I could use some advice at the moment.

i've taken a look at the hood latch on this hood only in pictures...

meanwhile i notice its not reinforced and its one of those flimsy type latches. should i be cautious of the cf hood latch breaking and the hood flying up and potentially getting me in a life threatening accident with out hood pins of some sort?

i rather not install hood pins but on hoods without reinforced latches, i would be slightly concerned. do any of you care to share your opinions on the matter?

what exactly causes the hood to fly up? I figure its because of the poor workmanship.

and before anyone tells me "SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON" or something like that, im not buying this hood. its a trade. so im debating.

TIA as usual

 

i got mine from VIS, and if u put back the hood gasket, u will be safe. i have mine couple months ago. have track the car for 5-6 events so far and driving 80+ mph everyday.

 

I've had the Vis cf hood before on my gsr. I like its fitment and and overall quality at first. I drove without hoodpins for about 3 months, upon going to school I had to drive over high bridges (San Mateo, Dumbarton, if you are in the SF bay). I'd look at my hood and it looked ready to fly off. Scared the heck out of me. Some people I know locally drive it without hoodpins and have no problem with it (or dont care if it flies off). I would go with pins to be safe. One thing about the Vis hood's I didnt like is that they fade and look like they are melting after being in the sun for sometime. Begins to look like crap after awhile.

 

thanks for the input....how much lighter is the hood than stock? do you know?

 

There are a number of ways that a CF hood can fail. The latch itself can break, but even on hoods with reinforced latches, the hood can seperate from the skeleton. Either way, the potential damage to the car, and more importantly to the occupants of the car and of other cars on the road, is high. There simply isn't a good reason not to run hoodpins on a CF hood, regardless of the brand.

 

BTW - A Fiber Images DC2 hood weighs approx. 16 lbs less than stock. HTH

 

If you're picking up a VIS hood, then the difference is only about 10lbs at most.

VIS C/F hoods are heavy as hell, but that's why they don't easily fly off the car.

 

hey Knuckle head (****) ive told you repeadeltly just come check out the car and thre hood. i dont use hood pins and its fine. would it be safer with them on? absolutely. i just havent installed them. the latch is metal reinforced ive told you that too.

 

i'll post a pic of a vis (1st gen) hood when i get home, then you can decide if you want to run hood pins....

 

.....I've had mine for a couple months or so and no problems not running hood pins. Same for RatedR... The hood is significantly lighter than the stocker, but by how much is an unknown since I didn't weigh it. I will say that the mass makes you think it's heavier than it is... But just try holding the oem one by itself and you quickly say **** it, i'll get a cf one!

As far as hood pins, I'll be putting mine in sometime soon. I don't mind them, and prefer the extra security they offer. I'm also running the oem rubber seal on the hood. Fitment is like stock, quality is among the best I've seen... And I had this one up to 120mph yesterday testing out my shift light...

As far as hood pins - I believe all the VIS hoods now come with a sticker that says they recommend hood pins for safety reasons. Better safe than sorry.....

 

have one on my 98 gsr. it's been on for about 4 mons. no problems so far. no, i don't have hood pins, but have seriously considered getting some anyway to be on safe side. hood fits perfect & brackets are strong. upon installation, i relined stocks hood brackets to insure even & proper fit. i then ripped off an old rubber hood molding from the front of an junked stock hood. glued on w/ black silicone. filled gap perfectly. i have gone well over 80 mph & hood barely budges...hope this helps
btw....mine is not made by fiber images


[Modified by 98lagen, 9:56 AM 7/22/2002]

 

It says on the VIS badge; which is located under the hood. that it's highly recommended that you use hood pins.

I can't wait till i get my JDM CF hood.