Filed under: Aftermarket, Tech, Tokyo Auto Salon
Weds creates a 6.1-pound full carbon fiber wheel
Weds Sports, a Japanese wheel-maker, has created a full carbon fiber wheel -- rims, spokes, hub, everything -- that weighs 2.76 kg. Coming out to about 6.1 pounds, that's about half the weight of the Dymag carbon fiber wheel with a magnesium rim that you'll find on a Callaway Corvette, and just over a pound more than Dymag's all-carbon race-specific front wheel for a motorcycle.
According to a rough translation of Weds' literature, they use a dry carbon fiber process that makes the wheels strong enough for... well, we're not really sure. While the rims look absolutely ace, we can't find any other company that makes an entire wheel out of carbon fiber, and Weds apparently hasn't yet put them in production, which leads us to think that these babies were meant only for the scales at the Tokyo Auto Salon. But if you have $12,000 for a set of four, and you live in an area with no potholes and no curbs, these could be the rims for you.
[Source: Carbon Fiber Gear]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Wally 4:07PM (8/29/2008)
I saw some carbon fiber rims on a Z06 a few weeks back and i just couldn't help but wonder why someone would put these on a street car. One good pothole/expansion joint and you have one expensive blow-out.
Reply
ik 7:16PM (8/29/2008)
sorry, but you just don't understand the fundamentals of what it means to be a B.A.L.L.E.R
John P. 4:10PM (8/29/2008)
Your point about no potholes and curbs is a good one. While Carbon Fiber is strong, it's not great with impacts and just deeper than surface scratches.
I've seen a bunch of pro bicycle racing pics of cracked in two carbon frames. In the old days of Steel and Aluminum, bikes bent, but didn't have catastrophic failure like carbon does today. Trade-Offs I guess.
Those wheels are cool though. :)
Reply
Sandok 4:12PM (8/29/2008)
For 90% of people, looking cool and looking as if you got money is more important than practicality.
Reply
BigMcLargeHuge 4:42PM (8/29/2008)
While buying these for their looks would be pretty stupid, if they can hold up to any sort of abuse they would be a decent performance upgrade.
A set of these would save something like 60-70 lbs over a lot of the stock 18s you get on some performance cars. And even more than that for 19s and 20s.
Have any racecars used CF rims yet? Once that happens I'll be sold on their durability. But until then, thats a lot of money to be risking your life for.
xpolarx 5:03PM (8/29/2008)
Even racing on these rims is questionable, to me. Anyone who's ever gotten a little tail-happy on a race track and bounced off the rumble strip can tell you that it feels like you're jumping a curb. I broke a suspension rod doing it, and I have a feeling that if my rims weren't hard as a coffin nail (FN01R-C, ftw), it would have been lights out for the rim that made contact.
BigMcLargeHuge 5:16PM (8/29/2008)
Which is why I'm glad I said "if". :-)
Parkerman 4:20PM (8/29/2008)
*waits for the carbon fiber tire*
Reply
Will 4:28PM (8/29/2008)
Here you go.
http://www.goodyeartires.com/cfmx/web/gyeagle/browseTires.cfm?PRODLINE=1349
Bungle 9:43PM (8/29/2008)
*hates it when people use asterisks to talk about themselves in the third person*
Torrent 4:24PM (8/29/2008)
6 pounds? I'm sure those will crumble in no time.
Reply
Brent 5:12PM (8/29/2008)
6 lbs of carbon fiber is a lot... I think.
Torrent 2:22AM (8/30/2008)
They look to be pretty strong though.... I hope....
Brendan 4:32PM (8/29/2008)
The "practical" application for these would be as a race wheel. Cutting 5-10 lbs per corner and a correspondingly lower rotational inertia would be pretty nice. If you keep it on the pavement and shiny side up, you don't have to worry about potholes to destroy your investment... That said, a catastrophic failure instead of a bent rim at speed would be pretty ugly.
Reply
why not the LS2LS7? 4:33PM (8/29/2008)
Without a smooth metal rim, you'll have trouble getting the bead to seat correctly, and it likely won't hold air properly.
Reply
Benfolio 4:45PM (8/29/2008)
......because carbon fiber is not smooth??
why not the LS2LS7? 5:58PM (8/29/2008)
That's correct. And "dry" carbon fiber is even less smooth than "wet" carbon fiber.
Have you not had a good look at CF before?
Fast evo 8 6:37PM (8/29/2008)
dry carbon is smooth. and carbon wheels hold air no problem. we made them for our race car (lookup UT arlington formula SAE car). our carbon wheels in size 13" were about 3 pounds for the entire wheel, but we used aluminum spokes making the wheel 2 piece. the all aluminum wheels were more then double the weight.
heres a pic of the wheel on the car:
http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y34/homerdoh56/F06/?action=view¤t=f0616.jpg
Doug 8:30PM (8/29/2008)
I'm with fastevo. We had carbon rims on our FSAE car at Cal Poly (2 piece rims but all carbon). No problems sealing for air. It's all about tooling.
Derek 4:42PM (8/29/2008)
When do the Rota ones come out?
Reply