Teaser pics of the World's Lightest 20" 100% Carbon Fiber Wheel made for oem fitment. 20" x 8.5 + 114.3mm 38mm backspacing, You are seeing here the prototype initial design we made, we oversized the spoke pattern, because we did not know what the failure point would be so we started off safely. After many years of trial and error, finally we have a wheel design that passed CALDOT side impact testing it will be unveiled at SEMA 2013 if your lucky enough to be in the industry stop on by...more spoke patterns and wider rear and front options being developed as you read this..were running it on an 06' Mustang GT Vortech Blown and I should have a set on my Blown G after the show and here is what we notice so far:
-incredibly easy to make a turn of any kind, car feels like it floats up front
-hp increase definately noticeable,video dyno testing with stock and CLW wheels to come soon
-improved breaking and reduced brake components wear
-increased fuel economy, once you remove a lot of unsprung weight from stock wheels
no pricing till after SEMA, but if you own a Show Quality Skyline GTR in Vegas,your csar could be sporting these at our booth at the show...once we complete those molds...
so whatya guys think........stupid and ignorant responses will not get a reply.. if you're near Orlando FL let me know and you can see the prototype in person anytime

 

long term inner city DD duty road test

 

Kingbaby, that is exactly what we are doing right now, testing and video on the "drunk strips lane" the road markers, were going to show it hitting pot holes too, stay tuned to our progress blog http://carbonlinewheels.blogspot.com...-lightest.html

 

also for the Z crowd we want aggressive 17/18/19 setups...oem fitment doesn't cut it around here

 

 

Dreamcar, How is the (blue) aluminum hub center part attached to the carbon? Bonded, interference fit, both, is there another similar part on the inside of the wheel creating a sandwich effect? Also it doesn’t appear to be a very deep well in the rim, does this make it difficult to mount a tire? Good luck with this venture, hopefully you’ll get these on the market soon.

I do have a set of carbon fiber wheels for my bicycle and adore all the advantages. Would love to have them on a car.

 

hey op goodluck on venture. can you post the weight? not sure if its the pic or res of my screen but i cant read the digital scales. +1 on what king said on fitment for the Z

 

Looks like it says 13.87 lbs on the scale for the CF rim.

 

Interesting...
Of course,CF wheels are being used on many of the big buck supercars.
The limited Lambo Veneno has some fantastic ones.As already mentioned,
several questions come to mind.Of course fitment(proper offsets).Looks...
I understand your prototype design(looks like a hubcap)is for testing only.
Lastly,PRICE.I'd hate even to ask what the Lambo wheels cost.
You may have a ready market,regardless of the looks from the track guys
due to the weight.I'd be interested if the design was unique and blended well
with the lines of the Z.As I've got a bunch of CF on my car,it is light,strong,
looks great.But its unforgiving when it comes to hitting a curb.

 

HRE and SAVANI also have CF barrels. Good luck with your testing but a huge issue (im mechanical eng) is the heat (from brakes) + change in angular torque (accelarating during a turn) that will limit your spoke design, including cost. that is why other big companies just do CF barrels and then do aluminium spokes wrapped. It weighs a little more (vary little) but the gains in safety is huge.

if you google full CF GT race wheels that break and snap, its mostly due to the issue above.

 

we went with this initial design to test for failure, now we can dial it back and create better looking spoke patterns, we will be unveling 18,19 and 20 front will be available in 8.5, 9.5 and rears will go from 8.5, 9.5, 10, 11, 12 so we can get these on Zr1's and Z06 vettes, just got our Go Pro equipment and were already doing daily driving filiming in the real world environment and we will massively test pothols, we have already done so and noticed huge difference in how these react, they disipate the impact way better than a metal wheel. Eventually we want to compete price wise with Titanium wheels , flat carbon look will also be available for lower cost options, again no pricing till after SEMA

 

Jennifer2 see pics of the inside of the wheel, don't want to discuss the details of how we do what we do on the back of the wheel yet, but suffice it to say, it will be difficult to figure it out, more going on in the back then meets the eye...I will say your exactly on the right track with your questions, but again we overbuilt the back to test to extreme failure (your very smart with your questions) we intend to build both concave patterns and also deep dish for all us Nissan guys, follow the progress blog Jennifer 2 and thanks for the input very much what our Mechanical Engineers need to see http://carbonlinewheels.blogspot.com...-lightest.html

 

stock wheel weighs 37.30 lbs on the scale, our CF wheel came in at 13.87 like TuckerE said so we already shaved 23.43 lbs off each wheel and now we can even go lighter since we have finally figured it out...my apologies, i thought the pics allow you to click and see them enlarged, great questions, keepem coming guys, our mechanical engineers are excited to see the feedback and are taking notes

 

Jcity, yes, we will offer proper and custom offsets, looks we will have flat carbon for drag and drift racers at lower costs and yes, we have to come up with designs that our cnc machines can make to look good with the body lines of our cars, now as far as the dreaded "curbing issue" when a metal wheel "curbs" it, it scrapes the metal finish bad, ours first has to wear thru a very heavy coat of industrial aerospace clearcoat we use currently for military projects elsewhere, it can take a bad scrape but the structural integrity of the wheel remains solid...the CALDOT side bead impact test was done at weight and pressures in excess of 2G's of side-force impact...were discussing how we can repair the wheel by removing the damaged lip area and already have plans in contingency for repairs of our wheels...were not just gonna sell it and not stand behind it, thanks Jcity, our Mech Engineers have had 10 years work on this project before this year

 

Any "ball park" or,price range for your wheels?
Also,(you may have already mentioned?)what is your estimated time line
when the wheels would be available to the public?

 

Muzzy great to see another smart mechanical engineer ask the right questions, we made CF barrel wheels only during R&D pics to come...as far the heat is concerned, track torture testing at sears point/infineon raceway has allowed us to basically smoke thru our brake pads ( after long sessions) the good thing as you well know, is how great at dissipating heat carbon fiber is and you are correct... but HRE and Savini wheels have never attempted to make the whole wheel in CF, as far the change in angular torque, it is taking everything we can throw at it on the track with a 505 hp blown Mustang GT, but were looking to partner with Von Gitten to let him drift thrash these wheels with his Nascar engine powered Drift Car to the extremes stay tuned and thanks for the really smart questions

 

as far as pricing, were going to see after all our torture testing where we need to be price wise, were aiming for an eventual relationship with the OEMs to produce everyday use wheels that will help them meet federal fuel efficiency and mileage guidelines that will come in effect in the next 3-5 years time, reduce reciprocating mass weight and improve fuel economy, we like to price over Premium Titanium wheels for just a few K more in full CF, of course a ZR1 wheel will be more expensive because of rear 12" wide fitment but we built this initial design to fit an oem car so the less radical the wheel offset, backspacing the better the pricing, wish I could give you a price but were working hard to develop pricing based on sizes for SEMA 2013, we want a HRE and Savini potential buyer spending 7K on GTR Wheels and Tires to consider these, for not that much more...full production capabilities by November in time for SEMA show

 

Depending on the designs you come up with,a 3X3 twill pattern may look better.
Again,the wheel you have shown has a larger twill thus this will tend to
look "wavy" in parts.As design is what I do for a living,I sure can visualize
some designs that would blend well with CF.IMO,you are moving in the right
direction with a "flat" wheel.CF does not lend itself well with traditional styles.
A contemporary look is best.The use of cut outs will give a flat wheel texture/

 

especially pothole testing for you to see, to come soon via video, since you seem to be experiencing this a lot in Hawaii

 

even if I wanted them I'd never be able to afford them...

it's just a question bond to be asked with wheels of this make...