The 2016 Ford Mustang GT350R’s carbon-fiber wheels are the stuff of hypercars,->ke177 and they’ll carry a price tag to match. According to newly leaked dealer invoice quote at Mustang6G, a new set of the 19-inch wheels will cost over $30,000 dollars after sales tax. Or, roughly 40 percent of the GT350R’s guesstimated price or about $7,000 more than a base-model V-6 Mustang.->ke428

To put it another way, watch out for curbs and invest in a top-of-the-line wheel lock kit.

Until now, Swedish hypercar builder Koenigsegg->ke43 was the only company fitting carbon-fiber wheels to production cars. Somehow, the technology skipped several levels in the sports car->ke506 hierarchy,including Ferrari,->ke252 Porsche->ke1 and the like, and went straight to the Ford Mustang. It’s sort of poetic, considering early Koenigseggs were powered by supercharged modular Ford 5.0-liter V-8s.

Expensive as they are, the benefits of carbon wheels are numerous. Ford says each wheel weighs just 18 pounds, or about half that of an aluminum equivalent. That’s a net savings of over 60 pounds of un-sprung weight, which translates to vastly improved grip and suspension response. Ford actually had to recalibrate the GT350R’s Delphi MagneRide dampers to cope with the faster suspension movement. Braking and acceleration are also improved, thanks to less rotational inertia.

As you (and your insurance company) would hope, Carbon Revolution, the Australian carbon-fiber experts tasked with fabricating the wheels, have coated them with a special gloss black paint that protects them from extreme brake temperatures, road salt, corrosive chemicals and curb strikes. They’re also held to the same standards as every other wheel Ford sells.

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Why it matters

This doesn’t necessarily mean the wheels actually comprise $30,000 of the GT350R’s asking price. Manufacturers often jack up the price of replacement parts for new cars by as much 100 percent to prevent them from flooding the aftermarket and to make a profit, since it's usually insurance companies covering the cost.

Still, we can envision a lot of GT350R owners fitting a set of aftermarket wheels, while safely storing the OEM carbon wheels in their garages.

2016 Shelby GT350R Mustang

Read our full review here.