Transparent wheels??? WTF [Archive] - Bimmerforums

wheresmym3

11-03-2006, 03:05 PM

I came across this on streetfire (http://www.streetfire.net/2006/11/video-transparent-wheels-at-sema.aspx) . Wheel makers such as forgiato (http://forgiato.com/) are going to start producing transparent wheels from Lexan!? Don't ask me how or if it's strong enough I'm just relaying what I found. Unfortunately the videos are down for some reason.

wheresmym3

11-03-2006, 03:05 PM

Here's a pic:

http://www.streetfire.net/uploaded_images/wheels-744504.png

///M3Vader4dr

11-03-2006, 03:09 PM

I think thats actually kinda kewl...don't think I'd buy a set though

wheresmym3

11-03-2006, 03:13 PM

Even if I liked them I don't think I would ever trust some lexan to support my car.

///M3Vader4dr

11-03-2006, 03:14 PM

Even if I liked them I don't think I would ever trust some lexan to support my car.

yeah...kinda seems a little shady :confused

x2x3x4x5x

11-03-2006, 03:17 PM

Maybe pure carbon fiber, but I'd never ride on lexan.

franka

11-03-2006, 03:20 PM

Carbon Fibre is too brittle. A wheel needs to be tough and flexible to a degree. Carbon fibre would shatter.

That Lexan unit is uggggly.

wheresmym3

11-03-2006, 03:28 PM

What about heat...when that caliper starts cooking how would that lexan hold up?? Kinda scary; although, it would be cool to see glowing brakes through clear lexan on a race car. Never happen but it would look cool.

Daved

11-03-2006, 08:25 PM

Hmmm... I'm not sure it looks good but it's different and it has the cool factor.

Dale@Evosport

11-03-2006, 08:35 PM

nobrakese36

11-03-2006, 08:56 PM

HAHA, i met the girl whos brother invented the wheels!! I believe they debuted at SEMA this week,i think they are doing really well.

eurotunerwerks

11-03-2006, 09:16 PM

Carbon Fibre is too brittle. A wheel needs to be tough and flexible to a degree. Carbon fibre would shatter.

That Lexan unit is uggggly.

that statement on carbon fiber is completely false. they are producing road racing wheels made out of carbon fiber for sometime.

m3conversion

11-03-2006, 09:22 PM

that statement on carbon fiber is completely false. they are producing road racing wheels made out of carbon fiber for sometime.
But they have a limited lifespan. They break down after awhile.

WaitinToDrag

11-03-2006, 09:30 PM

from what i've heard on some truck forums....the lexan is pretty durable.

kudos for the idea....but you won't see a set on anything I drive

franka

11-03-2006, 09:55 PM

But they have a limited lifespan. They break down after awhile.

They are a composite. Metal core with carbon fibre reinforcement. Many racing componets have gone that way. Two or at most three, F1 teams are running composite tranmissions.

An all carbon fibre wheel would shatter in a street or racing environment.

wheresmym3

11-03-2006, 11:43 PM

HAHA, i met the girl whos brother invented the wheels!! I believe they debuted at SEMA this week,i think they are doing really well.

Sounds like he is about to score...DTMs and Hondas around the country watch out! Would be cool driving down the street looking at peoples faces though! Must look like your floating.

Don Nguyen

11-04-2006, 12:11 AM

there was a lengthy discussion of these wheels in offtopic.

NSR AJ

11-04-2006, 12:47 AM

not my cup of tea.

wheresmym3

11-04-2006, 01:49 PM

there was a lengthy discussion of these wheels in offtopic.

Why Off-Topic?? It's not Off-Topic it's about wheels.

B///MW

11-04-2006, 03:04 PM

Booooya. Baller Wheels.

Mitch

11-04-2006, 03:26 PM

Why Off-Topic?? It's not Off-Topic it's about wheels.

