Hansen
Ford has just come out with a press release detailing the 2017 Ford GT’s new all carbon fiber wheels. The wheels have been sourced by Carbon Revolution, a privately owned Australian company specializing in carbon fiber wheels. If they sound familiar to you its because Ford has once teamed up with them before for the GT350R exclusive carbon fiber wheels. It looks like this B2B relationship has been pretty successful to warrant another romance for the highly anticipated, very expensive, and very limited hyper car.
Dave Pericak, Ford Performance global director and the chief engineer behind the sixth generation Mustang, stated in the press release:
Ford was the innovator as the first to offer a mass-produced carbon fiber wheels as a standard offering on Shelby GT350R Mustang. Now, Ford GT will offer the next generation in carbon fiber wheels, with an advanced resin and fiber technology that gives our designers more freedom, while also showcasing the structure of the material’s weave.
The pictures say it all, the naked carbon fiber looks magnificent on its own and will make the Ford GT look even more menacing. It really is a shame the GT350R’s carbon fiber wheels have been finished in black, because why not flaunt the wheels when you have handsomely paid for it?
The process for making carbon fiber wheels is quite interesting, but it seems Carbon Revolution have found a better blend of carbon fiber and resin to allow for more intricate designs. Unlike the Koenigsegg’s One:1 carbon fiber wheel, the Ford GT’s version has a 10 spoke design that looks more like a traditional wheel.
Besides looking totally handsome, there are a ton of advantages of having a much lighter wheel. Not only is the overall weight of the vehicle reduced by a significant amount, the drivetrain doesn’t have to work as hard to rotate a heavier wheel. The reduction of unsprung weight means the vehicle will have faster acceleration, shorter braking distances, and generally better mobility. If you want to physically feel what this difference is like, try running in steel toed boots versus dedicated running shoes.
Ford also claims the carbon fiber shoes will reduce other unwanted effects such as noise and vibration:
While metal wheels can act like a bell, the dense, inert nature of carbon fiber provides for overall improved performance in terms of noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) and a quieter ride – leading to greater comfort and refinement.
With optional carbon fiber wheels providing benefits in key areas – weight savings, vehicle dynamics, NVH and ride quality – they are the perfect, innovative complement for the all-new Ford GT.
We’re not certain what the price of this carbon fiber option will be for the new Ford GT but we imagine it’s as steep as you’d think given the GT’s price of $AlreadySoldOut. So if you have to ask then you’re not one of the 500 people buying the GT, and chances are they’d be able to afford the additional drop in the $400,000 bucket.
(Source: Ford)
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