Can't believe Ford cheaped out on this

[NicksGTR]

I was looking at a set of Dark Horse wheels for my 2022 and couldn't believe Ford put cast aluminum wheels on the base DH. How stupid and foolish. Over 60 grand for a performance car with cast aluminum wheels.

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[Gen 6 Mach1]

Most folks that purchase the Performance level ( DH , Mach, GT350 ,GT500 ) don't track them , so a heavy cast wheel is not an issue. They are nice looking wheels, and if the owner decides to track the car , lighter wheels are on them . The cost would be passed on if Ford installed better wheels.
Again in most cases they're not needed.

 

[John S]

Don't think these discussions weren't, and aren't, still debated within Ford. I had the misfortune to be involved in a meeting where this exact topic of Forged vs Cast (and flow-formed) was debated on the Bronco Raptor Program and the penny pinching culture comes straight from the top, even on special programs marketed to enthusiasts.

 

[9secondko]

I was looking at a set of Dark Horse wheels for my 2022 and couldn't believe Ford put cast aluminum wheels on the base DH. How stupid and foolish. Over 60 grand for a performance car with cast aluminum wheels.

Welcome to the S650 generation.

 

[Zathras]

I'm not that surprised...the base C8 Corvette and BMW M2 come with cast wheels and they cost even more than a DH.

It bothered me more that for years Ford put skinny 8" wide wheels with 235 mm all season tires on the Mustang GT as standard equipment. Not nearly good enough for safely harnessing 460 HP.

 

[Clover]

You have a point to an extent, but the DH is already too expensive in many peoples opinion and nicer wheels would have raised that even more. I'd just look at those as my winter setup and get myself a summer set for fun that will be lighter and more to my style.

 

[kz]

I was looking at a set of Dark Horse wheels for my 2022 and couldn't believe Ford put cast aluminum wheels on the base DH. How stupid and foolish. Over 60 grand for a performance car with cast aluminum wheels.

?? Ford is in business of making money so it absolutely is not stupid or foolish on their part. Those wheels are also perfectly fine.
Widely used Apex wheels are also cast aluminum ("flow formed") and are perfectly fine - on track as well. Most what typically Ford provides is heavy and sturdier than Apex for example.
Want Forgelines ? Would be +$10k on the price...

 

[Cobra Jet]

Most people ditch the factory rims for better quality or lighter rims (for those that are keeping the car long term and modify them).

The other group of people don’t even care what type of rim is on the car or what it’s made of, they buy the car because they want a Mustang and certain trim levels…

 

[NicksGTR]

Most folks that purchase the Performance level ( DH , Mach, GT350 ,GT500 ) don't track them , so a heavy cast wheel is not an issue. They are nice looking wheels, and if the owner decides to track the car , lighter wheels are on them . The cost would be passed on if Ford installed better wheels.
Again in most cases they're not needed.

?? Ford is in business of making money so it absolutely is not stupid or foolish on their part. Those wheels are also perfectly fine.
Widely used Apex wheels are also cast aluminum ("flow formed") and are perfectly fine - on track as well. Most what typically Ford provides is heavy and sturdier than Apex for example.
Want Forgelines ? Would be +$10k on the price...

Huge difference between flow formed and cast.

 

[NightmareMoon]

I was looking at a set of Dark Horse wheels for my 2022 and couldn't believe Ford put cast aluminum wheels on the base DH. How stupid and foolish. Over 60 grand for a performance car with cast aluminum wheels.

Well for what it's worth. the car weights, what, 4000 lbs? Cast wheels weigh an extra like 10lbs per corner, so 40lbs total? So that's ~1% more weight, which won't show up in nearly any performance metric, and they definitely save a few bucks. yes I know its unsprung rotating mass (which is the worst kind), but my point is the car is NOT a Lotus Elise, its heavier than some small trucks.

98% of mustang owners don't know the difference between cast aluminum, flowformed wheels, and forged wheels. They're buying the Dark Horse because Chevy doesn't have a Camaro in production and if it did they'd buy the mustang because the visibility is better and its got a trunk, not because of the OEM spec wheels.

Strength between a good cast heavy wheel barrel and a flowformed or forged barrel is about the same since the cast barrels use more material to make up for the softer material strength. The engineers spec for strength in both cases and weight is what you get.

I agree its dumb, but the penny pinchers gotta pinch pennies.

 

[lo-fi]

Unsprung rotational masss requires a multiplier so it’s quite a bit more than 40 pounds if ten pounds per corner. You can get 20 to 24 pound flow formed wheels from Apex and others and I think a nice set of light weight wheels is one the best mods that can be done to this car.

 

[D Bergstrom]

I was looking at a set of Dark Horse wheels for my 2022 and couldn't believe Ford put cast aluminum wheels on the base DH. How stupid and foolish. Over 60 grand for a performance car with cast aluminum wheels.

GT350 came with cast wheels, GT500 came with cast wheels. Had to go with the GT350R or get the track package on the GT500 for carbon fiber wheels. At one time, you could get optional carbon fiber wheels with the Dark Horse, but no longer an option when you build one on Ford’s website. Want a Dark Horse with lighter wheels from the factory? Will need to step up to the SC.

Doug

 

[NightmareMoon]

Use about 1.75x for unsprung wheel weight versus sprung weight.

 

[T Fades]

As said above, the strength between stock cast aluminum, flow formed, and forged will be similar. The benefit is weight, where material can be taken out of the flow formed to achieve the same strength as OE cast, resulting in a lighter wheel of the same strength. Forged wheels can have even more material removed, be even lighter than flow formed, while maintaining or improving strength.

My OE wheels were the 18x8 cast aluminum with 235/50/18 tires. These were 55 lbs each corner. I upgraded to Apex 19x10 flow formed wrapped in 275/40/19. While the new set up is quite a bit bigger/wider, they weighed in at 53 lbs per corner, achieving much better grip.

 

[ShadesOfBloo]

I'm not that surprised...the base C8 Corvette and BMW M2 come with cast wheels and they cost even more than a DH.

It bothered me more that for years Ford put skinny 8" wide wheels with 235 mm all season tires on the Mustang GT as standard equipment. Not nearly good enough for safely harnessing 460 HP.

Heck, on the GT-PP1, the 255 front treads are barely adequate for track use.
Ford knows it, and that's why the GT350 and Mach 1 HP come with wider tires than that.
I fully expect a 20 minute lap session to beat the out of my front tires.

...But they probably also know those of us even considering a track day are a small minority.
A lot more Mustang owners will use their car to make rumbly V8 noises while they cruise around at 2000rpm. They'll care less about their cars' cornering ability, and care more about the cost of new tires.

Those owners might even talk sh!t to me about something being "wrong" with my tires, because they didn't last 40,000 miles like their all-season 235s.

So, while you and I know that the standard 235s are too small (and too hard) for a car with this power and weight, Ford has decided people like us should pay extra for performance packages and whatnot.

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