JeffGarcia77 Posted May 2, 2008 Author Share Posted May 2, 2008 Wow, those are awesome wheels! What are the dimensions? 3.8 lbs. is amazingly light. Did you build them in house, or...? Makes me wonder why the OEMs who are producing hybrid cars don't install carbon fiber/metal wheels. The lighter the better when fuel economy is the main goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 damnnnnn What size are those wheels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roye@hrewheels.com Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 Dymags quality is top notch, I know their process for producing these wheels and the least I can say is that their equipment and process parallel a Formula 1 teams. I know a Z weighs a good deal more than a sport bike and exerts a different type of load on a wheel, but Dymag has been selling bike wheels for years and even meets the very stringent testing standards of the European TUV. True, they are very expensive but also very bad ass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 LOL, $8000 for a pair of rims?! I'm losing it. I totally agree with Jmortensen on this. $8000 for a plasma tv? Now look how much they go for. Just because the majority of people can't afford a new technology (like me, for example) doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. It's cool to know what's in the pipeline. And if I had an unlimited budget, I'd still spend it on my Z. Just because another car may cost more, why should that make it more desirable? Nigel '73 240ZT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 Flexicoker, how hard would it be to make a similar wheel for a Z? Or are you wary they will break on normal roads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calpoly-z Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 I don't have any pics right now, but the Formula SAE team at my school has been using CF wheels for at least the last year or so. Granted they are only 10 or 12 inches in diameter, but they are still made on campus. I did some CF manufacturing at a job I worked at last year and if you have a CNC machine to make the molds ,a vacuum source and an oven big enough, I wouldn't think it would be that hard to make a set of wheels, but it would still be quite expensive. Quality carbon fiber weave is around $50 a square foot or so, and it would take dozens of layers to build up a wheel that would be strong enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BQR280Z Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 The Dymag wheels are amazing, and super low unsprung wieght is awesome, but the price is definitely prohibitive. I have installed a couple of sets of these wheels on Ford GT's for a company I was working for, they are beautiful wheels. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSD Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 $8000 for a plasma tv? Now look how much they go for. Just because the majority of people can't afford a new technology (like me, for example) doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. It's cool to know what's in the pipeline. And if I had an unlimited budget, I'd still spend it on my Z. Just because another car may cost more, why should that make it more desirable? Nigel '73 240ZT Well, I wouldn't buy a plasma TV because they are still not as reliable as DLP or LCD, plus anything 1080i or p still looks amazing in HD or on blueray... anyways.. lol. I guess it all depends on what exactly you are doing, Last time I checked, our cars have classification problems with racing? I just figured with that amount of money you could buy an easier and better car to class, ( there are plenty of cars out there with double our horsepower stock to run with )correct me if I am wrong of course. Back to topic, for professional racing? I agree that these wheels would be an amazing addition to Any race car, and I am sure they are very strong at that, CF is extremely tough if layered and made properly. ( Look at CF driveshafts, some of those are holding up to 1000hp ) But, considering out community, I couldn't imagine anyone buying those, ( Not being offensive in any way )i'd rather take that 8k and swap an LS1 into my Z, or a powerstroke/cummins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexicoker Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 The UTA wheels are 13x6. It would cost more than $8000 to design and manufacture a different size of them. There is a significant amount of finite element analysis done to them, and a significant amount of trail and error in the lay up process. It uses a 4 piece aluminum and carbon fiber tool, so every surface is finished straight out of the oven. It just needs holes drilled and the resin flash removed from where the tool sections meet. You could cut corners and not analyze it in the computer first, and not use an outer tool, relying on vacuum bag instead. But they're going to be heavier than they have to be, probably not be as strong as they could be, and not seal very well. At 3.8 lbs, our wheels could be alot lighter if we had more advance analysis tools, FEA of carbon fiber is a huge amount of work because its anisotropic (different properties in different directions) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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