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These properties allow the use of thinner cross sections using less material. Since the material can be much thinner a forged wheel has the potential to be much lighter than a cast wheel of the same size. By forming the wheel into its final shape with a die, no machining other than for the offset controlling mount pad, the center bore and the lug bolt circle is needed. When fewer processes are needed in the production of the wheel, variability from wheel to wheel is reduced. This gives the potential for improved balance and less run out for each wheel, reducing the chances for wobbles and shakes.
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Another plus is that if a forged wheel is hit hard, it tends to bend where a cast wheel tends to crack. This is much less of a catastrophic “soft” failure mode. Usually wheel forgings are reserved for the highest level of racecar or very expensive road cars. We can attest to Volk’s toughness with their wheels lasting many times longer than any other wheel on our race cars. Look for an article from us soon for a peak inside Volk’s engineering and manufacturing process. We obtained a set of 18 x 9.5” CE28N’s with a 22mm offset and a diamond black finish. The 9.5” wide CE28Ns are 1” wider than stock. This width will help keep our tire’s tread flatter on the road.
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For tires we selected the Nitto NT05 ultra high performance radial in a much wider than stock 265/35-18. The Nitto NT05 is the end product of several years of intensive R&D testing, burning rubber with the midnight oil at several proving grounds and three different racetracks including the famed Nurburgring. Nitto’s testing focused on balancing the ultimate in dry handling performance with long tread life.
A big part of the R&D testing involved dialing in the composition of the NT05’s unique tread compound. The compound developed for the NT05 uses a lot of silica and a special blend of polymer additives to create a flexible and resilient tread material that is very good at conforming to micro irregularities in the road surface. This tread compound works exceptionally well in both wet and dry conditions and is a big step forward in grip capability when compared to the long wear biased compound used in older models of Nitto tires.
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The NT05’s carcass is also designed with ultra high performance in mind. The tire’s casing is made of two plies of polyester with a high turn-up. The turn up refers to the turn of the plies as they go around the bead of the tire and back up the sidewall. High turn up means that the termination of the plies is higher on the sidewall than normal giving the sidewall 3-4 plies of stiffness from the bead to the tread from a two ply casing. This stiffens the sidewall in the bead area, improving handling by quickening response to steering input while still allowing the sidewall to flex a little in the tread area for smoother ride and layout of the tread to the ground plane for better grip.
