HKCivic

In a quest to make my car as light as possible while retaining creature comforts I was considering getting carbon fiber body part.

Lets take a hood for example...does a carbon fiber hood really reduce weight, and if so, by how much about? My current hood has a dent in it and I'm debating between fixing it or going carbon fiber.

If a carbon fiber hood wont reduce much weight then I'll just fix my current hood.

What do you guys think?

alphalanos

If you dont race competitively its a waste of money. Youd be better off doing power increase. While Cf parts are much lighter than steel, most are wet carbon as opposed to dry carbon which is what real race cars use. Dry carbon is dull looking because it doesnt have the gloss epoxy resin on it which saves mass. Most people just do CF hood and Trunk for appearance.

Sandy P

CF really isn't worth it imo. It costs a lot, and really you won't see dramatic increases from it. Mostly just to look good i think.

DTA-Zombie

your car weighs ~2000 lbs....you need to go lighter why? a strong wind will already push your car wherever it wants. You are better off replacing or repairing your hood.

alacard

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DTA-Zombie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">your car weighs ~2000 lbs....you need to go lighter why? a strong wind will already push your car wherever it wants. You are better off replacing or repairing your hood. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Lighter will always improve your power/weight ratio. Not sure where you have been, but have you ever seen a honda race? Tell those guys to put their interior back in and see what they tell you. I'm not saying this guy should strip his interior, but it is beneficial. And it is worth it if you are racing the car.


Modified by alacard at 11:19 AM 9/4/2008

Kendall

I had my last EG (94 DX) down to 1875 with all stock glass, all stock body panels, a B series, and a 5 lug conversion.

There's plenty of weight to take out, and most of it doesn't cost you anything.

alacard

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kendall &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I had my last EG (94 DX) down to 1875 with all stock glass, all stock body panels, a B series, and a 5 lug conversion.

There's plenty of weight to take out, and most of it doesn't cost you anything.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Just curious...what did you take out?

Kendall

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alacard &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just curious...what did you take out?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Everything. The interior was one Bride seat and a steering wheel. The cluster was zip tied to the steering column. I took out all the brackets for the rear seat and the passenger airbag. There were no windshield wipers, no lower mounts, or anything. The entire wiring harness was redone to reduce length and to completely eliminate all the wires from things that had been taken out. I made sure that anything upgraded was as light as possible: flywheel, header, mounts, wheels, etc. Not bad for a daily driver.

alacard

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kendall &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Everything. The interior was one Bride seat and a steering wheel. The cluster was zip tied to the steering column. I took out all the brackets for the rear seat and the passenger airbag. There were no windshield wipers, no lower mounts, or anything. The entire wiring harness was redone to reduce length and to completely eliminate all the wires from things that had been taken out. I made sure that anything upgraded was as light as possible: flywheel, header, mounts, wheels, etc. Not bad for a daily driver.</TD></TR></TABLE>
You daily drove that car? That is insane.

riceburnerryan

that guy is my hero haha i cant believe he daily drove that car

00b20vtecoupe

yeah thats pretty crazy for a DD but i just lightened mine up its a 2000 si coupe and i took my back seats out and some unneeded brackets and my rear seat belt coils were heavy. I put a cf trunk on b/c i got it for cheap and it is wayyy lighter than stock and a cf hood which is also way lighter than stock but both were originally mainly for appearance purposes. im trying to eliminate as much as possible.

HKCivic

Very helpful information! So I think I may just repair this hood. Thanks for the help!

iluvmy2000civicex

I plan on goin with a carbon fiber hood and trunk soon but for appearance not for weight. Hell I have a d16y8... doesnt really matter how much weight I take off its still gunna be slow.