I was invited by Carl Descoteaux who is one of the owners of HTT Technologies to attend the Canadian Press release for the HTT PLETHORE LC 750. It is a 750 BHP monster that was born and bread in St-Eustache, Quebec in Canada. What a perfect day it was for the unveiling. We started shooting around 4 pm just as the sun started to set creating some excellent lighting conditions.

What you might or might not know is that this has been 15 year dream come true for Luc Chartrand (Creator, Owner, Designer) of the HTT PLETHORE LC 750. Blood, sweat and many tears have been poured into this extravagant Canadian Supercar.

Photographs do not fully capture how aggressive this car looks let alone the feeling that comes over you when you first see this monster in the flesh! Although the car is not 100% complete is still an engineering masterpiece to behold. Within the next 3 years HTT hopes to be able to release a 1300 BHP version of the PLETHORE which will definitely make the folks over at Bugatti and SSC take note. Carl explained to me that 10 European orders for the car have been confirmed. We await to see this car out and about in Monaco one day during their crazy week leading up to the GP. I do hope you all enjoy the pics and feel the vibe of amazingness that the PLETHORE exudes.

This is the first Canadian super car ever featuring a center seat for the driver (like the McLaren F1). It houses a supercharged 6.2L V8 which delivers 750 hp (560 kW) (torque 655 lb·ft (888 N·m)). An optional high performance engine with 1100-1300 hp (820 kW) has also been hinted as an option. The chassis and body is made entirely out of carbon fiber with no engine sub frame resulting in an exceptionally rigid chassis. The car should weigh approximately 2,400 lb (1,089 kg) when fitted to the 1,300 hp (970 kW) engine and will then have the power to weight ratio of a Formula 1 race car!

Carzi & Madwhips both wish GOOD LUCK to HTT Technologies and hope that their stint in Frankfurt this coming week brings out a new fan base and world recognition for them!

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Locus HTT Plethore Canadian Supercar Details

[Source: Rush 109 @ MadWhips.com, HTTSupercar.com]

The Tramontana R is the latest open wheel 2 seater roadster which houses a Mercedes-Benz 5.5L V12 with 550hp or a twin turbo 760hp version which delivers 811 ft-lbs of torque!! It is said to be able to do 0-100km/h in 3.6 seconds and 0-200km/h in 10.15 seconds. Its 2777 lbs weight is distributed 42:58 (front/rear), is 192 inches long (16 feet), 82 inches wide (6.8 feet) and only 51 inches high (4.25 feet).

Production is limited to 12 units a year, pricing starting at at $495,000 USD.

The Tramontana R is equiped with 20 inch carbon fiber/magnesium wheels, 6 piston Brembo calipers and a custom Ohlins adjustable suspension (85 and 135 mm). It is heavily built using carbon fiber, has slick F1 style LCD gauges and a 6 speed sequential gearbox

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[Source: AutoBlog.com]

Many thanks to my friend Zach over at Exotics And Luxury who just brought these new Carbon Fiber Wheels by 360 Forged to my attention! They definitely look super awesome and probably cost blue label top shelf dollars. After checking out the brochure, I must conclude that these are not TRUE carbon fiber wheels.

Although the center piece appears to be full carbon fiber, the brochure says the wheels are 3 piece forged T6 aluminum. So while the look and weight savings is definitely there, under that carbon fiber 5 spoke is most likely aluminum. Like I explained in my earlier post (Carbon Fiber Wheels – Not the Ultimate Performance Wheel Material) which examines the science of why you will most likely never see full 100% carbon fiber wheels, these are purely for show and their structural integrity still needs to rely on the 3 piece aluminum frame.

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Carbon Fiber Wheels by Weds Sports
Carbon Fiber Wheels – Not The Ultimate Performance Wheel Material

[Source: ExoticsAndLuxury.com]

A Japanese company Weds Sport has manufactured the first full carbon fiber wheel. This carbon fiber wheel was manufactured using a Dry Carbon Fiber technique and was unveiled at this years Tokyo Auto Salon show.

The weight of one wheel is 2.76kg (6.08 lbs)!

There are 2 ways to create a carbon fiber laminate: “wet” layup and pre-impregnated “dry” layup.

