Written by Kerryn Caulfield, Executive Director, Composites Australia Inc.
An automotive wheel is one of the most highly and complexly loaded automotive components in a vehicle. While pressurised from the tyre, and bolted to the vehicle, it must cope with pothole impacts, cornering loads, 1,000 °C brake rotors, hundreds of thousands of kilometres of fatigue loading and the ravages of the external environment like salted, sandy or ice-covered roads — while remaining perfectly balanced and continuing to transmit power, braking and steering inputs with absolute precision. It is both structural and aesthetic, carrying the weight of the car and reflecting the personality of the brand.
Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R – the beginning of OEM adoption
Carbon Revolution’s first OEM program was forged through a four-year collaboration with Ford, culminating in the 2015 Shelby Mustang GT350R. At the time, no global validation standards existed for carbon-fibre automotive wheels, so Ford benchmarked the Carbon Revolution wheels against the same strict testing criteria for its OEM aluminium wheels. The wheel endured the full suite of OEM tests — curb and pothole strikes, radial and cornering fatigue, thermal cycling beside red-hot brake rotors and NVH analysis — proving that a one-piece carbon-fibre composite wheel could not only survive, but outperform aluminium in production cars.
“The GT350R program was an important opportunity for our engineering teams,” explains Dr Ashley Denmead, Chief Technical Officer and co-founder. “It required us to demonstrate that carbon-fibre composite wheels could meet the most demanding OEM standards. The knowledge we gained in fatigue behaviour, thermal management and manufacturability has allowed us to continually optimise performance and efficiency. In parallel, we’ve refined our manufacturing processes and automation to work hand in hand with the product technology, which has culminated in the Mega-line and its ability to produce a range of different wheels concurrently, bespoke to our OEM customers’ needs without compromising production consistency and quality.”
For the Ferrari wheel, Carbon Revolution’s engineering team focused on immediacy and precision. Their task was to reduce rotating mass while ensuring that the wheel’s structural and thermal performance supported the responsiveness expected of a car of that calibre, and do it quickly. The 488 Pista wheel led to further refinements in the design and validation processes as Carbon Revolution collaborated with the most renowned performance marque.
Carbon Revolution’s wheels ensured that the Pista’s responses translated directly to the road, achieving the level of visceral precision demanded of Ferrari. The marque’s unique aesthetic signature — elegant yet purposeful — was married with a performance personality defined by agility, immediacy and speed.
For the Range Rover Sport SV, Carbon Revolution engineered a 23-inch carbon-fibre composite wheel, validated for high load ratings and composed performance on and off-road. Nearly four years of collaboration between JLR and Carbon Revolution engineers produced the world’s largest OEM carbon-fibre composite wheel. Each wheel is around nine kilograms lighter than its aluminium equivalent, reducing unsprung rotational mass by 41 per cent. That saving enhances ride comfort and agility while meeting the robustness demanded of a 467 kW (626 hp), twin-turbocharged V8 SUV with a top speed approaching 290 km/h.
The Range Rover’s aesthetic signature — bold, muscular, and refined — was married to a performance personality defined by strength, composure, and versatility across any terrain.
Looking across the fleet
From the muscle of Ford’s Shelby GT350R, to the precision of Ferrari’s 488 Pista, to the scale of the Range Rover Sport SV, Carbon Revolution’s engineering journey demonstrates how wheels can embody a car’s unique essence in parallel with optimising performance. Other OEM programs have carried the same philosophy: RenaultSport’s Megane Trophy-R, built for Nürburgring dominance; Chevrolet’s Corvette Z06, E-Ray and ZR1, designed for American supercar performance; and Lamborghini’s latest Temerario, where Carbon Revolution’s Diamond Weave™ technology reflects the sculptural aesthetic of Italy’s most extroverted marque.
As Dr Denmead reflects, “Every OEM has a unique signature. Our role is to translate that into the wheel, so the car’s character is enhanced and never compromised. Whether it’s a supercar, SUV or EV, the principles are the same — engineering composite wheels that optimise value for our customers”