Since it was debuted at a SEMA, it is irrelevant, ergo offtopic :stickoutt

B///MW

11-04-2006, 04:38 PM

Since it was debuted at a SEMA, it is irrelevant, ergo offtopic :stickoutt

BOOOOOYA

wheresmym3

11-04-2006, 04:40 PM

BOOOOOYA

Booyaa X2??

Trying to up your post count or something?

tokbandit

11-04-2006, 06:56 PM

where was the wheels again??? all I saw was the hot girl.....lol....really I would rather put her on my car....

pbfoot

11-04-2006, 09:51 PM

lexan is plenty strong...it is bulletproof at something like 3/4 in. and if you've ever held it (at a reasonable thickness) is has great compression and torsional strength.

EEEEeeee36

11-04-2006, 10:57 PM

Even if I liked them I don't think I would ever trust some lexan to support my car.

What about heat...when that caliper starts cooking how would that lexan hold up?? Kinda scary; although, it would be cool to see glowing brakes through clear lexan on a race car. Never happen but it would look cool.

Lexan can take the heat and force of a space shuttle reentering the Earth's atmosphere from 17,000mph... why can't it hold up a mere 3000lbs, and resist a couple hundred degrees from a rotor?

EEEEeeee36

11-04-2006, 11:01 PM

yeah...kinda seems a little shady :confused
When I was at a presentation at a GM regional meeting, they were introducing Lexan as their new matieral for headlights/taillights. They took a taillight from a Sierra 1500 and drove a Hummer H2 onto it, and parked the hummer on it. The taillight was fine. That is pretty thin Lexan too...not even a quarter inch thick. They are using 1.5" to 2" thick Lexan for these wheels... that's gotta be pretty damn strong.

EEEEeeee36

11-04-2006, 11:08 PM

Carbon Fibre is too brittle. A wheel needs to be tough and flexible to a degree. Carbon fibre would shatter.

That Lexan unit is uggggly.
You're joking, right?

http://www.rennworx.com/

They have a 0% failure rate as tested by TUV, and are capable of supporting almost 10x the weight load of any metal alloy wheel. They are also rediculously lightweight, with carbon/titanium wheels soon to be released weighing only 5.5lbs per wheel...for 20x10s...

EEEEeeee36

11-04-2006, 11:12 PM

But they have a limited lifespan. They break down after awhile.
Not if they are made correctly they do not. The same thing could be said for metal alloy wheels, too.

ChampN203

11-05-2006, 10:45 AM

The wheels lack character. To add character you would need to illuminate them with LED's, paint’em, or glue metal shapes on them. And then the only character it would be representative of is that of a rice burner. Maybe you could put some kind of spinning something on them too. Maybe name them Pinwheels. Heck make the pinwheel clear too. That way there won’t be anything visual to distract the eye. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
If my wheels were stolen from car today, it isn’t just the loss of my Goodyear’s I would be grieving over. With those wheels it looks like someone has already taken the ‘good part’. Seriously, take the aesthetics of the wheels out of the image of a car and what do you have left?

But as it was previously noted, Lexan is very strong. So from a racing perspective, maybe the lighter weight, and I'm assuming it is, would be worth it. However, it still looks dull.

wheresmym3

11-05-2006, 01:47 PM

You're joking, right?

http://www.rennworx.com/

They have a 0% failure rate as tested by TUV, and are capable of supporting almost 10x the weight load of any metal alloy wheel. They are also rediculously lightweight, with carbon/titanium wheels soon to be released weighing only 5.5lbs per wheel...for 20x10s...

Damn..I can only imagine how much a set cost:eyecrazy Bad ass wheels.

The wheels lack character. To add character you would need to illuminate them with LED's, paint’em, or glue metal shapes on them. And then the only character it would be representative of is that of a rice burner. Maybe you could put some kind of spinning something on them too. Maybe name them Pinwheels. Heck make the pinwheel clear too. That way there won’t be anything visual to distract the eye. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
If my wheels were stolen from car today, it isn’t just the loss of my Goodyear’s I would be grieving over. With those wheels it looks like someone has already taken the ‘good part’. Seriously, take the aesthetics of the wheels out of the image of a car and what do you have left?

