Lightweight wheel alternative

[Donkey]

Forgeline just announced and released some new wheels at sema. 2 of which have carbon fiber barrels, another mimics the somewhat generic R wheel design called the cv1, but will likely end up very close to the R wheel weight (I'll see if I can find out from Darren). Best part is these are all forged. I still cannot see downgrading durability on these cars if you plan to track it. After the face exploded out of a forgestar f14 on a light honda s2000 I'd have to pass on having them on a car that's close to 4000lbs.

Sponsored

 

[CSL]

I hadn't heard of the Forgestar failure. Anymore details on that you can share?

 

[Donkey]

I hadn't heard of the Forgestar failure. Anymore details on that you can share?

 

[firestarter2]

HAHAH him looking at his wheel fly away is epic.

But thats scary

 

[FPCV8YO]

I'm not sure that would have been my reaction.

 

[BlkGT3]

HAHAH him looking at his wheel fly away is epic.

But thats scary

I broke a rear wheel hub, not the wheel, on my TTD car going into turn 17 at Sebring. At that time I was along for the ride and all I could think of was did I torque the wheel studs as I watched the wheel pass the car. I did a 720 and ended up 10' from the tire wall.

Peter

 

[Competition Orange]

The s2k situation is one you guys should read up on.

All wheels fail, even the expensive brand name ones.

Wheels when raced, are a wear item, and should be inspected regularly for cracks/bends etc.

The GT4 wheels are gorgeous though. Money no object, those are the one's I'd buy.

 

[cjgt350]

The s2k situation is one you guys should read up on.

All wheels fail, even the expensive brand name ones.

Wheels when raced, are a wear item, and should be inspected regularly for cracks/bends etc.

The GT4 wheels are gorgeous though. Money no object, those are the one's I'd buy.

I have not once seen a true monoblock forged wheel fail from fatigue like a flow formed or spun forged wheel. Know what you are buying if you plan to track the car moderately to heavily and can't afford monoblock forged wheels stay with the stock wheels. A 4k lb car capable of the cornering loads these GT350's produce you are just asking for trouble IMO with less capable wheels. Occasional track or autocross you are probably okay. Your car...do what you want...but know the risks. And running anything other than street tires (like Hoosier R7's) on flow formed or spun forged wheels is probably not the best idea either. Anyhow not all will share my opinion but I am comfortable with having piece of mind with wheel strength.

 

[Donkey]

The s2k situation is one you guys should read up on.

All wheels fail, even the expensive brand name ones.

Wheels when raced, are a wear item, and should be inspected regularly for cracks/bends etc.

The GT4 wheels are gorgeous though. Money no object, those are the one's I'd buy.

If I had a set of forged wheels crack and fail after 15 track sessions in a very light car I'd be pissed. Iirc every wheel showed stress cracks on the backside. Of the spokes.

 

[cjgt350]

If I had a set of forged wheels crack and fail after 15 track sessions in a very light car I'd be pissed. Iirc every wheel showed stress cracks on the backside. Of the spokes.

Monoblock forged vs spun forged/flow formed are VERY different. Just saying they are forged wheels doesn't mean much unless you further define.

http://howeyindustries.com/wheel-construction/

 

[Zitrosounds]

Monoblock forged vs spun forged/flow formed are VERY different. Just saying they are forged wheels doesn't mean much unless you further define.

http://howeyindustries.com/wheel-construction/

its defined by the manufacturing process/brand and in the video

 

[jamesb1986]

Forgive me (and visual reasons aside) isn't the car designed to run on the wheels at the weight they are stock?

Doesn't changing the weight of the wheels change the feeling/character/performance of the car away from how it was built to run and doesn't this pose problems?

 

[censport]

Forgive me (and visual reasons aside) isn't the car designed to run on the wheels at the weight they are stock?

Doesn't changing the weight of the wheels change the feeling/character/performance of the car away from how it was built to run and doesn't this pose problems?

the lighter the wheel the better the performance. better acceleration, better braking, quicker steering. there aren't any cons to having lighter wheels, aside from strength. but a well built fully forged monoblock wheel will be almost as light as the factory R carbon fiber wheels and will be just as strong, if not stronger. there is a reason why Forgelines are around 1,600 per wheel, and that is before you get into custom colors.

 

[FlowForm_Wheels]

Forgive me (and visual reasons aside) isn't the car designed to run on the wheels at the weight they are stock?

Doesn't changing the weight of the wheels change the feeling/character/performance of the car away from how it was built to run and doesn't this pose problems?

Changing the weight of the wheels will have an effect on the performance of the car, but if we're loosing weight in this scenario, there will be benefits rather than drawbacks.

Loosing unsprung weight has the benefit of faster acceleration as well as better braking and handling. A heavier wheel will have the opposite effect and more so, to those who care about MPG, if a wheel is much heavier than your factory wheels, expect a decent dip in your mileage due to carrying around the extra weight and constantly trying to rotate the wheel with the additional load.

I would suggest anyone who is interested in diving into more aspects of the wheel making business, this is a great start to understand the processes. It's a longer video, but everyone I know who has watched this video has learned something new.

[ame]

 

[Zcobra1]

A few CCW and like fully forged wheels have also shown cracking/breakage...
Corvette forum had some reports of this.

However, these are from heavily tracked cars, who knows what they
hit, in any event even quality wheels can fatigue, and have to be checked
before events. A lot of people track the Forgestar and while there are failures,
they are considered decent wheels and no more prone to failure than
other non true mono forged wheels.

Maybe that is why the stock wheels are so heavy, Ford did not want claims
since they know people are going to track them, and overbuilt them......

I hope FINSPEED sorts out their legal issues, they are high on my list of wheels
and I have never heard of a Finspeed wheel failure.

Sponsored