UpFixenDerPorsche

Watch this space:

http://www.carbonrev.com/about/

http://www.halltechsystems.com/Default.asp

..

TexasDude74

What's the price on the wheels? $4k a piece?

UpFixenDerPorsche

Hey TexasDude. Funny you should ask.

Have just discovered this and my eyes started bleeding. OMG $15K/set from Haltech.

Good value for a racing team but beyond the pail for my geek budget. Sob sniff bawl.

$4k apiece! Wow! You may have scored a bargain. As for me: I'm patient. Not one of those "new technology adopters".

Price will one day drop below that of alloy wheels as the "alloy mentality" escapes from "The Foundry Box", with companies realising their business is actually about allowing vehicles to roll more easily, rather than being expert alloy casting/forging foundries.

FBIII

I wonder how they will fix curb rash on a carbon fiber wheel.

69gaugeman

Wow. Me likey. Except the price.....

UpFixenDerPorsche

I'm sure $4k apiece will greatly increase your kerb proximity awareness. LOL LOL LOL.

Local sheriff:
-"You own this car? "
-"Yes Sir".
- Mind tellin why it's parked in the centre of Main Street?

Smirk larf guffaw.

Tom in Austin

Very interesting! Wouldn't you think racing would be one of the first applications? Are there rules that prevent people from racing a carbon fiber wheel?

hacker-pschorr

Can anyone find out the exact weight? I figured it would be in the FAQ

http://www.carbonrev.com/faq/

Only found this:
WHAT DO THEY WEIGH?
A: CR-9’s are between 40-50% lighter than the OEM aluminum wheels they replace, and just as tough. Carbon Revolution offers performance without compromise. CR-9’s on a Porsche 911 reduce the unsprung rotating mass by almost 20KG!

That's 11lbs per wheel lighter.
OEM wheels can vary greatly, are they comparing to the heaviest 19", holly spokes......?

UpFixenDerPorsche

Good question, but if you dig into CF structural properties you'll find that the worst examples of alloy wheel strength are still far below any CF equivalent.

I mean what hi-tech business today could survive on a diet of bull****? Money launderer's perhaps?

Speedtoys

I would hope so, but doubt it.

The materials cost of an alloy wheel is maybe $50...and a lot of automation.

Lots of supply line margin to remove if CF wheels ever get within -1- order of magnitude the cost of alloy wheels to manufacture.

Speedtoys

The reality of racing is that wheels hit things, a lot.

Besides, losing unsprung weight is a good thing, but dramatically decreases in benefits every time you upshift..making it nearly pointless above 2nd gear.

UpFixenDerPorsche

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo ... !

You're looking (validly) at only the rotational inertia issue. But the real benefit is the road-holding benefit: lighter wheels track the road surface more closely: = better traction all round: braking, accelerating and cornering.

You're looking only at the rotational inertia aspect ie that the reflected rear wheel rotational inertia (to the crankshaft) is the inverse function of the square of the overall gear ratio.

Got that?

Thought so.

69gaugeman

Sorry, not correct. Take a bicycle tire and hold the axle. Then spin the tire and try to move the tire in any direction. The faster the tire spins the harder it is to change direction. Reducing this mass by that much makes turning easier and under steer is reduced.

Braking that rotational mass is in addition to the weight of the car as well, so stopping distance is reduced.

Many benefits to this. I want a set!

Speedtoys

Great chat about gyroscopes.


But thats not the same a unsprung mass for acceleration.

Speedtoys

I do. And again, minor..although, yes, the math will show less mass reacts to road surfaces better.


Now..who wants a set of bang-em-up CF wheels on YOUR race car?

Show of hands?


That's right..bad idea.