But as it was previously noted, Lexan is very strong. So from a racing perspective, maybe the lighter weight, and I'm assuming it is, would be worth it. However, it still looks dull.

:lol

Dr Anonym0us

11-05-2006, 01:49 PM

HAHA, i met the girl whos brother invented the wheels!! I believe they debuted at SEMA this week,i think they are doing really well.

That is false, I saw them on a 350z over a year ago.

pbfoot

11-05-2006, 07:29 PM

Damn..I can only imagine how much a set cos Bad ass wheels.

i believe they are about $8900/set

jone30

11-05-2006, 07:42 PM

what about brake cooling? I mean, a solid faced wheel won't allow for much air movement through it.

C ///M

11-06-2006, 12:57 PM

EEEEeeee36

11-06-2006, 01:02 PM

Damn..I can only imagine how much a set cost:eyecrazy Bad ass wheels.

i believe they are about $8900/set

Not quite.. maybe for the motorcycle wheels (only 2!!). They are between $10,000 to $13,000 for the Carbon/Magnesium wheels for a set of 4. For the upcoming carbon titanium they will be around $20,000.

Not a big deal if they are going on a $250,000 car I guess..or being used for professional racing where hundredths of a second can make you another $10k to $50k in purse money. :dunno

franka

11-06-2006, 01:14 PM

I don't know, sounds like a pretty stupid idea to me.

Just like running any closed faced wheel, the brakes will not ge the airflow for cooling that they need.

Also, how on earth do you clean them? Brake dust is going to coat the inside of that wheel...pretty sure it won't be transparent then. So you have to take the wheels off once a week to clean them or what?

Unless they have a zero friction service (not physically possible), brake dust is going to stick everywhere.

You are looking at it from the practical side and they aren't practical at all and weren't meant to be.

It's juts bling for the many bling lovers out there. Think pimp-mobiles.

wheresmym3

11-06-2006, 02:36 PM

I don't know, sounds like a pretty stupid idea to me.

Just like running any closed faced wheel, the brakes will not ge the airflow for cooling that they need.

Also, how on earth do you clean them? Brake dust is going to coat the inside of that wheel...pretty sure it won't be transparent then. So you have to take the wheels off once a week to clean them or what?

Unless they have a zero friction service (not physically possible), brake dust is going to stick everywhere.

On the video on street fire the ?owner? basically said the types of cars these wheels are going to go on aren't worried about that...jsut like taking their car to the mechanic. You have to remove the wheel to clean it basically.

EEEEeeee36

11-06-2006, 02:40 PM

On the video on street fire the ?owner? basically said the types of cars these wheels are going to go on aren't worried about that...jsut like taking their car to the mechanic. You have to remove the wheel to clean it basically.
He also said that you could blow off a majority of the dust with a hose just by reaching in from behind the wheels between deep cleaning sessions. I'm not so sure about that though... last time I had an encounter between plexiglass and metal shavings it was a big PITA. :dunno

franka

11-06-2006, 03:55 PM

He also said that you could blow off a majority of the dust with a hose just by reaching in from behind the wheels between deep cleaning sessions. I'm not so sure about that though... last time I had an encounter between plexiglass and metal shavings it was a big PITA. :dunno

I'd venture to say that brake dust (from the brake pads, not the rotor dust)would have more affinity to plastic wheels than to metal wheels.

These are show wheels and will probably never see brake dust.

Lexan is tough stuff but it does scratch. It will scratch easier than your paint finish will scratch because your paint finish is harder.

EEEEeeee36

11-09-2006, 04:27 AM

I'd venture to say that brake dust (from the brake pads, not the rotor dust)would have more affinity to plastic wheels than to metal wheels.

These are show wheels and will probably never see brake dust.

Lexan is tough stuff but it does scratch. It will scratch easier than your paint finish will scratch because your paint finish is harder.
I agree, although depending on the formula it can be more scratch resistant than standard polycarbonate. I have a family member who works for GM regional - they also use Lexan for the removal roof for the C6 vette. It seemed pretty resistant to scratches. They also took a hammer to that lexan taillight that I mentioned earlier before they drove over it and there were no marks from the hammer impact. That is pretty damn impressive.

franka

11-09-2006, 06:29 AM

I agree, although depending on the formula it can be more scratch resistant than standard polycarbonate. I have a family member who works for GM regional - they also use Lexan for the removal roof for the C6 vette. It seemed pretty resistant to scratches. They also took a hammer to that lexan taillight that I mentioned earlier before they drove over it and there were no marks from the hammer impact. That is pretty damn impressive.

I've worked with lexan many years ago and still today. It has always been much more scratch resistant than std poly. That's why it was invented.

But it still will scratch easier than your car's painted surface because it is softer. Lexan will bend much more than your car's paint will bend because it's softer.

bssofro

11-09-2006, 08:41 AM

It will be VERY interesting to find a wheel dealer who has an EXPERIENCED wheel mounter to install/mount tires on these Lexan wheels. Can you say "Jacoby and Myers" Lawsuit???

m3conversion

11-09-2006, 12:00 PM

They are a composite. Metal core with carbon fibre reinforcement. Many racing componets have gone that way. Two or at most three, F1 teams are running composite tranmissions.

An all carbon fibre wheel would shatter in a street or racing environment.
But F1 rims are a perfect example, they're only good for about a race and a half. Teams replace them all the time.

Citizen328ci

11-09-2006, 01:22 PM

looks cool but if theyre solid lexan.. itll be a pain to get brake dust off those wheels... theyd always have like a film of brake chit on them

franka

11-09-2006, 01:28 PM

looks cool but if theyre solid lexan.. itll be a pain to get brake dust off those wheels... theyd always have like a film of brake chit on them

Its "clear" you haven't read the whole thread.

IWannaBMW

11-09-2006, 01:56 PM

But F1 rims are a perfect example, they're only good for about a race and a half. Teams replace them all the time.

I believe they replace the wheels along with tires, becase they're not gonna waste their precious seconds on taking the tire off the wheel and putting another tire on the same wheel, that's just my opinion if we're talking about the same thing :redspot

franka

11-09-2006, 02:29 PM

I believe they replace the wheels along with tires, becase they're not gonna waste their precious seconds on taking the tire off the wheel and putting another tire on the same wheel, that's just my opinion if we're talking about the same thing :redspot

You are out past left field, way way out.

unreel

11-10-2006, 12:40 PM

Pretty crazy stuff. I guess wheel technology will take a whole different path in the future. Reminds me of those wheels that were made of a composite material and needed no tire.

wheresmym3

11-10-2006, 01:41 PM

Pretty crazy stuff. I guess wheel technology will take a whole different path in the future. Reminds me of those wheels that were made of a composite material and needed no tire.

The Flinstones??

wheresmym3

11-10-2006, 01:46 PM

Another pic:

http://www.jalopnik.com/assets/images/gallery/12/2006/10/285026935_26df26c5db_o.jpg

http://www.jalopnik.com/assets/images/gallery/12/2006/10/285026897_330d35573e_o.jpg

wheresmym3

11-10-2006, 01:47 PM

Can't wait to see Accord's all over town rockin these. Have stockers on the front and these on the rear...what a sick combo!

WaynesNside1976

11-10-2006, 04:50 PM

It is actually polycarbonate and it is about 2 1/2 inches thick. It has passed all the tests that a road going wheel has to pass to be sold legally. Also brake dust dosn't even stick to it. You can blow it off with air.
Dale

Yeah there you go...it's not Lexan.

Anyone get some prices on these???

They look cool though.

97CosmosM3

11-10-2006, 06:53 PM

is there a pic with full sideview of the car?

