What kind of wheels do you buy when you’re ponying up for a 500-horsepower 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse and you’ve even popped for some hand-painted stripes? If you’re going to swallow a horse, don’t choke on the tail, go all in — the Dark Horse will be available with these carbon fiber wheels. Ford offered a first look at them Wednesday on the floor of the Chicago Auto Show.
Ford says they weigh in at 20.1 pounds, “37% lighter on average than Dark Horse aluminum wheels.” (Doing the math, that puts the aluminum wheels at about 32 pounds, we think.)
Ford also says it has put the wheels through over 200 tests for strength and rigidity. They are being built alongside carbon fiber wheel experts Carbon Revolution. Ford says these are its first-ever five-spoke single-piece carbon fiber wheel design, and they’re a first for Carbon Revolution too, with lug nuts between the spokes. The two companies have worked together for a long time producing wheels for the Ford GT and Shelby GT350.
And quoting from the press release: “For decades, the aerospace industry has treated turbine blade materials subject to extreme heat with ceramic coatings to help improve durability. Similar technology is used in top-tier open-wheel racing environments. A proprietary thermal barrier coating system has been developed by Carbon Revolution which tailors its plasma spray deposition technology to provide a thermal protection solution for carbon fiber wheels.”
So there’s that. Plasma is involved.
Oh, and we’re told the wheels are blue, though they largely seem black in the photos. There are hints of blue there.
No word on the cost. For now you’ll have to use your imagination.
Take a look. What do you think?
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Source: www.autoblog.com