As a guy who likes driving cars on the track, although not a great that many, yet, I find it amusing to see how technology has been gained through the pinnacle of motorsport performance and then the same technology being applied back in day to day cars. One of the fundamentals for motorsport is weight shedding and as much as you can remove as many unwanted parts of your car, it comes to a point where you need to start looking at lighter materials but still meeting the same toughness and durability.
Carbon fibre is one of those known materials and we have from chassis being made from a carbon fibre monocoque, I am surprised to see how carbon fibre is now used to make rims. Yes, in a single piece. A company called Carbon Revolution has just done that and they have featured their technology which still meets German TUV standards. Did I mention that they are an Australian company? The company understands how to optimise the structural integrity and create the ideal stiffness for the ultimate performance. They have also developed techniques to ensure a consistent high-quality manufacturing process in the most critical automotive application. Backed by patents and many awards, the CR-9 doesn’t just look like the future of wheels, it is the future. And you can drive that future today!
So what does lighter wheel gives you? Basically it reduces your car’s unsprung weight and by also having lighter wheels, you get sharper cornering and quicker acceleration. Check out the videos to see what I am talking about.
Of course the only problem now is that because this is quite niche and production volumes may not necessarily be on the high side, I can safely assume that these rims would cost a bomb. But to me, it is about the technology and how it is paving the future. How? Think back about the BMW i3 and the BMW i8 which are made out of carbon fibre to save weight. Saving weight means you need less power to move the car and when paired with electric cars, this technology can definitely go a long way.
