Is This Three-Piece Concept The Wheel Of The Future?
This is what the wheel of the future might look like, if Continental gives its New Wheel Concept the green light. It’s not totally reinventing the idea – it’s still round and looks very much like a wheel – but it’s built differently and it’s cleverer than it looks.
It’s a three-piece affair, with an outer ‘rim well’ and an inner ‘carrier star’ that bolt together. A huge aluminium brake disc then bolts to the star while a caliper sits inside the disc, itself bolted to the wheel carrier on the axle.
Continental says it’s a lot lighter than current designs, and it’s perfect for bloated electric cars not just for that reason, but also because EVs are increasingly relying on regenerative braking, which means Continental’s New Wheel Concept would last the lifetime of the car. The discs wouldn’t go rusty, either, and only the brake pads would ever need replacing.
The larger disc gives a wider friction radius and more stopping power, allowing for smaller, less powerful and lighter calipers that save even more on materials and weight. The design, the company says, is built for small and medium-sized electric cars. The narrow, tall shape mimics the likes of those on the BMW i3. We think they look pretty cool, but we’ll open up the floor…
Via: Continental
Comments
Mecahnical looking round things are awesome.
Says Disklok
Round looking awesome things are mechanical.
things awesome looking round mechanical
Just like a certain company by the name of Dislok
#cheekydislok
What, no benefits for cars with internal combustion engines?? 😢
Less unsprung weight! But, I’d hate to do a break job on a car with those wheels!
DK’S BACK
“ aluminium brake disc “, “only the brake pads would ever need replacing” Mmmmm i don’t know if this is a mistake in the article or continental engineers are on crack. Those two statements don’t go together. Aluminium disc makes sense if it’s regen brakes.
The disk brakes would most likely only be used for coming from a slow crawl to a stop, where regenerative braking isnt as strong. You don’t need strong brakes for that.
i call it… spinners
Flat wheel replacement? I know its just concept but shouldnt be neglected thus far it looks like just the outer well with tyre would have to be removed which seems lighter
This is how Buell’s brakes work, disc bolted to outside of the rim. In a car you would have to pull the caliper off the disc or remove the disc from the rim to take them off the car.
Want to put aftermarket wheels on your car? Oh wait you cant because your entire break system wont be able to bolt on to any aftermarket wheel. Nice try continental but maybe you should stop trying to reinvent the wheel
it’s not like aftermarket is a right, lol manufacturers have no reason to support aftermarket that doesn’t benefit them
Would there be any kind of safeguard against someone coming up and loosening the 5 bolts holding the outer to the 5 spoke assembly? Though I guess the same argument could be made for lug nuts.
Dont worry, it will be a perfect situation for each brand to design a new specific nut, so you need a secific tool. Like renault for the wheel caps, vw xzn tools, etc…
Isn’t that technically 5 parts? people who read this will feel absolutely stupid…