Carbon Fiber rims?

[budoboy]

I know this is probably a dumb question: I was just thinking about how lighter rims/tires are better for performance and I couldn't help thinking of CF rims. Obviously they would be light but what would keep you guys from making rims? Strength (resistance to cracking) and too much flex?

[TBYDaytona40]

I can just imagine a CF rim imploding at 80 on the freeway....

[spenosk8er]

snap crackle and pop... would look cool though, maybe like a steel spoked rim with carbon fiber surround

[sublime 781]

they do have them on race cars i think at this point it is cost prohibitive on a street car

[BOSChargerRT]

the lightest wheel you can get on the market right now are forged wheels...there is a company that makes a see thru rim, but i wouldn't trust them....as far as cf wheels, i have not seen them on the market yet...tommyzdesign was talking about making an overlay for his forged wheels...i'm still waiting to hear back from....later - jimmy
if you find anything out, please let me know....

[carchitect]

They surely can be done, an aerospace engineer professor when I was at KU (who was also the head of the composites lab) was doing some research on composite wheels for racing teams.

In order to even think about using a CF or composite wheel it would have to be built near MIL-SPEC standards. And cost a hell of a lot of money.

[mcinfantry]

http://www.rennworx.com/

[toxico]

This may be of interest: http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/23/featherweight-plastic-wheels-roll-closer-to-production/

[carchitect]

This may be of interest: http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/23/featherweight-plastic-wheels-roll-closer-to-production/

pretty neat. Material science and application is one thing that never ceases to amaze me.

I wonder what the application for rims like this would be? I can't imagine composite or CF would be good for a daily driver as composite while VERY strong haven't quite mastered the problem of delamination as a result of a blunt strike. I believe newer and better expoxies and pre-preg's are out there that do a better job but I can't really see a composite/CF rim handling some of the potholes that we have to deal with.

But I could definately see plastic coming into more use, but that would be wierd. There are a whole set of other issues that would have to be addressed like UV stabilization, brittleness due to heat, etc...

[budoboy]

Thanks Toxico, that is pretty cool!

[carbonbydesign.com]

This concept has actually been tossed around the shop a lot lately. It isn't as much a matter of the design, engineering, and R&D as it is the liability on them and getting DOT/SAE certified. Then of course there is indeed an issue with blunt force applied to a composite repeatedly. It may look fine afterwards but the end user has no way of checking if the rim is starting to have an internal failure. It would be a very fun project, but not something coming any time soon.

Rob

[wickedchargerrt]

i had some 16 inch hyperlites on my neon. they were 3 pounds each without tire. Best wheels i ever had. Keeping light weight would most likely keep od smaller than most charger guys want anywhos

[NYT]

funny you should bring this up now that sema is right around the corner. a company named (i think) ATR already builds carbon fiber wheels for motorcycles. at sema last year i believe they showed their one-off car wheels they had developed for a special edition porsche.

if i remember correctly, they said something about them being available for special orders sometime in 2008.

so yeah, they are out there, but watch out, they will be severely expensive.

[carchitect]

so yeah, they are out there, but watch out, they will be severely expensive.

I'm pretty sure severly would be an understatment. :grin: