[VIDEO] Watch This And Decide If Carbon Fiber Wheels For The C8 Z06 Are A Good Idea

By
Keith Cornett
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[VIDEO] Watch This And Decide If Carbon Fiber Wheels For The C8 Z06 Are A Good Idea


One of the major rumors surrounding the C8 Corvette Z06 is an option for carbon fiber wheels. Carbon fiber wheels offer the reduction of unsprung mass for better performance and handling, so we know why Corvette engineers would be interested in offering such an option.

Carbon Revolution has been considered the most logical vendor for the wheels as they are currently an OEM provider of carbon fiber wheels with customers that include Ford and Ferrari.

It was back in February this year that a set of Carbon Revolution carbon fiber wheels sized for the C8 Corvette with GM part numbers showed up for sale on an eBay auction. The description called them “OEM test/validation wheels” and photos show the two individual labels affixed to the wheels.

C8 Corvette Z06 Wheels

C8 Corvette Z06 Wheels


One of the current cars running Carbon Revolution wheels is the Ford Shelby GT500. According to Austin Everett, aka Speed Phenom, the visible carbon fiber wheels come with the Carbon Fiber Track Pack which is an option that adds $18,500 to the price of the Shelby GT500.

In his latest video, Speed Phenom shows us what can happen when these carbon fiber wheels take a hard hit. Without sharing any details about the cause of the accident, all we know is that one of the carbon fiber wheels on his friend’s Ford Shelby GT500 shattered after impact with pieces of the pricey material scattered across the road.


The comment section of Austin’s video is interesting with some saying they would only keep the wheels on the car while tracking it (and making sure to trailer to and from the track as well), while others say they wouldn’t trust a carbon fiber wheel at all…a belief that’s reinforced by the staggering replacement cost should something happen while driving.

As C7 Corvette Z06 and Grand Sport owners are already dealing with wheel issues, the thought of having to replace a $4,500 wheel may be asking too much.


Source:
Speed Phenom / YouTube

Related:
Are These Carbon Fiber C8 Corvette Wheels Destined for the Z06? If So, Why Are They on eBay?
Genovation’s Electric Corvette to Ride on Carbon Fiber Wheels
Report: GM Planning Carbon Fiber Wheels for Performance Cars

 



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17 COMMENTS

  5. FiberGlass and CarbonFiber are essentially the same construction concept: just different ingredients + curing process. In cold weather both become very brittle. Metal wheels flex more. So i support Catbert’s opinion.

  6. There’s look like the uneven laying of the materials in the part in between outer and inter ream, after many excessive wheel spinning it’s cracked and finally busted.

  8. The front wheel on my best road bike (bicycle) is carbon fiber, $1600. First week in October I hit a stone about the size of a quarter ‘just right’ – unfortunately. Wheel, tube and tire = all toast ! No way would I put carbon fiber wheels on my daily driving vette. Track – that’s different.

  9. Basically this was an extreme impact with a curb median.

    I want to clarify a few things that Austin has said in this video since everyone here seems to be missing the big picture and jumping to conclusions.
    Austin already clarified that Carbon wheels are stronger, lighter and stiffer than alloy wheels. The performance benefits of these wheels is night and day. BUT, anything can fail given the right situation and combination of circumstances. This particular incident (I was there) was an extreme impact on the wheels which would normally never happen in any kind of driving. Even hitting a large pot hole would not equate to this impact. Alloy wheels would been horribly damaged as well with this situation. Austin is NOT giving more details here because he has integrity and is honorably respecting the wishes of all involved to not reveal details our identities. Most YouTubers wouldn’t give a shit and would tell you more to get more clicks. Not Austin.
    On the flip side (and more normal side) I have been daily driving with my carbons for 11k miles. Street. Canyons. And many track days. With zero issues. When I clean the wheels up they’re as good as new!
    The overall point here is that any kind of wheel can break if treated badly (or you have bad luck). The carbon wheels may break far less (percentages wise) than alloys, and you’re getting far more performance with those wheels, BUT if they do break, the cost is far higher. So you make a cost benefit analysis and make your choice.
    I spent $18,500 on the carbon track pack so it would be dumb to replace them with cheaper, lower performing wheels.

    4

    Speed Phenom

    Toby Won Kinoby
    Toby Won Kinoby
    3 days ago
    Thanks for clarifying. Without revealing too much, can you tell us what was hit and any other circumstances?

    Joseph Gatt
    Joseph Gatt
    2 days ago
    @Toby Won Kinoby Car ran over a curb median. Don’t ask me how this happened. I have zero idea. I just witnessed the aftermath.

  10. I took those comments^^ from the youtube video to try to figure out what happened, apparently this impact would have destroyed any wheel according to someone that was there.

  11. If Carbon Wheels are good enough for Koenigsegg I don’t see a problem for the Z06. And for the last time the C8 is not going to have chrome rims as an option.

  13. Chrome is the way to go . for 67 years now . if the young generation have to have black or carbon let them pay the extra money chrome should be standard also badging , I WOULD PAY EXTRA if they would get rid of the black in the back make it the same color of the car.

  15. Carbon wheels…. so definitely.. there is something to be said about them. I don’t think the entire wheel should ever be carbon. It should be more like a composite structure with Al 6061 nodes on the high stress areas such as the outer rims, main spoke joints and the hub. This would result in the increased benefit from lighter unsprung weight, since the only other current solution around wheels like these is to put run-flats on them thus entirely neutralizing the optimized unsprung weight.
    If anything, carbon wheels are currently only good for putting run flats on a sports car without making the suspension feel slugish.Only current benefit I can see… besides just flamboyo flareDuCarbon

  16. So. If the wheel just exploded to an impact even if he was going 80 miles an hour. He would have came to a stop in probably less then a mile. Now try to read the sidewall of the tire which the wheel that failed. Notice you can not read the sidewall at all. Even if that tire wasn’t a runflat you would 100% be able to read every letter on the side wall. Now think about running around on a tire with almost no air in it and then imagine hitting a small rock. In other words known from my tire experienc and rich people who fail to pay attention to the lights on their dashes. Tires are only as good as the air that is in them, if no air, you are basically riding on rim. No wonder it broke.

  17. Carbon fiber wheels make zero sense for street use–they *WILL* incur damage on public roads. But that’s not to say GM shouldn’t offer them as an option if they think it will result in additional profit. However, given their recent lawsuits over aluminum wheel damage, they ought to designate carbon fiber wheels as a “not for street use” option and require the buyer to sign an express waiver of warranty coverage on them.

    As for chrome wheels, numerous wheel shops can chrome any aluminum wheel with a quality finish at a reasonable price.

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