Carbon fiber rims

[FCR]

A Japanese company by the name of Weds Sport has come up with the first full carbon fiber wheel. They unveiled the wheels with what they call their Dry Carbon Wheel Project at the last Tokyo Auto Salon show. One wheel weighs in at just 2.76kg, which works out to be 6.08 pounds. Interested in getting a set of these for your car? Expect to pay around $10,000-$12,000 for the set. Weds Sport’s display also featured a wheel with a carbon fiber face, but more than likely a forged aluminum wheel surrounding. This is probably a much cheaper solution, and potentially arguably better looks. There is some concern about a wheel being 100% carbon fiber that I’ve seen from people online…especially considering the weight of the wheel. Is it strong enough to support a car normally driving, let alone at a race track? What about the cost of repairing the wheel if something gets damaged? Does it need to get fully replaced, or can it be fixed for substantially less cost?

There is another company by the name of Dymag that makes carbon fiber wheels, but their hub is made out of magnesium. Apparently this is for strength reasons, which makes me think these fully carbon fiber rims should only be used for show cars.
If you have any insight, post your comments.

 

[deez]

Pretty sweet. With my experience with carbon the in bicycle industry, I think the wheels are an option if they are built correct. As with any material, there are many types of carbon fibers. They all have different properties and therefore, are better at some application than others. So first the company has to do the homework and r&d to make sure they choose the right fiber. Then they have to design the layup schedule to the carbon will handle the directional load of the wheel. Carbon fiber is great in that you can make a part stiff as hell in one area, flexible in another, just by changing the layup schedule. So as long as they so their homework with this, it will be strong enough for a track car. The downside is its impact resistance, which is not so good. So for street use, its not an option. And as for repair, forget it. A bicycle frame can be repaired, but you can't restore the layup to what it was and you lose the properties that were designed into the frame. The wheel would be more critical due to the weight and load of the car, so I would think you couldn't repair it. And when it breaks, watch out for carbon flying....they like to explode.

 

[Rausch]

Quote:
A Japanese company by the name of Weds Sport has come up with the first full carbon fiber wheel.



Hmm. Koenigsegg has been making them as an option for their cars for some time. They have also been available for Motorcycles for a bit now.

Cool though, but I'd be scared to run those on anyhting other than a dedicated track car.

 

[blacksheep]

Waitin for rota time attack version - screw y'all /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

 

[mitsuturbo]

6 lbs for an 18x9 wheel.. that's pretty damn light!

 

Quoting VRausch4:
Quote:
A Japanese company by the name of Weds Sport has come up with the first full carbon fiber wheel.



Hmm. Koenigsegg has been making them as an option for their cars for some time. They have also been available for Motorcycles for a bit now.

Cool though, but I'd be scared to run those on anyhting other than a dedicated track car.



I think the wheels that koenigsegg offers as an option are the dymags. Koenigsegg is not the manufacture though.

 

[Olson]

I know the swedish gobbstopper time attack car runs they dynamag on there race car.

 

[G]

Quoting blacksheep:
Waitin for rota time attack version - screw y'all /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

 

[Ralli380Gvr4]

$11,000 for a set ain't bad.

 

[14u2nV]

who would you trust to mount tires on them?

 

[streetmasters]

11k is maddness!

 

[RedTwo]

Wow! I just had a flash back to that GTO with Lexan wheels...

2.8kg for wheels sounds appealing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Olson]

Quoting 14u2nV:
who would you trust to mount tires on them?


I preaty sure there stout, like i said the top subaru team over the pond is running them with no problems.

 

Who's down for a group buy? I know a guy who knows a guy that could make some. hahaha

 

[Ted Andkilde]

This is what happens when you take porn away from engineers...

 

damn i want a set lol.. too baller for me tho

 

[curtis]

Quoting Ted Andkilde:
This is what happens when you take porn away from engineers...




/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif