BMW cars will get lighter in the future as the German car major is planning to use carbon fibre (CFRP) extensively in its upcoming products. The use of carbon fibre was restricted to super cars and was used as an aftermarket option due to its relatively higher cost.
Things might change with BMW planning to use CFRP in its production cars in the future. They even displayed two carbon fibre wheel concepts, one is entirely made of carbon fibre whereas, the other uses alloy with CFRP. The material is 30 per cent lighter than aluminium and 50 per cent lighter than steel according to the company. The idea is to reduce the unsprung mass and increase rotational efficiency resulting in better performance and efficiency.
The quest to make their cars lighter doesn’t end with wheels, BMW also introduced carbon fibre differential which is already found in the M3 and the M4. The use of CRPF will not be limited to BMW cars and in due course will find its way into Mini and Rolls-Royce cars both companies owned by them.
Source: Roadandtrack