The new Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series has received a set of in-house developed lightweight wheels, with braided carbon fiber.
Starting next year, they'll be available as an option for the new supercar, costing €15,232 ($17,884) in Germany, tax included. They also come in a single size: 9x20-inch for the front axle, and 11.5x20-inch for the rear axle.
Made entirely from carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), the wheels weight around 8.5kg (19lbs) less than the standard alloy ones, which is a reduction of 20 percent. At the same time, they are also 20 percent stronger.
Each wheel is manufactured from a total of 18km (11miles) of carbon fiber, or 8 square meters (86 square feet) of carbon fiber fabric. The rim has two components: the center, made from carbon fabric, and the base, made from braided carbon fiber, by what Porsche claims to be "the world's largest carbon fiber braiding machine, with a diameter of approximately nine meters (30ft)".
The construction process sees the wheel center being braided into the rim base, and the entire assembly is then impregnated with resin, and pre-hardened at high pressure and high temperatures. Moreover, the finished wheel is hardened once again at high temperatures, and then cooled for a long time. Finally, the central lock is inserted into the finished wheel, before a clear lacquer gets applied, for additional protection.
"Porsche is the first company in the global automotive industry to use this extremely complex technology", explains the automaker. "The braiding technology offers key advantages over the more conventional method of manufacturing pre-impregnated carbon-fiber fabric: This production technique makes the material structure of the carbon considerably denser and more compact. This increases rigidity. Using the material more efficiently also produces less waste."
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