KevRC4130

11-10-2006, 07:06 PM

I really like these, I remember seeing them on a 350Z a while back (via online photos). It would definately take a certain type of car to pull them off, but I can see them being done really well. Though, $20,000, and they still have the ricer multi-lug?

It is also good, because it will probably promote people actually upgrading their brakes while putting on giant-ass rims.

I also must admit that most of the Forgiato designs are pretty damn classy for bling wheels.

EastTennBimmin

11-10-2006, 07:50 PM

I actually like these wheels...if it wasn't for the question of brake cooling and ofcourse price these things would definately be something I'd like to have...the questions about the strength and durability are no matter to me since I have delt with polycarbonates and know these are their strong suits. The only other down side I've seen to these wheels is he only mentions 20" and 22"...nothing over an 18' is goin' on my car...

S.Lang

11-10-2006, 08:19 PM

I like them, but would never buy them. You have to admit....that BBK looks pretty cool floating there like that in the pic.

BEHMER

11-10-2006, 08:47 PM

Cool idea. If I had a pure show car I would rock these and fat BBK's front and back. I would also etch lines into the wheels and figure out how to get to em glow using hyper white led's or somthin. Would look pretty trick.

Example of the etched version at a standstill...

http://www.behmer.us/~bimmer/bimmer/Work/etched.jpg

stimpee

11-10-2006, 10:39 PM

Yeah there you go...it's not Lexan.

Anyone get some prices on these???

They look cool though.

Lexan is not a material, it is a BRAND. Lexan IS polycarbonate, in the form in which GE sells it.

Just like Kleenex is a BRAND of facial tissue...

Not sure what I personally think about its use as a wheel, but I suppose if it has been tested adequately...

Doubt you will be seeing it on any race cars any time soon though.

Steve

LWRNCE

11-10-2006, 10:42 PM

I want a set of those in 19's

fractal.being

11-10-2006, 11:07 PM

I've seen these on a few choppers and a rice burner - the transparent wheels don't impress me at all.

I'll take the "Rasinette" in the passenger seat, the transparent wheels, and add a set of transparent tires (coming soon!)... My bet is that what's inside the car will still be more impressive!

Forget the tire/wheel size - gimme the 36's on the Rasinette!!!

Sweet dreamz!

(BTW, hearing ~ 2K per wheel - or plastic disc - *whatever*, maybe pre-order a set of four for $7500.00, but if you can afford that might as well get a spare while you're at it?)

JustinE36M3

11-10-2006, 11:46 PM

Trying to up your post count or something?
KILT!

about the wheels, they did debut at sema this year and the car they have them on in the picture is a mercedes that they drove from about 500 miles away to the show with the wheels installed the whole way.

Nbx33

11-10-2006, 11:50 PM

show wheels only..IMO

EEEEeeee36

11-16-2006, 03:30 AM

Pretty crazy stuff. I guess wheel technology will take a whole different path in the future. Reminds me of those wheels that were made of a composite material and needed no tire.
Yeah, in the future you'll have a super magnet for the hub and the rim will just 'float' due to magetic force from the hub! No wheels, no polycarb, no nuthin! :D

wheresmym3

11-16-2006, 01:25 PM

Yeah, in the future you'll have a super magnet for the hub and the rim will just 'float' due to magetic force from the hub! No wheels, no polycarb, no nuthin! :D

Fun to throw beer caps at!!

franka

11-16-2006, 02:10 PM

Mag Lev

The Lexan wheels are all show, no go.

E39sporter

11-17-2006, 04:22 PM

These wheels ar even wierder...have to be the wierdest design I have ever heard of...this does not even have a center at all!!!!

http://emresaglam.com/blog/haber.php?id=183

franka

11-17-2006, 04:27 PM

[QUOTE=E39sporter;7954627]These wheels ar even wierder...have to be the wierdest design I have ever heard of...this does not even have a center at all!!!!QUOTE]

That design idea has been around for 15-20 years or so. It's interesting but not practical.

The rim is the bearing's raceway. Any dirt or nicks will interfer with rotation.