Clear polycarbonate car wheels hit for $2,000 apiece

In the future, there will be a way to convert our cars into hovercrafts, just so we could sail along smoothly down the main drags of our respective cities. Short of that, we'll take some 100 percent transparent two-inch thick polycarbonate wheels for our rides, like the ones a few bloggers just spied at this year's SEMA show, going on this week in Las Vegas. These amazingly sexy D'Vinci Forgiato Radurra wheels cost a cool $2,000, which will buy you a single 20-, 22-, or 24- inch wheel. Four of these will make you the coolest kid in town, for sure.

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[Jason @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:22PM]

Um, Scratches?

[Nate @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:28PM]

Its gonna suck having to take them off every week to clean the brake dust off the inside!
Pretty cool looking thought!

[KcPittbull @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:33PM]

Your right about the scratching part, Little kids will have a hayday carving into these rims. Also how safe is this, what if your riding over a train track or pothole and this thing breaks and drops the whole front end of your car to the ground. Oooops
I know its polycarbonate but I have seen a metal rim snapped in half from a pothole, I would think twice about gettin these...

[LittleJoe @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:39PM]

Hey at least someone is trying to be different...

If I see one more set of BBS rims or spinners I'm going to club myself to death

[shon Dempsey @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:05PM]

with a baby seal i hope.

[Lachlan @ Nov 2nd 2006 6:26PM]

don't you mean "dub" yourself to death?

[LittleJoe @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:42PM]

PS if you can drop $4000 on a set of rims you can probably spend a few hundred a year to pay some kid to clean them every couple of weeks :P

[Pirateinmymind @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:51PM]

Actually at $2000 a piece it would be $8000 but you still got your point across

[Mathew Kunst @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:55PM]

Try $8K for a set - it's $2k per wheel.

[phi @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:52PM]

Where's the brake dust gonna go?

[LittleJoe @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:57PM]

yes yes.... weve figured that out already.

[TS @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:58PM]

My concern (beside the valid points about scratches and especially brake fade due to heat buildup) would be these things shattering. Metal rims can break, but generally will bend or become warped if you hit a nasty pothole/curb, etc. With these things, there doesn't appear to be any room for flex, only clean breaking.

[Tingler @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:04PM]

Definitely over the top. Imagine what they would look like with a set of spinners.

[Lee @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:12PM]

Does Fellowes make little static screen protectors for these? Cuz I'm pretty sure they wouldn't make it down my street before a little rock flew up and made a lovely mark on them. Also, how cool would it be to write with a dry erase marker on these. Lol, I could draw rims ON my rims!

[Lee @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:13PM]

And/Or static faceplates?

[O.G. @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:15PM]

My concern is just being too damn cool!! I mean seriously, this is over-rimmin. You've got have a limit on pimpin'

[nezromatron @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:37PM]

pfft.. No video screens? How lame..

[Johnson @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:45PM]

If you get these you better get some sexy-looking rotors cause that's what you'll see if your view isn't obscured already by the brakedust and/or scratches.

Still cool idea though.

[astrilt1 @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:48PM]

My guess is that these are for show only. For the very reasons described in the comments above...dirt, brake dust, scratches, pot holes. A show car doesn't have to worry about any of those.

[Jon Graft @ Nov 2nd 2006 3:03PM]

I think these are more for show than actual road driving...even though some people will use them for that...

[RyanTV @ Nov 2nd 2006 3:05PM]

i never thought i would see wheels that looked worse than the LED embedded ones. but here they are.

[JAFBC @ Nov 2nd 2006 3:43PM]

See, you need to embed small LEDs in the back of these so you can send out messages through your wheels. Like the spinning LED clocks Marketing VPs stare at.

[nemi @ Nov 2nd 2006 3:18PM]

Reminds me of the hub-less wheels on the Nike One concept car...

see

http://www.diseno-art.com/encyclopedia/archive/nike_one.html

[Frankenstein Black @ Nov 2nd 2006 3:30PM]

This type of plastic wheel tech is not new. My old 89 Shelby CSX VNT (only 500 made) had “fiberride” wheels. That car was a STONE COLD MUSTANG KILLER!!
http://www.shelbyregistry.com/graphics/89csx.jpg

[shredsled87 @ Nov 2nd 2006 3:44PM]

I think we'll be seeing a majority of these on show cars. Cars that will never drive down the street.

[John Stracke @ Nov 2nd 2006 3:45PM]

Can they make transparent tires to go with it?

[Rob @ Nov 2nd 2006 3:48PM]

Show use only - It's a no brainer.

[Wei @ Nov 2nd 2006 4:50PM]

Yep. I really want to spend $8k on these rims so I can get a clear view of my ugly ass rusting axel and shocks that sit behind the wheel.

[Bigtruckseries @ Nov 2nd 2006 4:52PM]

I have a set of 24's on my Escalade that are made of metal. I know that before these things can be certified, they must be stress tested. I would assume that for rims being made in 22" and 24" this was especially important before they could gain street legality. I always imagine sooner or later something like this would be made and now that I see them, I hate em.

[thesawzall @ Nov 2nd 2006 4:59PM]

These'd make sense for brake and tire manufacturers. They could show their wares unobscured and without the distracting bling on working cars.

I suppose someone will have a PC behind one by the next tech trade show.

