Can a car run on a wheel made out of clear epoxy? The answer is yes, although we still wouldn’t want to run over a pothole with it.
Before we get to the wheel, we should first discuss this dude’s car, which is an extremely customized Oldsmobile Cutlass. Under the hood is a twin-turbocharged LPE LS2 6.0-L V8 engine attached to a 4L80E 4-speed automatic transmission that sends power to all four wheels. That hood is made out of carbon fiber, along with several engine bay panels as well as the dashboard and steering wheel. The dash is also completely custom and features old-school digital gauges instead of a modern LCD touchscreen.
We don’t know how much power it has, but it’s gotta be a lot considering it can run a quarter-mile race in the 9-second range.
This personal project car has clearly achieved all that it can performance-wise, so now all that's left is aesthetics. That's why the guy in charge of the AWD Cutlass YouTube channel decided to embark on a strange quest to make a wheel rim entirely out of clear epoxy resin.
Normally, wheels are made out of steel, aluminum, or lighter materials like carbon fiber in order to ensure they have the strength to endure the incredible forces that are exerted on a rotating wheel. Epoxy can be strong, but it's also brittle and might not survive being spun at extreme velocities. The only way to find out is to build one and test it.
The video starts off with a montage of creating an epoxy wheel. This involves a lot of molding and then filing down the wheel by hand to ensure it has the perfect dimensions. After that, some LEDs are installed to make it look super cool at night and to show off the car's custom brakes.
After that, all that's left is to test it. Which he does by attaching a chain to the rear bumper and then sending it on his driveway.
If the chain were to detach, this car would launch itself to the moon. Thankfully, the chain holds and the car leaves roughly 2-inches of burnt rubber on the driveway.
The epoxy also holds, which means this car can surely drive down the street late at night with the most unique lighting of any Oldsmobile Cutlass ever made. We still don’t recommend extended driving on these rims, but they’ll definitely last for at least one race.
(via Motor1)