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carbon fiber hoods
- Thread starter K
- Start date
Check out Science of Speed. But you will not save that much weight (~5# at most)
I too was going to go CF on hood but the $$ vs weight savings just didn't add up.ncdogdoc said:
Gary's right. The stock hood is already very light. However, Cantrell Studios is now working on a new hood. The top layer is a direct replica from the genuine Honda NSX-R hood. The bottom is a race style Nomex honeycomb frame with full epoxy / carbon fiber construction. The hood is available for both 91-01 and 2002+ NSXes. Available with full carbon fiber primered to paint, or full exposed carbon fiber. It is the lightest hood available for the NSX and will be available for significantly less than the Japanese NSX hoods in about 1-2 weeks. The design and manufacturing methods are really unique, I've only seen something like it OEM or aftermarket as on the Ferrari Enzo.
Cheers,
-- Chris
Cheers,
-- Chris
Chris@SoS said:
Looking forward to more details.NSX/MR2
Suspended
Hopefully, I will have one soon.
me to......want one bad........
Keep us updated on this!!!! What's the price gonna be like?
Anybody know for sure what the weight of the OEM hood is?
You would be stupid to NOT use pins on any mfg c/f or glass hood. The latch will have a high risk to fail, and take it from me (happened to me coming home from Gingerman once with the Teg) get pins, or keep your factory hood or run the risk. Your choice.
Would the same be true for a vented hood?
Hoodpins are cheap insurance for such an upgrade, especially if a hood weighs 'significantly less' than OEM specs. The last thing you want driving at 100 mph is to have the hood latch off and smack into the windshield. Of course, the downside to hoodpin install is that you have to drill into the body to secure the pins.
- Joined
- 14 April 2002
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I have no experience with aftermarket CF hoods so humor me a little.
Why do you need pins?
Don't they mount to the stock hinge locations?
I would never go aftermarket if it meant getting hood pins OR worrying about the thing flying off at the track. Talk about a walk of shame to go back out on the track by foot and collect the hood from your Japanese quality supercar while the next track session waits and watches.
Just wondering as - through the years - these hoods are looking better and better and my stock 91' hood is looking worse and worse.
Why do you need pins?
Don't they mount to the stock hinge locations?
I would never go aftermarket if it meant getting hood pins OR worrying about the thing flying off at the track. Talk about a walk of shame to go back out on the track by foot and collect the hood from your Japanese quality supercar while the next track session waits and watches.
Just wondering as - through the years - these hoods are looking better and better and my stock 91' hood is looking worse and worse.
matteni said:
To prevent the hood from flying off either into the cockpit or elsewhere and seriously injuring passengers and bystanders. Hood pins are precautionary, and are commonly used by professional and amateur race drivers, even those who use OEM hoods.
You can place hood pins anywhere, but it is usually safest to put them where lift is maximized. For most cars, the safest place to secure the pin mount would be the radiator support.
Indeed. Granted 95% of the time the car will be safe with or without the pins, but for those unlucky few who track their vehicles w/ CF hoods, having the hood fly off would be both an embarrassing and dangerous experience, for not only the driver but for the other drivers on the track. Here's my car (with a FiberImages hood) at VIR with Sparco pins, comestically I am not crazy about it, but hey, 'better safe than sorry.'
Attachments
From what I have heard, the main skin will detach from the skeleton. Since they are two pieces, they need to be connected somehow. I have been told less quality hoods epoxy the two together, and the epoxy loses it's bonding strength. The skeleton remains latched to the car, but the outer skin rips off.
One point not mentioned is the crash worthiness of a a/m hood.
The oem hood is part of the foreward crash system of your car and you will make the car weaker in the frontal crash with a a/m hood.
What happens to these a/m hoods and how they interact with the rest of the car in a frontal crash is unknown.
They could break apart and maybe go through the windshield in part or in whole and injure or possibly impale/decapitate a occupant.
The hood is designed to do more than be a sight shield for the front compartment.
The oem hood is part of the foreward crash system of your car and you will make the car weaker in the frontal crash with a a/m hood.
What happens to these a/m hoods and how they interact with the rest of the car in a frontal crash is unknown.
They could break apart and maybe go through the windshield in part or in whole and injure or possibly impale/decapitate a occupant.
The hood is designed to do more than be a sight shield for the front compartment.
- Joined
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pbassjo said:
Well maybe but that sounds a little far fetched to me. Especially considering the brand new 2004 Type R NSX is the same car save for a CF hood. That and you have many full on race cars with CF. Not saying it is a 0 factor but it probably is much less serious then the stuff you have floating around in your cars IMO.
matteni said:
I would not discount it too much Nick. Do you really think that Honda would produce a hood that has no structural component except less weight. It has to have something going for it to cost so much
The real question is whether it is a small difference or a large difference. Planned crumple zones are present in all modern designs. Even the presence of the stock spare has been debated in its ability to reduce cabin damage from a head on collision. Will these things save/cost you your life? Not likely, but they were designed that way on purpose.
Many have told stories about hoods that came through windshields. I personally think they are mostly urban legend, but after having my "virtually indestructable" splitter break into multiple fragments and the cuts, scratches, and implanted fibers in my hands afterwards, I do think these things can be a little more dangerous than aluminum or steel.
That being said, I will be running a CF hood on the rat this summer.
I like the way many of the aftermarket offerings look and may put a Taitec Type R hood on my car, maybe this year.
I simply raised the issue becuase I wanted folks to consider possible safety trade off if going with these parts. I'm just a worrywart that's gone to one too many I-Car classes.
I simply raised the issue becuase I wanted folks to consider possible safety trade off if going with these parts. I'm just a worrywart that's gone to one too many I-Car classes.
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