0.03 mph over another rider is another ~2.6 ft added to the gap every minute, which is certainly significant.

Not only that, but given that OP is talking about the subjective feel of heavier wheels, not any sort of performance benefit. The question to be asked regarding acceleration isn't whether it results in any sort of serious advantage, but if it results in a great enough difference for the OP to feel when accelerating. It's entirely possible that the threshold for sensing a difference is far below what your or I would consider significant in terms of performance.