Whiplash-C6Z06

Are the Dymag Carbon Fiber Magnesium Road Wheels worth the price for a street car that sees rare track use, but not competition?

I love the look of the wheels, but $2,500 a pop makes me hesitate. Is weight the main selling point or are there other benefits?
My car is currently subtly modified so that it looks fairly stock from a distance. I have an after market exhaust, comp grey wheels and a carbon fiber rear valance. The Z06 is my daily driver when I don't need cargo space so they need to be durable.

I'm no expert when it comes to tuning and whatnot so any input would be great.

vegasdude

Are the wheels rated for street use.?....I know for Motorcycles dymag are rated for the street, but a lot of light wheels are not......

Vindication

buy some HREs instead

Ranger

I'd suggest some very careful research before concluding those wheels are suitable for the rigors of street driving, where pot holes are routine.

As to the performance benefit, I wouldn't expect much measurable improvement is straight-line acceleration or handling.

Ranger

1stZ

Only you could answer that! I have a friend who has that on his p-car. I believie the one big reason he got it is because of the weight savings it provided. Another is because at the time he got it, he was one of the first ones who got it (cool factor). Although, it is my opinion that everytime he drives that car he is very careful (almost scared) how he drives it. Defeats the purpose of saving weight & going fast/quick if you have to be very careful/conservative with the way you dive.

Otherwise, I think it's a priviledge that you're even considering it. I wish I could afford it. Frankly though, I don't think it's worth the price. Many other ways & more practical to spend 10k on your car (if you could call it practical spending 10k on a car ).

Good luck - my .02

stingray427

They say that because of the great reduction in rotating mass, the SOTP feel is that of a 50 HP bump. Handling also gets a boost because of the unsprung weight reduction. If they weren't so spendy, I'd jump on a set.

DoingOK

I spent alot of time researching them and even spoke with Callaway extensively @ Carlisle last year. The split 5 spoke wasn't available initially (8 weeks out) and the price I was quoted was a little below $2500/each. There are pros/cons to the wheels. I have BST carbon fiber wheels on my motorcycle and it made a world of difference in my handling, etc.

stingray427

What size(s) were they quoting that price for? Did they have any comments on suitability for the street, like durability with potholes and the like?

DoingOK

That was for stock wheel sizes (18 and 19's) and it was just slightly over $8000. There was only one US Distributor (Porsche shop) before Callaway came into the scene to stock Corvette specific wheels. A lot of people shy away from carbon fiber because they think it is brittle and is not road worthy. My BST wheels are MUCH stronger than my stock motorcycle wheels and very durable and tested to very stringent TUV standards. The building process and resin materials are what determines structural strength and durability. I am not quite as familiar with Dymag, but they have been making motorcycle wheels also for quite some time. As far as impact resistance in a day to day application......I'm not real sure. I would use them personally if I didn't end up with HRE's.

stingray427

Will they accept stock pressure sensors? And are they available in stock Z06 sizes or possibly 13" rear rims?

Whiplash-C6Z06

Thank you all so much for your help and advice.

I think I'll wait for the time being before I jump to Dymags. I like not having to baby my car when I'm driving around town and the idea of needing to be watchful of my rims doesn't thrill me to death.

Any other advice or insight is welcome. I'm still willing to keep an open mind.

Thank you all again.

DoingOK

I spoke with the Porsche distributor quite a bit. He had met with GM engineers that actually had originally looked at the Z06 and the XLR caddy wheel fitments. They told him that the wheel sensors would work. That was one of my first questions.

I had a post about Dymags last year but I believe it is long gone now.

FUBUZ06AMG

..it's my understanding that the BD/Z07 will have wheels and tires that are going to retail in the $15,000 range.

SomeGuy

Clearly, in this case, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Unsprung weight, not much "measureable improvement in straight-line acceleration or handling"? Yeah, go put steel wheels on your Corvette and get back to me

In a 20" size, those Dymags weigh about 18lbs/per wheel.

Corvette Challenge, Escort Challenge, etc. racers all saw benefits to magnesium. All except in price when compared to aluminum.

Ranger

I have the experience of removing 10 pounds of rotational weight from each rear wheel/tire combo. I measured no change in the straightline performance of the car. That was keeping all other aspect of the car unchanged. I try to avoid the generalizations that others traffic in and stick with the conclusions that come from real performance metrics I collect myself through data logging with various sensors.

Ranger

allegretto

While I generally agree with your observations on unsprung weight and the "feel" as well as performance, I think Ranger has earned his wings here and deserves a little more respect.

I will further opine that if a guy wants to go faster, he'll gain more by working on his technique, road course or strip, than he will by changing wheels.

But I don't think he has to drop 10-large to get most of the benefit. HRE "C-series" will cost half that from a normal source and get most of the benefit. Nothing is as light as Dymag of course, but this is on a daily driver. I think the cost/benefit peaks out around the HRE price.

JMHO

vegasdude

I put dymags on my busa and while it handled better, I noticed no difference in acceleration............even with roll ons with other similar modded busas..........

Webfoot

Such hostility! Where's the love? Ranger has forgotten more about drag racing than many of us will ever know and deserves more consideration. There's no question Dymags will help performance to some degree, probably handling more than acceleration. The question is cost benefit analysis. To most folks the marginal pop in performance comes nowhere close to justifying the cost, especially for the daily grocery-getter.

mcv

Callaway and Dymag have worked together with magnesium wheels since the late 1980's. Dymags were supplied as optional equipment on Chevrolet's RPO B2K Callaway Twin Turbo Corvettes.

The current generation of Dymag forged magnesium and carbon fiber wheels shown below are extremely durable and exceed TUV and DOT wheel regulations. We wouldn't put them on our C16's and Callaway Corvettes if they were fragile or unsafe.

These wheels are fully compatible with OEM Corvette tire pressure sensors.

Current Callaway/Dymag wheel sizes are:
18 x 9.5 front w/19 x 11 rear C5 & C6 (exc. C6 Z06)
19 x 9.5 front w/20 x 11 rear C5 & C6 (exc. C6 Z06)
19 x 10.0 front w/20 x 12 rear C6 Z06

Pricing:
18 x 9.5 - $2195.
19 x 9.5 - $2210.
19 x 10 - $2225.
19 x 11 - $2260.
20 x 11 - $2325.
20 x 12 - $2360.

32valves

I wonder how braking would benefit? Those barrels have to be pretty light.