“Wet” carbon fiber layup process has been used since the ice age for creating molded shapes from carbon fiber or other engineered polymers. It is the easiest and least labor intensive method and has even made its way into the do-it-yourself areas of self indulgent creations.

The main disadvantage of the “wet” laminate is the lack of resin control.

“Dry” carbon fibers are placed into a mold and resin is poured and brushed over the cloth. Layer upon layer are manually added until the desired resin coating thickness is met. This method of resin impregnation is somewhat uncontrolled which can result in to heavy of resin to fiber ratio creating additional voids and decreased mechanical properties.

The pre-impregnated (pre-preg) “Dry” carbon fiber method developed and mastered during the past 10 years has created a stiffer, stronger laminate with controlled and predictably desirable results.

In this pre-pre carbon fiber construction method the fiber is pre-impregnated with resin at a production facility, rolled on spools, and frozen to prevent the resin from curing prematurely. This raw material is then cut and hand laid into a mold to the proper thickness and cured via vacuum packing and high temperature curing which melts the glass resin which flows and hardens in the shape of the parent mold.

Need a refresher into the Science of Carbon Fiber? Checkout my earlier post on the subject: Carbon Fiber Wheels – Not the Ultimate Performance Material

Isn’t science bad ass?

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Carbon Fiber Wheels – NOT the Ultimate Performance Material

[Source: CarbonFiberGear.com, Wikipedia.com, NSXPrime.com]

Now you must be asking yourself WTF is with the title of this post? While carbon-fiber is definitely an amazing lightweight and strong choice material for re-engineering many performance parts it is NOT the ideal material for wheels. WHY? Simply because of flex. And in carbon-fiber parts there is little flex due to its material characteristics

Carbon Fiber has the highest specific tensile strength of all the reinforced materials (also called composite materials), and it has a high strength to weight ratio and low coefficient of thermal expansion. The density of carbon fiber is also much lower than the density of steel.

These carbon-fibers are then weaved into an application specific matrix (pattern) which yields a cloth like material which is then layered with an epoxy (thermosetting epoxide polymer) that cures to create that sexy shiny and beautiful Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) that we all love to see on modified and exotic cars.

So for now enjoy these wheels which are engineered with a carbon fiber shell, you might marvel over some tuners which will undoubtedly manufacture an entire carbon-fiber wheel, but it will be pretty much only used for show cars.

Carbon-Fiber is just to damn stiff to be THEE ultimate material for wheels. Wheels need some flex and because of carbon-fibers high specific tensile strength there is little room to negotiate flexibility. When you exceed a full carbon-fiber wheel’s tensile strength the wheel will fail. Unlike current alloy wheels when the carbon-fiber wheel fails it will basically explode (not explode explode) but will fail and be destroyed and useless to the point that you will not be able to drive on it as you would with simply a bent alloy rim.

So what does science have in store? Well for starters the global science company (specifically the Engineering Polymers Division I work for) is already successfully developing and testing 14 inch ATV wheels made from 100% reinforced engineered polymers – pure plastic. As you can imagine ATV wheels are used and abused more than automobile wheels. These new space aged resins are engineered with all the requirements needed to create the lightest possible wheel while still remaining flexible to handle the abuse on a track or street. Stay tuned, literally!

German specialist WheelsAndMore have engineered wheels that are customized individually for supersportcars like Ford GT, Shelby Cobra, Porsche GT3 RS, Lamborghini Gallardo Superlegerra, Audi R8 and comparable.

According to WheelsAndMore this is a must have for optimizing the weight from sportscars. Using carbon rims with ultralight forged centers, which are adapted to the axle weights of each car, allows a weight under 10lb/rim combinated with titanium screws.
This innovation comes from 18-23″ in all bolt circles possible.

Wheelsandmore states that the 20-inch version of their beautiful and military advanced carbon-fiber / alloy wheel weighs 6 kg or about 13.2 lbs. That’s compared to 18 kg or approx 40 lbs of a standard same-size alloy wheel. But nothing comes for free as a set of 20-inch Megalight Forged Series wheels cost $29,000 USD.

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[Source: WheelsAndMore.de, WikiPedia.com]