Tried a quick search- no luck: Does weight of wheels really make much of a difference?

burrpenick said
Seems like it being unsprung weight that it would, but how? Does the car ride better over rough surfaces w/lighter wheels? Stop and start better? I once thought that most alloy wheels were not that much lighter than the stock steel or rallyes, so whats the experts say......and some hard numbers would be nice to see. And throw in aluminum and mag wheels too? And how about the drag wheels that are even lighter- and maybe not street legal if one were concerned........

I didn't read though all the posts first, but yes losing rotating & (some reciprocating weight) makes a difference (my guess is a tiny difference important only to Racer$). Historically racers went so far as to use magnesium rims, kevlar drive shafts (& kevlar wrapped aluminum drive shafts), GM had aluminum blocks in 69/70?, etc. If I remember correctly, Smokey Unich (sp?) of chevy fame said that lightened pushrods and lifters do not do anything though.