By Jeff Glucker
Wheels are typically made out of aluminum or steel. A few very fancy machines are opting for carbon fiber hoops. One delightfully insane (and skilled) person in Nebraska has decided to opt for… epoxy. Yes. You read that correctly. An epoxy wheel is not something we’d advise bolting to your vehicle. Yet the person behind the AWD Cutlass YouTube channel has done just that. And done it quite well, we might add.
Not only do they put their new roller on the car after wrapping it around a tire. The aforementioned AWD Cutlass is then hooked to something strong, rolled out of the garage, and then put into full send mode. That means a massive burnout delivered via all four wheels. There’s smoke. There’s piles of rubber. And there’s not a destroyed epoxy wheel.
Every facet of the clip above is fascinating. Well done, AWD Cutlass. We salute you and your proper dose of vehicular mayhem.
[AWD Cutlass YouTube via Jalopnik]
looks cool, but I’d be more interested how it holds up to a hard launch, rather than a roll-on to start spinning the tires. Additionally, how heat sensitive is the epoxy, any concerns after a few hard stops as brakes heat up? That solid disk isn’t going to allow much heat dissipation…
Unreinforced epoxy starts to deform around 140F. It’s also very susceptible to humidity and UV radiation. It was a fun experiment, but this wheel wouldn’t hold up long-term.
My guess is he’ll only use the wheels for late-night car shows, where he’ll have them lit up. Because yes, epoxy without fibers is not really a structural material.
Just like no-one makes carbon fiber wheels, they make wheels out of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy (or polyester or vinylester).
That would be my issue – heat would break it down.
The new GT500 has a heatshield on the inside of the wheel to protect the carbon front wheels.
You had me at AWD Hurst Olds.
I love the fact that he chains the car to his house and does this ridiculous AWD burnout in his suburban driveway. His neighbors must love him.
I strongly suspect he’s unmarried.
Y’know, if this guy wants to turn his house into a Superfund site, that’s one thing. But subjecting the neighborhood to it? I know I’d be pissed if I lived there.
I am a 56-year-old suburban dad. I would be sitting in a lawn chair with a beer, cheering, as would the other dads on the block.