Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[Jason]

Supposedly these wheels will start shipping to the U.S.

14 pounds is great, but I wonder about their strength/quality


http://www.rennworx.com

[Ghunger]

Well, if they're designed well and produced well, they could be pretty good. I'd say track use only though. Any curb rash would be BAD on CF. Any damage would probably mean you'd have to buy a new outer rim at least.

[shimshimhada]

Yeah, if they produce it well, it should be really strong. The Carrera GT has forged magnesium wheels.

[obLu]

Magnesium is stronger and lighter than aluminum by a large factor ... I've heard conflicting reports that it's harder/more expensive to work with, and then other articles I've read say that it's actually easier and cheaper than aluminum but that the infrastructure doesn't exist.

And then there's the old 60's stories about them using pure magnesium for aircraft wheels and them bursting into flames.

I'm a little suprised at the carbon outer wheel, carbon doesn't bend it shatters. Any pot hole damage would be catastrophic.

[Ghunger]

Originally Posted by obLu

Magnesium is stronger and lighter than aluminum by a large factor ... I've heard conflicting reports that it's harder/more expensive to work with, and then other articles I've read say that it's actually easier and cheaper than aluminum but that the infrastructure doesn't exist.

And then there's the old 60's stories about them using pure magnesium for aircraft wheels and them bursting into flames.

I'm a little suprised at the carbon outer wheel, carbon doesn't bend it shatters. Any pot hole damage would be catastrophic.

Magnesium alloys are definitely more expensive to manufacture with than aluminum.

A pothole big enough to damage a CF rim would likely bend an aluminum rim as well, which would require a replacement on both accounts.

[tl_boy]

very nice, but yeah, magnesium wheels are $$$. Wow, 2.5k per wheel!! holy shiet. Makes the Z06 an even bigger bargain!

[Asiann]

Originally Posted by carlitosz

These wheels are stronger and lighter than any wheel out in the market. Do not be intimidated by the carbon fiber. These wheels are in the process of obtaining their DOT and TUV certifications and outperformed corvetted Z06 forged magnesium wheels. Price is about $2500 per wheel as of 2004. I don't know how much they are now.

Damn those rims are expensive!

[ward]

you can get motorcycle wheels in carbon, I guess it's just the progression of things


I wouldn't want to pay for them on my car though

[bavarian19]

Whats next, making the engine block out of CF?!?!?

[larryn]

I'll stick with my less than blingy 16.2lb $200 Koseis for the track. These don't look too suitable for street use. I save more than $1100/lb.

[MIKEYMIKE]

Originally Posted by bavarian19

Whats next, making the engine block out of CF?!?!?

The e90's is already made out of magnesium, maybe the next gen

[Ghunger]

Originally Posted by carlitosz

These wheels are stronger and lighter than any wheel out in the market. Do not be intimidated by the carbon fiber. These wheels are in the process of obtaining their DOT and TUV certifications and outperformed corvetted Z06 forged magnesium wheels. Price is about $2500 per wheel as of 2004. I don't know how much they are now.

I'm still skeptical. Most performance parts for cars have their roots in motorsport, so why are there zero cars in motorsport with CF anywhere on their tires? You'd think with the budget of an F1 team they would have tried it and used it if it was indeed better. All the F1 teams use 1 piece forged magnesium rims. Maybe there's some rule about it that I'm unaware of, but I've never seen a CF wheel in motorsport and CF has been around for a long time.

[JO3]

Originally Posted by Ghunger

Magnesium alloys are definitely more expensive to manufacture with than aluminum.

A pothole big enough to damage a CF rim would likely bend an aluminum rim as well, which would require a replacement on both accounts.

Aluminum wheels are very inexpensive to repair/remanufacture. Bent alloys can be straightened and balanced good as new.

Carbon fiber on the other hand....

[Ghunger]

Originally Posted by JO3

Aluminum wheels are very inexpensive to repair/remanufacture. Bent alloys can be straightened and balanced good as new.

Carbon fiber on the other hand....

That's not exactly true. You can't bend aluminum and then straighten it back out with out weakening it and/or causing cracks in it. You won't see any motorsport team at a decent level straightening and reusing bent rims. Scuffs and scrapes, sure, but not bent. That's why many teams use multi-piece wheels, so they can replace parts of the wheels and save money. F1 uses 1 piece wheels cause they have money to replace rims at will and the 1 piece wheels are lighter.

[JO3]

Originally Posted by Ghunger

That's not exactly true. You can't bend aluminum and then straighten it back out with out weakening it and/or causing cracks in it. You won't see any motorsport team at a decent level straightening and reusing bent rims. Scuffs and scrapes, sure, but not bent. That's why many teams use multi-piece wheels, so they can replace parts of the wheels and save money. F1 uses 1 piece wheels cause they have money to replace rims at will and the 1 piece wheels are lighter.

I was speaking more from a street use perspective. My relatively soft wheels bent within a year of purchase from the rough LA streets. They had a very noticable vibration when driving at speed that could not be balanced out. I had them repaired/remanufactured, and they came back perfectly balanced, and 2 years later have not been bent again. Seems as if they came back stronger than from the factory. I've heard many stories similar to mine as well.

At the track, it's a different story. They demand different levels of abuse, and require a higher level of percision, usually. With race team budgets, it wouldn't be worth it to repair.

But yeah, these aren't really "street" wheels anyway.