As we have seen from a number of our discussions, the 20" wheel sets that many of us have on the car appear to be serving as well placed rotating (and unsprung) boat anchors. It is time to consider the alternatives. Can anyone share any experiences they may have had with carbon fibre wheels? It appears on initial glance that the leading offerings are ESE and Carbon Revolutions. Any others we should be looking at?

 

I saw an article that indicated a set of the Carbon Revolution wheels would cost $15,000. You must be very serious to think about spending that much on a set of wheels.....


Larry

 

This is something I've looked into a little as I share the same interest. I reached out to Carbon Revilution recently after I saw them on that hill climb car; however they told me at this time they aren't making wheels for the F Type, so that doesn't appear to be an option.

I haven't looked into HRE (didn't know they offered them) but there is another company out there called ESE Engineering that will make you a custom set for $8k. They only have one design, and it is quite bland, but it's an option.

 

Yeah, given the exhorbitant prices, aftermarket CF wheels don't make sense at this point, except on world-class race cars. Ford probably got a sweetheart deal on the CF wheels they use on the GT350R.

On the other hand, it's probably possible to save 10-15 lbs. per wheel on a high-quality, after-market, forged set for at least 1/2 the cost. 40-60 lbs. of unsprung weight loss will probably make the car behave as if it's lost 200 lbs.or more of sprung weight.

 

Repost.

 

I would reach out to Enkei or Rays Engineering (aka Volk Racing) to see if they are willing to do a group buy on a custom set of wheels they already offer. They both offer forged or semi-forged wheels at reasonable costs.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r5ao9u6ld1...DUCTS.pdf?dl=0

 

ESE is "only" $8200 for a set of 4. Not as bad as I thought and certainly within a shout of a set of HRE/Vossen/D2. That's a full CF wheel with a 5 year warranty. Their FAQ states a 19x9 wheel is 12.75 pounds.

https://esecarbon.com/shop

Dymags are light and cheaper (CF barrel, aluminium face) but I couldn't find a US distributor.

 

I'm not that serious!
I can confirm as of today, the still don't have anything for the F-Type, but will put it on their list of interest (though I hope they aren't doing so on my account).

I edited my post above...I meant ESE. Yes, $8K for the set plus another $300 to custom bore the exterior hole to fit a Jag center cap. Bland, yes. Functional, yes.

+1 at $10k plus. At $8k I am thinking hard. However, it is rumored that just 2 companies in tandem (manufacture requiring 2 separate processes) currently produce all the CF wheels for the various wheel distributors. Can't confirm or deny at this time, but one of our forum members is providing me with a lead for a set in the $6k range. Not much different than forged wheels. (And maybe they have something not so bland.)

ESE shows the 20x9 wheels at 13# and the 20x11 at 14#. That's close to an 80# savings over our Gyrodynes.

Thank you.

Wheel Tech is another CF wheel distributor (manufacturer?)

 

Wonder what the SVR wheels will cost