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[poiney]

What is the best wheel design from a performance perspective? I want it to be light as possible, good aerodynamics and provide adequate tire support.

I don't care if it looks ugly, is hard to clean, or is expensive to fabricate. I'm just trying to understand the physics aspect.

Should it be spoked or have a single, thin, contiguous spoke, other?

[david @ eas]

Most race car companies tend to go with wheels that look similar to CSL wheels and V710s wheels actually. So a design sort of like these for example:





Not many people go with wheels with lips or really any special design factors, but if you're looking for a race wheel, BBS makes a super lightweight wheel but it'll cost you big bucks.

I have done really well with 18" CSL wheels and getting people track set ups with those and they do great! But if you want the best of the best, It'll take some research for the lightest and best wheel possible.

[SV Concepts III]

Your biggest factor will be weight which is related to the type of construction. I recommend sticking with a forged wheel if you are looking to minimize weight and maximize strength. As far as the wheel design, while there are certain aerodynamic properties of the wheels, it's really not a huge consideration when optimizing performance.

[poiney]

OK. Let's assume it's lightweight metal and forged. Now, given that, I want to maintain strength and want to have the least moment of inertia (presumably).

How it should be shaped to optimize that? Multiple spokes or single spoke and why?

[evoi19]

i would assume you would want some multi-spoke for venting the heat out of the brakes.

For racing setups, an 18" 1pc. forged wheel is best suited. There are many companies out there that you can look at. Volk, Advan, Prodrive are just a few...

My 19" volk re30's were 19lbs per wheel just to give you an idea....

[BMW MotorSport]

Originally Posted by poiney

What is the best wheel design from a performance perspective? I want it to be light as possible, good aerodynamics and provide adequate tire support.

I don't care if it looks ugly, is hard to clean, or is expensive to fabricate. I'm just trying to understand the physics aspect.

Should it be spoked or have a single, thin, contiguous spoke, other?

Hey poiney, glad to see someone is interested in high quality light weight racing wheels. I have the perfect set of wheels for your application.

They are D Force racing wheels. Extremely light and strong. They are purpose built for the track. Please check them out and let me know if you would like to place an order.

[Ghost170]

Race wheels are very strong and light, 18"-19", with good heat dissipation. Volk TE37 is a good example.

[dvpouldar26]

Dymags are some of the lightest wheels made: they have carbon fiber barrels, and magnesium centers. While at VIP auto salon installing springs for my friend's IS, clark, the owner of the shop, showed me a wheel that is in his line that is even lighter than the dymag. I picked it up off the display in amazement. They are 1. piece forged, all magnesium wheels, and cost $16000 a set.

[poiney]

The spoke design and shape variations look rather similar to stock wheels, which surprises me. I would have expected that when we reach the highest performance wheels, that they tend to have the same mechanical shape (i.e., spoke #, geometry, etc.) when performance matters over style...

In other words: how many spokes should be used to get the optimize weight/strength ratio all else being equal.

[RR80]

Originally Posted by andrew@Karbonwerke

i would assume you would want some multi-spoke for venting the heat out of the brakes.

For racing setups, an 18" 1pc. forged wheel is best suited. There are many companies out there that you can look at. Volk, Advan, Prodrive are just a few...

My 19" volk re30's were 19lbs per wheel just to give you an idea....

Advan's wheels are not forged. TE37, CE28 and GC07J are the best For racing setup, 18" is better than 19".

[josephr25]

Multispoke wheels are favored by almost all motorsports teams as they tend to handle the stresses of braking and acceleration better (hence the wide distribution of spokes).

As for aerodynamic properties... you're better off w/ a shield in front of them a la F1 teams.

[GreenPlease]

If you are looking for (substantial) weight savings you'll have to go to composite wheels. From a mechanical engineering standpoint, you need to think bio-mimicry. In this case, think of the roots of a tree. They move from large diameter to small diameter and the transitions (branching) are subtle in terms of angle.

So the LM design from BBS is pretty close to ideal.

[RobE]

OZ Alleggerita HLT 18x8 18.0lbs $375
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...racite+Painted

OZ Ultraleggera 18x8 18.6lbs $348
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...t+Silver+Paint