Porsche has just announced a carbon fiber wheel option (for the 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series). Very few production cars currently have carbon fiber wheels – just the Mustang GT 350R and Koenigseggs, that I can think of. They are certainly a bit expensive. Carbon Revolution, maker of the 350R’s wheels, offered early carbon fiber wheels for about as much as a loaded Corolla per wheel. It’s also interesting that Forgeline recently announced a carbon wheel barrel with forged aluminum spokes. That’s a hybrid approach that hasn’t been seen before now.
Now, it appears Porsche, in true Porsche-fashion, reinvented the manufacturing process in order to bring these to market – an impressive feat in and of itself. They built a huge wheel to weave carbon fiber into…wheels. One can rarely, if ever, claim that Porsche takes short cuts when putting out new products.
What does this mean for the rest of us? If Porsche follows their normal playbook, the use of this manufacturing capability will only increase and more models will offer this option. These could be on your future car someday. Your suspension and brakes will thank you.