Carbon Fiber - Is it worth it?

[qoncept]

Originally Posted by s2d4

Actually, it does considering people are saying it doesn't saved weight by referring to the wet, purely cosmetic pieces.

It doesn't matter because you could just take the hood off, replace it with nothing at all and you wouldn't have appreciable weight savings.

[s2d4]

Originally Posted by qoncept

It doesn't matter because you could just take the hood off, replace it with nothing at all and you wouldn't have appreciable weight savings.

Yeap, you are totally right.

[chaoskaze]

Carbon fiber wheels....the only real weight bbq saving , u can do. Do it!

[kmbkk]

I put a Seibon CF hood on my car. I didn't do it for the weight savings, although it was a little lighter than stock. Nor was it for looks. I did it to vent heat from my engine bay for the turbo kit. I had it Opticoated, so its held up fine for almost 2 years. Once it does start to fade I'll paint match it.

[Celadrielas]

Originally Posted by JiroZero713

Happy with my cold-air TRD intake from the factory. And I prefer less grippy tires myself in fact I like the stock ones.


Also you are talking to someone with no prior car knowledge of any modding. Cat-back...bushings? Might as well speak Spainish
to me haha.

As I am sure you've noticed, people have a widely differing opinions, even when about the same point of view. Don't worry about being new. You're in the right place and doing some reading through member journals will give you ideas. Speaking car, like speaking spanish, is a skill which can be learned just by emersion. You'll pick it up as you go.

Things to explain. "Cat-Back" refers to an exhaust system which replaces the piping from the Catalytic Converter to the tail of the vehicle. Your "Cat" or catalytic Converter is a device incorporated in the exhaust system of a motor vehicle, containing a catalyst for converting pollutant gases into less harmful ones. While illegal in some, most, or all (I'm not certain which of the 3 is true anymore) states, it's also common to run "Cat-less" which is, as you've guessed, running without any installed.

Your vehicles will usually have 2 Cats. 1 off the vehicle header (This is the exhaust portion that bolts directly to the engine and takes gases from each cylinder) and one in the Mid / Front pipe (Which is the portion of the exhaust usually in the middle of the vehicle.

The bushings are simply the rubber that holds the exhaust to the vehicle in the example of "Exhaust Bushings". (A lot of areas of the vehicle will have bushings in them).



---- Now what caught me as interesting in your post is when you stated you enjoyed the "less grippy" tires. While I enjoy the stock rims, they are heavy. In racing, they are ineffecient. I still have mine because money and I rather enjoy the look of them. My tires, however, bothered me. I am no longer on prius tires, but I am not on heavily "grippy" tires either. I am running a 225/45/r17 (slightly wider than stock) and I believe I am running on Falken Ziex tires (Though I can't remember off hand if that's my FRS, my shitty porsche 924, or my wife's econo-box Versa).

What makes you enjoy "Less grippy" tires?

hope the information helps. If you have questions, please feel free to ask or pm. I'm sure there are a LOT of people here willing to help you get started.

[Quentin]

Just to clarify, they aren't prius tires so to speak. They are a summer tire that was fitted on a sport edition Prius in Japan. The same summer tires that you'll find on a BMW 5 series and other similar sedans. They certainly aren't the grippiest summer tires, but they aren't what was on my wife's Prius. As far as I know, they've never offered summer tires on a Prius in the U.S.


Sent from Tandy 400

[SkAsphalt]

Originally Posted by Quentin

Just to clarify, they aren't prius tires so to speak. They are a summer tire that was fitted on a sport edition Prius in Japan. The same summer tires that you'll find on a BMW 5 series and other similar sedans. They certainly aren't the grippiest summer tires, but they aren't what was on my wife's Prius. As far as I know, they've never offered summer tires on a Prius in the U.S.


Sent from Tandy 400

Correct, never offered here on the Prius form factory. Still also correct to say they are Prius tires though.

[Bergen23]

As been said, cf isn't totally worth it. Although I'm considering CF fenders just because of the bling factor, but its hard to justify cf fenders when they don't add (or subtract for that matter) anything to the car except looks. That 2k or so could be better spent in a tfsa that'll help pay for a supercharger.

[Captain Snooze]

Carbon fibre tailshaft.
Unfortunately there is no bling factor unless the car is up on a hoist.