3D-printed titanium wheel!
Veteran Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,043
Likes: 661
From: Detroit, MI
Too bad it’s hideous.
I would imagine the weight of this wheel is so minuscule it would mess up suspension dynamics/tuning because of how much unsprung weight was lost. I’d be seriously concerned about ride quality.
I would imagine the weight of this wheel is so minuscule it would mess up suspension dynamics/tuning because of how much unsprung weight was lost. I’d be seriously concerned about ride quality.
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 121
Likes: 27
From: The Minneapple
?!
Veteran Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,043
Likes: 661
From: Detroit, MI
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 121
Likes: 27
From: The Minneapple
Your concern about ride quality due to less unsprung weight. Is less unsprung weight not one of the top goals of/for a performance car?
Veteran Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,043
Likes: 661
From: Detroit, MI
Oh it absolutely is... but when designing a car with that goal in mind, the OEM designs the suspension/chassis to match the low unsprung weight. If you throw these wheels on that weigh 3x... 4x... 5x... less than the factory wheels, your shock tuning is going to be way off and your spring rate probably would need to change too for ideal handling and ride. This isn’t something that can be easily fixed without custom shocks and springs. And even that might not be enough to get it back to stock ride. A few pounds per corner with lightweight wheels is relatively tolerable, but these wheels might reduce wheel assembly weight by over 50%, including the tires and that’s a huge change.
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 121
Likes: 27
From: The Minneapple
Oh it absolutely is... but when designing a car with that goal in mind, the OEM designs the suspension/chassis to match the low unsprung weight. If you throw these wheels on that weigh 3x... 4x... 5x... less than the factory wheels, your shock tuning is going to be way off and your spring rate probably would need to change too for ideal handling and ride. This isn’t something that can be easily fixed without custom shocks and springs. And even that might not be enough to get it back to stock ride. A few pounds per corner with lightweight wheels is relatively tolerable, but these wheels might reduce wheel assembly weight by over 50%, including the tires and that’s a huge change.
Veteran Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,043
Likes: 661
From: Detroit, MI
HRE is one of the only aftermarket wheel companies that engineers their wheels to an OEM level. They put a considerable amount of resources and testing into developing wheels for actual road use. Extensive CAD work and R&D go into each design, which is part of the reason they’re so expensive. HRE is one of the only aftermarket companies I’d consider buying from.
Veteran Member
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 3,082
Likes: 773
From: Pennsylvania
I agree it's a proof of manufacturing concept as much as design concept effort. I really appreciate the tech here and it shows how much innovation is possible with new materials and processing.
yes, but not too difficult to run the math and get the right spring and damping rates installed.
Veteran Member
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,043
Likes: 661
From: Detroit, MI
True, but that means custom springs and customer dampeners. The average person won't be willing to do that.
Veteran Member
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 3,939
Likes: 1,304
From: Northern California
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 167
Likes: 45
From: Antwerp area / Belgium
HRE is one of the only aftermarket wheel companies that engineers their wheels to an OEM level. They put a considerable amount of resources and testing into developing wheels for actual road use. Extensive CAD work and R&D go into each design, which is part of the reason they’re so expensive. HRE is one of the only aftermarket companies I’d consider buying from.
Still, the vid still only shows it can be done, and to what possible extend - if HRE would have created a wheel good enough for real life use, that would be shown as well.
This is imo for now at least, just to showcase HRE's skills.
One can build a rocket, but make it go to the moon is next level.
Veteran Member
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 1,323
Likes: 483
From: S.W.Florida
A wheel like this is not going to be installed on a bare bones, off the shelf stock shock equipped card. If you have to ask the price......
The owner will not be worrying about who cleans the wheels either. Suffice to say, These wheels will be on a rather custom application that will get pampered between drives.
The owner will not be worrying about who cleans the wheels either. Suffice to say, These wheels will be on a rather custom application that will get pampered between drives.