Comments on: Ultra light carbon wheels come stateside

By: Archidictus

Archidictus — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 22:44:59 +0000

Centerline makes 17 inch rims out of metal that are lighter than this, and companies like Spoon and Volk and even knockoff-kings Rota make **** that’s lighter-per-diameter.

I’m not sure if this is just an aesthetics upgrade or what, but I’ll bet they’re cost-prohibitive enough that I won’t ever care to find out =p

By: Carnut4ever

Carnut4ever — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 05:48:58 +0000

At least I know these wheels are here for a reason and built for a purpose unlike the chrome wheels with spinners that actually adds weight to a vehicle. Bleh..

By: BMW850

BMW850 — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 10:32:25 +0000

1c3d0g, you can take your red neck ass out of here

By: Bob Lastiri

Bob Lastiri — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 06:44:41 +0000

They’re going to be expensive. This company already make these wheels for motorcycles and they are expensive. Guess I’ll just keep my old stock Miata wheels that weigh 12 pounds.
Bob

By: Cameron

Cameron — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 04:22:01 +0000

i wouldn’t use these for two reasons i wouldn’t trust the technology in these and youll get jealos wankers that can’t afford them smashing them just to piss you off

By: steve

steve — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 03:19:47 +0000

If properly engineered and manufactured, carbon fibre is incredibly strong and incredibly durable. Magnesium is the same way. If these wheels are extensively researched, well built, and individually quality checked, they will be amazing, but if not, they can be a lethal combo.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 23:45:46 +0000

If the rim itself is carbon fibre, then most of the weight will be in the magnesium spokes, which are closed to the centre of the wheel. This would be very good for reducing the inertia of the wheel. Both acceleration and braking not only need to overcome the inertia (moving mass) of the vehicle itself, but the inertia (rotating mass) of the wheels. The less mass a wheel has, the less inertia it has, and the closer to the centre of the wheel the mass is, the less inertia it will have. I’d expect to see a noticeable improvement in acceleration and braking. It’s the same as lightening the flywheel or putting in a carbon fibre prop-shaft.

Koeniggseg do have carbon fibre wheels for their new CCX – http://www.seriouswheels.com/2006/2006-Koenigsegg-CCX-Wheel-1024×768.htm

By: The Stig

The Stig — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 22:05:54 +0000

The rim is pure c/f with mechanically bonded forged magnesium inner spokes/hub. Currently the state of the art.

By: ss

ss — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 21:43:46 +0000

maybe it is some kind of steal skeleton wrapped in cf? idk…im very intereted in these.

By: The Stig

The Stig — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 21:18:28 +0000

You’ll need good security bolts for these bad boys.

By: ss

ss — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 20:14:42 +0000

has anyone watched sport scar revolution? anyone remember when they did the big brake upgrade on the RSX. They lost 9HP at the wheels. though the rotors where lighter they were larger in diameter so it took more power to turn them. Putting bigger wheels on your car will also do the same thing…more weight farther away from the center. so i think this would work in the opposite direction. 14lbs off of each wheel would show a definite gain in acceleration and handling and probably the most significant would be brakeing. i couldnt imagine what a 911 turbo with the ceramic brakes and these wheels could do…

By: Barry

Barry — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 20:05:53 +0000

How efficient is this gas wise??? im not an expert at this stuff but would it shave times off 0-60’s??? It it dosent shave at least .3 its NOT WORTH IT.

By: JMa

JMa — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:53:41 +0000

I wonder how many fat people will spend a fortune buying these, when all they would need to do is shed a few pounds for free.

By: ss

ss — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:09:38 +0000

I saw a Ducati 999r with 60 grand into it(the guy owned the Ducati dealership) that had completely Carbon Fibre rims. Half of the rest of the bike was Carbon too. But the weight of the bike vs car makes a difference.

By: zerome

zerome — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:08:00 +0000

I thought the Koenigsegg CCX also has an option for carbon fiber wheels although i don’t know if they are 100% CF or part of it.
If this company is also doing it, then there probably is something to it.

Maybe more companies will start experimenting with it and try and see if they can make it more fesible for every day use.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:38:45 +0000

slightly off topic…

I love the videos of the idiots who try to use a cutting torch, rather than a saw, to remove the magnesium runflats off the hummer beadlock rims…
pure comedy I tell ya!

By: ZenDriver

ZenDriver — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:23:52 +0000

C/F is very strong per pound, but the structure of the material is totally different then the metal it replaces. A layer of C/F cloth is only strong in one direction, so you need to engineer the part in a CAD system that uses computational dynamics and analytics to tell you exactly how to layer those parts up. Even then, C/F does not take multiple impacts very well- smack a C/F part with a hammer once or twice and it will look just fine… smack it a third time (with the same force) and it will shatter. Not only do C/F parts fail dramatically, but a C/F part provides no visual indication that it has lost it’s structural integrity.

Making a C/F wheel is a non-trivial engineering task. Unless these Dymag guys have a lot of capital to properly engineer and test the hell out of these things, I would be a bit hesitant to put these on a car for road or track use. Using some unknown, style over substance, German 2 Fast 2 Furious importer with a stupidly spelled name doesn’t exactly instill a lot of confidence either. If they had gotten Fikse to import them, I might take notice.

By: tim

tim — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 17:19:12 +0000

The Carbon is stronger than steel PER POUND. Equal masses of carbon vs steel have far different volumes. If you want to go for just per pound strength then plywood is 2x stronger than steel. Race cars have been using magnisum for years in rims and even engine blocks. It was outlawed in engines in the la mans because a block caught fire in a crash and killed 83 people. It is one moler weight lighter than titanium. Reducing weight for your car is important and adds a trivial amount of speed. But reducing weight on the wheels, that would be amazing. These rims could improve highway mpg 10-20% for any car.

By: ss

ss — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:54:22 +0000

cause C/F doesn’t crack, it shatters. when a normal wheel might get a bend in it these will explode into 1000s of glass like shards. Would be scary as hell to have a wheel explode on the highway. you would be 3 wheeling it!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:41:10 +0000

Why wouldn’t they hold up to abuse?

Carbon-fiber is stronger than steel.

I would be more worried about the magnesium.

By: Renton

Renton — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:40:43 +0000

…and the cost goes up big big time. If you can afford it go for it, but like carbon brakes, they will give you back the most at the track. On the street most of these superbeasts are fast enough.

By: ss

ss — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:36:46 +0000

“But will they hold up to abuse?”
my thoughts exactly…they cant be very cheap to produce. the article says “carbon fiber/magnesium” so maybe the CF is only used sparingly…idk I would like to see a set up-close.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:35:47 +0000

Do they have to come in blue? Ugh…

By: Malbar deutsch

Malbar deutsch — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:22:44 +0000

I want it for my golf GTI

By: 1c3d0g

1c3d0g — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:17:37 +0000

Awesome. But will they hold up to abuse? ‘Cause there are some *very* bad roads here…

By: ramrod003

ramrod003 — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:16:13 +0000

I think you mean sweet.

By: Foster

Foster — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:11:29 +0000

sweat