Quote:
Originally Posted by Dezoris
I am not being negative, just real. The higher end esoteric performance parts using composites and proper engineering are a small fortune, because they are limited production pieces. You want lightness, it needs to be engineered in from the ground up, not reverse. You don't see sports cars designed with a steel frame and then strapping carbon fiber on every panel.
I would love to see higher end options but, 99.9% of us are not competing in professional motorsports there is virtually no need or market for it. I never said don't engineer something better or push the envelope.
Law of diminishing returns. Dry carbon hood, $3000 vs $700 aluminum hood. This is the base for this thread. We are talking about a 25k car that makes 160HP at the wheels. Thats less/same as a Veloster Turbo and Civic Si. You can drop 10k on this car in esoteric parts, or even a Civic. At the end of the day its the same car with a ton of expensive parts bolted on in the end it's not going to matter I promise you. You can bring a trailer with full works garage, engineer, mechanic to the track with you, money can buy you speed, there is always someone who has more and has more to prove.
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The composites stuff in this thread is mostly academic. I've yet to see a carbon hood at a reasonable price that weighs less than the stock one so why bother? Aluminum is a darn fine material for panels.
On the steel frame/carbon panels thing-there are a number of super car level cars that have a steel backbone with carbon panels to shave weight while reducing the overall cost of the car. Many Porsches and M cars use carbon panels with a steel or aluminum frame underneath. There are some examples of high performance cars (even open wheeled racers) that are basically steel spaceframes with a carbon skin. The Edge aerobatic aircraft is also constructed in this method.
I understand what you're getting at, but you're assuming that the intrinsic motivation is 100% for the performance gain. Some of us like things that are well thought out and engineered. Some of us are willing to pay a premium for that, even if the performance gain is small. I'd personally like to shave a good amount of weight off the front of the car if possible, and every little bit counts. Lighter hollow swaybar, aluminum arms, light brakes, light wheels, light battery (or relocation), lightweight bumper beam (JDM spec maybe? I don't really trust the "drift bars" on the street), lighter aluminum radiator, who knows how far we could take it. Cost effective? Probably not. Fun? You bet.
Nathan