Carbon Fiber rims
06-28-2006, 02:42 PM
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BMW 318is (E36)
Carbon Fiber rims
This may be out of place but I want to hear your opinions on carbon fiber rims, besides their price. Are they strong rims? Are they light enough to make any sort of noticeable performance/fuel economy difference since I know adding heavy chrome rims on SUVs kills fuel economy and performance.
Oh yeah, does anyone make carbon fiber rims for Benzes? I know the ricers have had them for quite a while
Oh yeah, does anyone make carbon fiber rims for Benzes? I know the ricers have had them for quite a while
Last edited by Remonster; 06-28-2006 at 02:46 PM.
06-29-2006, 03:50 PM
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Do a thread search!
I and many others have posted about CF wheels.
To answer your questions:
Yes they are extremely strong.
Yes they are extremely light (like 5-8 lbs).
Yes they add to every category or aspect of performance that having a lighter wheel improves.
Yes they are custom made/custom-ordered - so they will always, by definition, fit the car that you order them for.
They are expensive, starting out at about $2K apiece depending on spoke choice (you get to pick your own choice on spoke design and material - the spokes are not made of CF).
They had problems early on with them catching on fire from high rotor temperatures (such as after an hour or more on the track), but they have eliminated that problem now as far as I know.
There exist at least four manufacturers currently that I know of (haven't checked for more in the last 6 months): one in Illinois or Indiana, one in Texas, one in Missouri, and one in the Netherlands.
Here, to get you started, Autovelocity in Missouri's website is www.autovelocityinc.com if I remember correctly.
I and many others have posted about CF wheels.
To answer your questions:
Yes they are extremely strong.
Yes they are extremely light (like 5-8 lbs).
Yes they add to every category or aspect of performance that having a lighter wheel improves.
Yes they are custom made/custom-ordered - so they will always, by definition, fit the car that you order them for.
They are expensive, starting out at about $2K apiece depending on spoke choice (you get to pick your own choice on spoke design and material - the spokes are not made of CF).
They had problems early on with them catching on fire from high rotor temperatures (such as after an hour or more on the track), but they have eliminated that problem now as far as I know.
There exist at least four manufacturers currently that I know of (haven't checked for more in the last 6 months): one in Illinois or Indiana, one in Texas, one in Missouri, and one in the Netherlands.
Here, to get you started, Autovelocity in Missouri's website is www.autovelocityinc.com if I remember correctly.