[MrHoju @ Nov 2nd 2006 5:37PM]

Now people can see the inside of my wheel well... because we all know how beautiful our suspension, break discs, and calipers are...

[chris @ Nov 2nd 2006 6:06PM]

nice.

now i get to see even more of the rattle can paint jobs on rusty small diameter drum brakes, and the ragged edge of garage cut springs on the azz end of the neighborhood buzz punk rides.

and how long before one can buy ROTORS drilled in specific patterns?

its a slipery slope.

[Nipponese @ Nov 2nd 2006 8:36PM]

To those who are worried about these shattering. It ain't gonna happen. Did you read the article? It is a polycarbonate that is 2 (!)inches thick, I'm sure it could take much more of a beating than most light weight wheels. Besides, it's not gonna shatter. It may create a crack but I'm sure your hub will stay in the center regardless.

I think these wheels are really targeted for those who "roll" tho, so I wouldn't even worry about brakes fading. I mean, are you seriously thinking someone who buys these rims taking to the tracks? I didn't think so.

[jason @ Nov 2nd 2006 8:49PM]

polycarbonate - temperature resistance, impact resistance and optical properties

brake dust and scratches, yeah, that sucks

with spinners? do you mean clear spinners? they'd look transparent, but once the dust settles and scratches appear they could look neat

[bee2643 @ Nov 2nd 2006 9:40PM]

NOTE:
Harsh chemicals such as BRAKE CLEANER will shatter polycarbonate.
If you use practically any degreaser in your calipurs to clean them, and they contaminate the pads and then the brake dust goes onto the polycarbonate...well, lets just hope you're not driving when that happens.

at work we have these polycarbonate shields which are practically bullet proof to stop parts from flying off the machines if they brake...one day a coworker thought he should clean our lubricants off the polycarbonate with break cleaner...well, the rest is history, shattered to the ground.

[Idk @ Nov 3rd 2006 8:18AM]

these are obviously just for show. Say if you wanted your 300c to look as if the rims were floating.

Sure you may need to clean them quite often to keep them transparent, but you still need to clean chrome too. Sure rocks may be able to scratch it, but it's the same with chrome. No matter what, you should always clean your car's rims, and not bitch.

these would look great on a showroom car, in a showroom. and that is about it..

[hydrogen_wv @ Nov 3rd 2006 8:52AM]

"Four of these will make you the coolest kid in town, for sure"

I thing I might be able to gather up enough cash for 2 of them....

If I could get 4 though... imagine these.. on my $800, flat black with bright green racing stripes, rusted out rocker panels, and dented all to hell, 1990 subaru legacy... Man, I'd have p*ssy waiting at my front door when I got home.

I'd have to get the 20s... a 3" body lift... some super-low profile tires... this just might work.

ENGADGET HAS SAVED MY SEX LIFE!

/sarcasm

[Lee Olson @ Nov 3rd 2006 10:50AM]

Wheather they look good on a car would be personal taste but, like a black vehicle, the only time those wheels are gonna look good is when they're new.

[darthstupid @ Nov 3rd 2006 12:17PM]

and people bitched about the apple g4 cube having 'cracks'. i can't wait for the complaints for this thing to start getting reported...

[mtothearsel @ Nov 3rd 2006 4:50PM]

these would look pretty nice on a black car and you can always add some lights to them or something for even more craziness. also has anyone here ever seen le mans? the brakes on the cars get all hot and when theyre racing at night they all look like they have red rims on because theyre so bright spinning, so start driving around at 200mph with your MB CLS63 so you can get some hotness on those ceramic brakes (another 20k)

[Bend4rt @ Nov 4th 2006 10:58AM]

Pretty cheapass rims... It's not even close to the "Asanti Jewel Stone Wheel Rims" wich are $250.000 each, plus you get a free Bentley if you buy all four... though they don't seem to have that offer anymore, pitty I was saving for those :)

[zaphod @ Nov 5th 2006 1:09AM]

what kind of heat can these things take? wouldn't the brake dust get baked into the wheels?

[bee2643 @ Nov 5th 2006 3:33AM]

This is 2" of polycarbonate glass. The same 2" Polycarbonate glass used on the space shuttle; heat is no problem for them. They would be a bit hard to scratch, Aerodynamics of the vehicle will keep most rocks and stones from even getting caught up in there, unless you actually /try/ to scratch them.

As I said in an earlier post, their biggest problem is chemicals. Brake Cleaner, Alcohol, anything like that will shatter them. It's quite ironic how they are bulletproof, heatproof, etc, yet a few drops of a chemical cleaner will shatter them to pieces.

[Jordan @ Nov 5th 2006 6:44PM]

NOPE, not for show!!

I saw a set on a Nissan 350 Z yesterday on my way to NYC.

I had to double take, and then speed up and catch the guy. When I got even with him, I could not take my eyes off his wheels!!

Everything was visible...suspension, brake discs, and calipers..

These look amazing...Seriously, Very COOL.

At $2k a rim, I'll pass, but boy, you gotta see these things live.

P.S. The guy driving looked like he needed the Rims to get women (kinda nerdy), but hey, whatever works.

[Coconutz79 @ Jan 13th 2007 9:45PM]

Nobody seemed to mention possible melting? :P somebody mentioned brakes heating up and needing ventilation.. but.. nobody stopped to think of radiated heat from the brakes and the effect it'd have on the wheel..