Ford Shelby GT350R Mustang Gets Award for Carbon Fiber Wheels

Industry-first carbon fiber wheels helped the new Ford Shelby GT350R Mustang to claim the Popular Science Best of What’s New Award. The vehicle has proved to be one of the most capable muscle cars ever and the carbon fiber wheels which contribute to a significant difference in the model’s weight thus improving its fuel efficiency, braking performance and technically giving it more power.

The Popular Science Magazine receives thousands of entries every year for its Best of What’s New Award and of these 100 are selected based on rigorous criteria. The Ford Shelby GT350R received the award in the “automotive category. The win was attributed to the carbon fiber wheels which are available on the “R” package of the new Shelby Mustang, an industry first. According to Kevin Gray, the executive editor of Popular Science the magazine honors those innovations which shape the future and carbon fiber wheels made it to this select list.

The 2017 Ford Shelby GT350R Mustang is the first production car that comes with carbon fiber wheels. Though they are expensive, each wheel weighs 15 pounds less than a conventional lightweight aluminum wheel thus reducing the overall weight of the model by 60 pounds.

There are a few other models that are sold with carbon fiber wheels, but they are all highly expensive supercars. The new Shelby GT350R Mustang is a full production model with an affordable price tag.

During the development process of the of the carbon fiber wheel for the GT 350R, the inside of both front wheels were coated with a unique ceramic thermal barrier to protect the composite wheel materials from any damage that may be caused by heat generated by the massive Brembo 6-piston braking system. This unique ceramic thermal barrier was initially developed by NASA for the space shuttle program.

The Ford Shelby GT350R Mustang has paved the way for many other leading automotive manufacturers to explore the possibility of using carbon fiber wheels. Provided these wheels prove to be durable over long periods of use, soon carbon fiber wheels may become a regular feature on production cars as other companies follow Ford’s lead. As the rate of adoption of this new technology picks and the carbon fiber wheels begin to be produced on a large scale, costs would also soon come down.