thing IMO

 

[Pew]

I think you will be able to notice it but you will get used to it fast.

 

[marc1]

The bigger deal is the increase to unsprung weight. This will affect handling and steering. You may or may not notice it but it will be there. 4lbs (on each tire) is quite a bit of unsprung weight to add.

 

[SC Maintenance]

You’re putting 4 lbs at the outermost edge of a rotating assembly. Max inertia affect - both starting and stopping. It’s really hard to say the actual effect but you will likely notice. There is no real way to know how much without trying.

Having said that, I have found that the online ratings for tire weights to not be all that accurate. I would double check on the tire OEM’s website.

 

[twX]

The weight of the tire will affect acceleration a lot more than that of a wheel, since its center of mass is so far from the axle.

I did the math on this for a 3300 lb car with 235-45/17 tires. It worked out that 1 lb of tire weight is equivalent to 9.3 lbs of non-rotating weight. (For the wheels, it was more like a factor of 3 or 4.) So adding 16 lbs of tire weight would be equivalent to carrying around a 150 lb passenger with you.

It's probably not something that you'll notice, but it'll put a bit more stress on the drivetrain and brakes. It'll affect fuel economy a bit, but mostly in stop and go driving, not in cruising.

 

[barryh]

No better place to lose weight than the wheels and tyres. It's a triple benefit, lowering the vehicle weight, lowering the rotational inertia, and lowering the unspung weight.