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Random question

GTICrazy90

Ready to race!
Location
chino hills, CA
So this just came to my mind when i saw a IS250 that had carbon fiber trunk and hood.

When most people are buying these carbon fiber body panels for their car, are they just buying a regular old hood with a carbon fiber vinyl type thing on top of it? Are most cars out there (im talking about lower end cars from civics to say g35's, not ferrari's and what not) that have these carbon fiber panels, are they truly made up of a carbon fiber weave?
To my recollection carbon fiber is an expensive material, and I wouldn't think most people(ricers) would want it, being how its so expensive and to there cars offers pretty much nothing except looks.

Sorry if you disagree but I think carbon fiber on some cars are just rice
 

-jakrbt-

.:R32 OG
Location
North Texas
From what I understand...and I actually had a 2001 Prelude w/ a CF hood and CF wing....most of the carbon fiber body panels you see out there are real CF weave, but it's overlayed on top of fiberglass. And it's usually "wet" CF, vs. dry that's really expensive. That's why when you look for F hoods and such for the MKV platform from say OSIR, you can get the single-sided hood for about half what the double-sided one costs. The double-sided one IIRC is dry-weave CF and contains no fiberglass at all. Hope this answers your question.
 

MkVBlkMgc

Wir wollen lebensraum!
Location
Loves Park, IL
Car(s)
'08 GTI DSG
CF is used on the IS250 for weight reduction without a loss of panel strength.

I believe that most folks buy actual CF panels, not just steel with a CF applique, but I've been wrong before.

I can't tell you why ricers do any of the shit they do.
 

-jakrbt-

.:R32 OG
Location
North Texas
It is pretty ricey but most of them that I've seen have been legit CF. They're not prohibitively expensive to buy ($600-1,000).

This is close to being correct. Yes, they are legit CF weave, but like I said, it's layed over the top of fiberglass. To get "real" CF panels, etc., you're looking at a shit ton of cash.

"Ricers" add it usually just becuase they like the way it looks. Unless they're racing like GT style, there's really no benefit from CF parts. If they have a machine built specifically for GT racing, etc., the CF is used for added strength while saving a lot of weight, and then you can bet the CF parts on them are the real deal and they're certainly not cheap.
 

GTICrazy90

Ready to race!
Location
chino hills, CA
It is pretty ricey but most of them that I've seen have been legit CF. They're not prohibitively expensive to buy ($600-1,000).

Ohh i guess im wrong. I thought they would be more than that, unless thats the "wet" cf like they guy was talking about earlier. Isn't there quite a few different ways to weave the carbon fiber? Im guessing some ways a better than others, which would lead to some being expensive and others being more generic.

Say, one does buy a cf hood for their car, would one even be able to tell the difference around a track assuming they are an amateur driver, like im guessing a majority of the people with aftermarket cf hoods are?
I make to many assumptions haha
 

GTICrazy90

Ready to race!
Location
chino hills, CA
This is close to being correct. Yes, they are legit CF weave, but like I said, it's layed over the top of fiberglass. To get "real" CF panels, etc., you're looking at a shit ton of cash.

"Ricers" add it usually just becuase they like the way it looks. Unless they're racing like GT style, there's really no benefit from CF parts. If they have a machine built specifically for GT racing, etc., the CF is used for added strength while saving a lot of weight, and then you can bet the CF parts on them are the real deal and they're certainly not cheap.

KK gotcha, yea i knew what cf is used for and all. I watch a lot of F1 which starts in two weeks!!!
 

-jakrbt-

.:R32 OG
Location
North Texas
Ohh i guess im wrong. I thought they would be more than that, unless thats the "wet" cf like they guy was talking about earlier. Isn't there quite a few different ways to weave the carbon fiber? Im guessing some ways a better than others, which would lead to some being expensive and others being more generic.

Say, one does buy a cf hood for their car, would one even be able to tell the difference around a track assuming they are an amateur driver, like im guessing a majority of the people with aftermarket cf hoods are?
I make to many assumptions haha

More than likely, unless you track your car on regular occassions, probably not. A hood really doesn't weigh that much. The weight savings on just 1 panel are so minute that it would really take a professional driver to be able to notice any difference. And honestly, the same results can be had using fiberglass parts. You just lose the added strength.
 

AdvanSuper

Banned
Location
Guam
IIRC the type of CF panels most people get actually end up weighing more than OEM panels.
 

Cynikal.Mindset

GTI Virus Infected
Location
Ontario, Canada
the carbon fiber pieces I had on my old school civic weighed less but by maybe a pound or 2 but they went with the panda style I was workin with and were pretty inexpensive compared to getting rust free pieces and then having them painted
 
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