LONDON: Carbon hybrid wheel maker Dymag is pitching its lightweight wheels at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, reinforced by niche automakers that are using its high performance wheels.
It supplies its carbon hybrid wheels to BAC’s Mono R, Gunther Werks’ 993 Turbo, Lanzante’s 765 LT, P1 HDK and 930 TAG Championship cars, and Radford’s Pikes Peak Type 62-2, all of which are starring at the July 13-16 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
“Dymag has a long legacy in advanced automotive wheel technology, being the first to commercialise carbon hybrid wheels almost 20 years ago," said Dymag CEO Tom de Lange.
"Our latest carbon hybrid wheels bring significant benefits to all high-end cars, including EVs, minimising weight, optimising performance, and boasting aesthetic advantages too.”
As well as being up to 50% lighter than a traditional forged aluminium wheel, Dymag’s carbon hybrid wheel brings major gains in reduced unsprung mass and reduced moment of inertia, with less energy required to accelerate and brake.
Another dynamic benefit is a reduced gyroscopic force thanks to the lightness of the wheel itself, which means less steering effort is required, and enhancing steering feedback.
Strength and durability are also greatly improved over equivalent alloy wheels or full carbon wheels, a carbon hybrid wheel offering the ability to bend and spring back in the event of an unusually high load or sharp impact - rather than shattering - enhancing safety.
Dymag’s gains can make a significant difference to the dynamics of a high-performance vehicle, with the benefits even more significant on electric vehicles (EVs), an ever-growing sector of the market, where the step-change in four-corner weight-saving can enhance EV range.
Carbon fibre’s unique properties an also reduce Noise Vehicle Harshness (NVH) too.
Carbon hybrid wheels also bring aesthetic advantages for OEMs; a forged aluminium or magnesium centrepiece offering greater design flexibility than a solid carbon fibre wheel, while Dymag said its designs are proven and tested to OEM standards off-the-shelf.
Dymag offers a full range of 18-to-23-inch carbon hybrid wheels, to which it will add new 24-inch and 25-inch examples later this year.
