Hey, have the stock 18 inch polished ford wheels on my 06 and I have to say they are real heavy.

My new plan for my car w/ gas prices is to keep it but find was of increasing performance without sacrifice gas mileage.

I really want to do all I can to lighten it up and I think one place that I could really shed some fat is the wheels.

1st does anyone know how much they weigh?

Can you reccommend any wheels that are stylish light weight aluminum?

 

Nevermind I used the search function found some links.

Also just to post up the factory 18 inch wheels polished are 25 pds....

Thats really not heavy and most of the wheels claiming to be lightweight are about the same weight.

 

The stock wheels are not much heavier than other wheels touted as light weight. You might be able to save 5-6 lbs per wheel and you'll be limited in your selection, IMO.

You think spending about $1000 (give or take $500) is going to net you a return in gas mileage? Wanna buy a bridge? I doubt that going to a lighter wheel would buy you more than MAYBE 1/2 MPG. You'd be better off going to an aluminum DS, perform the rear seat delete, dump the spare, etc..

There's no sense spending hundreds of dollars to save what might amount to $5-$10 per month in gas. Just enjoy the Stang. You didn't buy it to save gas.

 

If you want to REALLY save mileage...get a CAI and tun combo from one of the big tuners and tell them you want a mileage tune in addition to a performance tune.

During the week...run your mileage and switch over to the performance for the weekend.

 

And the $500-$600 for the CAI & tune's gain has a poor payback since you might gain only 1-2 MPG and that's IF you can keep your foot out of it once you wake up the Stang...

Let's get real, there's no bang-for-the-buck economy gain on this car other than driving granny style and why the heck would ANYONE do that with this hot a car?

You want to save a few bucks/week?
Drink water instead of soda, don't buy Starbucks coffee, pack your lunch, no more Happy Meals.... Yada, yada...

 

I totally disagree. A 3 mpg improvement in mileage will save about $500 annually in fuel. So it takes one year to pay off.

PLUS, the mileage tunes are still a vast improvement over stock.

As a bonus, you get the "entertainment" tunes to boot!

Now, keeping your foot out of it will be difficult...true enough!

I assume the GT transformation is just as dramatic as the 6. I was like...what car is this? The 93 torque tune is phenomenal. Totally different car. 87 tune, however, is much better than stock and yields 2-3 mpg increase.

This is money well spent IMO.

 

My CAI/Tune did not change my MPG in the slightest.

 

My CAI & tune did not improve my fuel mileage either. But I can go from getting 22 MPG driving 75-80 to about 26+ MPG driving 65 without spending a penny on a mod. You're intent on justifying spending money to gain a small savings. Even in your example, you break even in 1 year and gain what, $500 the 2nd year? Hell I can do that driving about 5 MPH slower.

I drive my Stang maybe every other weekend and I've put 23,000 miles on it in the past 14 months so I know what 1 or 2 or even 3 MPG difference means to your wallet over the course of a year... Face it, we just like to spend $$ on our Stangs. I, for one, don't feel any need to hide behind the "economical" excuse. LOL! Just have fun.

 

To Nuke, I agree with you on the wheels but this was to be use in conjunction with all the other lightweight parts...not only to save on gas but increase performance....some of us here have already had bad *** hot rod's with romping cam's etc....

This car for me is a whole new ball of wax....I want to see what I can do it without going the normal performance route...I want to get it light as possible see what is like and go from there....

And believe me lightening up these cars make a big difference...

 

Definately, svt93style... As I stated in post #3 above, there are some tried and true weight related mods plus others, I'm sure. Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I'm not too worried about a few pounds and gaining an extra MPG or 2. I'm fortunate to be able to afford the Stang as a toy and not a DD and to use it to play. In actuality, the Stang is my distance driver and gets about 2-6 MPG better than my V6 SUV (providing I don't play TOO hard).

Good luck in your quest!