Later this year, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R will be in showrooms, and it will be an affordable car with wheels made from lightweight materials.
For a major automaker, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R 2015-'16 edition will be the first vehicle to feature carbon-fiber wheels as a standard equipment on the vehicle's production. The Ford spokesman stated that they have updated the details on the highly anticipated street-legal race car.
Ford spokesman Chris Terry, said, "Among sports car enthusiasts, carbon-fiber wheels are on the short list of dream components for high-performance vehicles," Ford also said, "The carbon-fiber wheels reduce vehicle weight by 60 pounds compared to aluminum, yet are stiffer for better steering response.We believe this is a game changer for the industry," and "the wheels feature a special high-gloss black finish that ensures a long life."
The Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R wheels have been durability tested, have been included in the tests such as curb strikes, UV and chemical exposure and extreme heat.
Ford called their Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R wheels "the world's first mass-produced carbon fiber wheels," and the wheels weigh a mere 18 pounds each, compared to around 33 pounds for a comparable aluminum wheel.
The company claims that the Ford Mustang's wheels adds up to a 60-pound total reduction in unsprung weight, and a 40-percent drop in rotational inertia, as Ford said that there's NASA tech in those wheels.
The Mustang's wonder wheel was produced by Carbon Revolution of Australia, and it faced an important engineering challenges - to get the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R car ready when it hit the streets.
According to Ford representatives: "The GT350R wheels would need to fulfill all of these demands in order to proceed to production," Ford also said: "A common misconception of carbon fiber is that while it's strong, it's also a brittle material. Some formulations may have this characteristic, but carbon fiber's durability is a feature of the type of resin and design intent of the part. The wheels of Shelby GT350R are designed to be stiff, light and resilient."
