Carbon Fiber Rims

[Xenoilphobe]

Guess who is exhibiting at SEMA on November 1st - with wheels!! 2016 SEMA Show Exhibitor Directory

 

[Xenoilphobe]

It might look like this --

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Or this

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Also note the price increase to $3000 per wheel.

 

[shokunin]

I dunno man, that lay up looks a bit sloppy. So much for high-tech Next Generation Autoclave Process marketing.

 

[FlatSix911]

Guess who is exhibiting at SEMA on November 1st - with wheels!! 2016 SEMA Show Exhibitor Directory

I may have to attend SEMA this year ...

 

[Tech_Guy]

Now available.. hmmmm I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[u00mem9]

Well, I think that proves it's not an intentional scam.

I'm still of the opinion that you couldn't pay me enough to travel over 20mph on those wheels at present.

 

[JPM]

Hello There,

I am new to this thread...but I am now on my second Tesla S.
I currently Drive a P85D with ludicrous Upgrade !
I call it the Batmobile since I had everything blacked out.
I ,l ike many others on this thread, wanted to reduce unsprung weight for performance and range.
After looking at several options and a lot of research: I decided to go with Fondmetal Wheels ( The company used to build F1 wheels).

I Specifically chose to the FONDMETAL® - 9RR Titanium (19" x 8.5", 5x120.65 Bolt Pattern, 72.62mm Hub) that fits the Tesla S !
9R-ACE Titanium / Fondmetal

Fondmetal Website
Catalogs / Fondmetal S.p.A.

Here are the OEM Weights.

Weights:

19" Wheels: 13.74kg ~30lbs each (according to a Tesla engineer)
19" All Season Tires: 27lbs each (according to Tire Rack for Eagle RS-A2 245/45 19")

21" Wheels: 35lbs
21" Continental ExtremeContact DW Tires: 26lbs"


My P85D came with the 21" wheels so my weight savings are as follows:

OEM 21” Wheels: 35.0 lbs.
OEM Tires 21” 26.0 lbs. (21” Continental Extreme Contact DW Tires)
OEM Total Weight 61.0 lbs

My new Setup :

Fondmetal 9RR 19’ x 8.5 21.1 lbs
Pirelli P7 30.0 lbs
Total Weight 19" 51.1 lbs.



To sum up I saved 9.9 lbs per wheel + tires…. or a Total of : 39.6 lbs.


I soon plan to change tires and go with the :

GOODYEAR EAGLE TOURING

• 245/45R19
• TO Tesla, SoundComfort Tech
• Sidewall Style: Blackwall
• Serv. Desc: 98W Tire Weight 25lb

And save an additional 5lbs. per wheel... or additional 20 lbs on the car.


To recap From Stock 21" wheels.. I changed to 19" FondMetal 9RR... and with the new tires I will save

59.6 lbs of Unsprung Weight on the Model S.


I almost went with the Carbon wheels but because of the unfortunate problems in production that I have read on this ( Terrific) forum, I went with 19" 9RR Fondmetal Wheels and Pirelly P7 tires (Comfort)...a less expensive option.
I am very happy with my choice... And the car drives much better in all aspects of acceleration, braking, and range.

I hope some of you choose this setup.
Please let me know your thoughts.

Best,
U00mem9

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Looks like they updated the website today. Www.eSEcarbon.com

 

[Tech_Guy]

thanks for that I see they increased the price as well. Looking through the website it seems they have also added the ability to use your own center caps "ESE Carbon Company caps come standard with E1 wheels, but if you have a set of your own you’d prefer to use, send us your caps and we will customize the center space of the hub to fit your preferred cap."

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Thats what I did. I sent them four center caps - back in 2012, I mean early 2016... (seems like four years ago)... Hoping to see these wheels by the summer of 2017... I think I am the only Tesla owner who hasn't gone into anaphylactic shock over the delivery date. I check in with them every couple of months to get an update. Hopefully after SEMA they will get their test results back and run a batch, so I can be a suicidal Kamikaze test pilot on these highly dangerous carbon fiber new-fangled wheels that could cause your car to spontaneously erupt into a flaming fireball - guess I will have to wear a flame retardant suit to work once they deliver these, or only drive 20 MPH due to the extremely dangerous engineering that uses Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA).

I may have to change my name from XenOILphobe to Kamikaze Carbon Fiber Wheel Road Kill.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

That smoke - I wonder if its bong hits -and the psychedelic kaleidoscope reminds me of a rave, the song Escapade by elevate, and the phallic Space Shuttle launch, did these guys move their manufacturing to Colorado? - It sure looks suspect or is that the brakes smoking from the excessive speed these wheels enabled???

So if this were a drug company the marketing message would be this wheel is combination of Hashish (compressed and purified resins), EXtacy (increased empathy, euphoria, and heightened sensations) and Viagra (Very hard, increases libido, improves performance)

Damn - their marketing team is wild - I would never get away with that in my industry! Their marketing team must be hanging out at Mango's in South Beach... in case you have never been there - the bartenders get up and dance on the bar to music sets...

 

[lolachampcar]

I was unwilling to give up a center cap on my application so I drew up a receiver and had it machined. I verified that my cap fit it correctly then offered to send it to the tech/engineer at the company that would incorporate the change. I was never put in contact with that person thus never sent in the ring.

It has been my experience that sending in such bits before they are used usually results in the bits being lost. I've learned to wait until the bit in question is needed then deal directly with the person making use of it to avoid any confusion.

 

[artsci]

Now available.. hmmmm I'll believe it when I see it.

They've always been available to purchase directly -- the only question was would they actually be made and delivered. A few photos of what appear to be a finished wheel doesn't get anyone much closer real ones on a real car.

Now that the ESE price has increased by a third I think the best strategy is to wait until other manufactures with more experience and resources start making CF wheels. That's likely not far off; the competition and demand will drive the prices sharply down. And we'll probably see more interesting designs that the ESE versions, which are quite ordinary.

 

[Tech_Guy]

One of my friends at SEMA sent me these

 

[Xenoilphobe]

wow... I wonder if you can PVD coat these rims? Looks like they have some QC to do based on un-coated raw CF wheel. I need to give them a call and ask this week...

 

[Tech_Guy]

Ya that's what my friend was saying as well that's why he took those closeup shots to show the imperfections to me. I'm pritty sure the manufacturer that makes cf rims for ford paints them all black as its hard to get that surface perfect.

If you look at the Koenigsegg wheels pictured below which are exposed cf they still have seams at the ends of the spokes where they contact the wheel barrel, I'd consider these the best looking exposed cf rims.

 

[u00mem9]

C channel spokes are the optimal shape based on advanced fea...might be time to upgrade the pentium III

I don't know how you guys are still able to take this seriously.

 

[lolachampcar]

I'm interested in that sharp angle where the spoke meets the hub. CRPs do not like such stress risers.