Some months back, we got into a lively debate about
the merits of wire wheels vs. disc wheels in
competition cars of the 1950's and 1960's. As I
recall, there were all sorts of things posited as to
why companies like BMC and Ferrari ran a lot of races
on wire wheels, when disc wheels were certainly
available. We kicked around ideas ranging from the
weight of the wheel itself to the flexing of the rim
actually being good for durability.
Well, I was reading the latest edition of "Motorsport"
magazine yesterday, which has a wonderful series of
articles on the Jaguar D-Type. In one of the articles
is a quote from a works Jaguar mechanic at the time,
who writes:
"A distinctive D-type feature was its Dunlop aluminum
alloy disc wheels. They were lighter, yes, but the
other big big point was their stiffness. With wire
wheels, the spokes would be loose after a race. We
increased the number, and that helped, but even then
the odd one or two would come loose. That's all it
would take for the rim to deflect and start steering
the car. Switching to the disc wheel was a
breakthrough, but we had to be careful with brake
cooling, one of the main reasons we had always used
wires."
I thought some of us who were involved in that
original discussion some months ago might find the
quote germane and interesting...
Cheers,
=====
Paul Misencik - 1971 MGB - www.sopwithracing.com
THE CAROLINA TROPHY - 2005
A vintage driving event in the spirit
of the Mille Miglia, Rallye des Alpes,
and Colorado Grand.
See www.carolinatrophy.com for details.
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