Quantifying the performance benefits of carbon fiber wheels
01-28-2016, 09:20 AM
#1
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
Quantifying the performance benefits of carbon fiber wheels
Car & Driver has a flawed but interesting blog post about their attempt at a performance test of the CF wheels on Ford's Mustang GT350R.
They tested acceleration times on the GT350R with it's CF wheels, and then tested the same car with the aluminum wheels off the standard 350. They found the CF wheel/tire combo from the 350R to be an incredible 58 pounds lighter. In top gear, they clocked improvements of 0.9 seconds in 30-50 acceleration and 0.8 seconds in 50-70 acceleration. In 4th gear, they clocked a 1.2 second improvement in 30-130 times. VERY impressive gains!
Note that these were all done in a pretty high gear to make measurement easier. Full-on quarter mile times would not be as significantly different.
Unfortunately, they were too lazy to test both wheels with the same tire. The CF wheel ran a Michelin Cup 2 and the aluminum wheel ran a Pilot Super Sport. There are differences in tire size (the Cup is shorter and wider) and in traction that clearly account for some of the improvement. Sadly, we don't know how much of the gain was wheel and how much was tire. That's what can happen when you get english majors instead of engineers to design your tests.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/tested-...-fiber-wheels/
They tested acceleration times on the GT350R with it's CF wheels, and then tested the same car with the aluminum wheels off the standard 350. They found the CF wheel/tire combo from the 350R to be an incredible 58 pounds lighter. In top gear, they clocked improvements of 0.9 seconds in 30-50 acceleration and 0.8 seconds in 50-70 acceleration. In 4th gear, they clocked a 1.2 second improvement in 30-130 times. VERY impressive gains!
Note that these were all done in a pretty high gear to make measurement easier. Full-on quarter mile times would not be as significantly different.
Unfortunately, they were too lazy to test both wheels with the same tire. The CF wheel ran a Michelin Cup 2 and the aluminum wheel ran a Pilot Super Sport. There are differences in tire size (the Cup is shorter and wider) and in traction that clearly account for some of the improvement. Sadly, we don't know how much of the gain was wheel and how much was tire. That's what can happen when you get english majors instead of engineers to design your tests.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/tested-...-fiber-wheels/
01-28-2016, 09:44 AM
#2
Super Member
I too would have preferred the same tire to be used. Based on those test parameters, it's a possibility that road course racers would see an overall improvement in their lap times.
01-28-2016, 12:37 PM
#3
Member
Not using the same tires makes the results from this entire test null and void.
However, I'm sure that shedding 58lbs of unsprung weight would make quite a notable difference.
However, I'm sure that shedding 58lbs of unsprung weight would make quite a notable difference.
