Forged, Weave, or Honeycomb: Which Carbon Fiber Should You Pick?

Every wheel we build starts with the same question, and most people haven't thought about it before they ask us: what should the carbon actually look like?

There are three finishes, and the difference isn't only cosmetic.

Weave

The classic. Sheets of woven carbon fiber laid in the familiar checkerboard, then clear-coated. It's what most people picture when they hear carbon fiber, and it's what looks most at home in a car that already has some carbon trim from the factory. The weave runs in a consistent direction, so it catches light predictably — one angle bright, another angle dark.

Forged

Forged has no weave at all. Instead of sheets it uses chopped carbon strands pressed under pressure, so the pattern comes out marbled and random. No two forged wheels are identical. It reads as more aggressive and more modern, and it hides fingerprints better than weave. It's a $50 upgrade on our builds.

Honeycomb

A printed hexagonal pattern layered over carbon. The most distinctive of the three, and the one people either love immediately or skip. It suits builds that already lean loud — a bright stitch colour, a top stripe. Also $50.

Which one wears best?

All three are clear-coated to the same standard, so durability is the same. What differs is how they age visually. Weave shows swirl marks from bad cleaning most clearly, because the pattern is regular and your eye catches any interruption. Forged hides them best. If your car lives outside and gets washed at a tunnel, forged is the forgiving choice.

Matching your interior

If your car came with factory carbon trim, weave almost always matches it — factory carbon is woven. Forged next to factory weave can look like a mismatch rather than an upgrade. With no factory carbon, pick on looks alone.

A note on flakes

All three can take a flake accent — red, blue, purple, green, pink or yellow suspended in the clear coat. Flakes read strongest over forged, because the random base gives them somewhere to hide and then catch light. Over honeycomb they compete with the hex pattern.

Every wheel we make is built to order for one specific vehicle, so the carbon choice is made before we start laying it up. That's part of why the lead time is five to six weeks — nothing is pulled off a shelf.

You can see all three finishes on real wheels in our steering wheel collection, and if you'd rather look at samples in person, you can book a visit to the shop in Dublin, Ohio.