I am in the market for a oem carbon fiber hood for an ek si. I'm thinking of going with VIS because of the rep they have. Anyone have any good advice as far as quality of hoods are concerned? Thanks.

 

ive heard that seibon makes some very reputable hoods also,im not quite sure of the price range but look into them

 

I would not buy a hood from seibon or vis. They make their hoods first out of frp, then overlay them in carbon. This makes for a heavy hood that is more prone to cracking the gelcoat, corners, edges, ect(heat exposure). Not to mention the surface of the part comes out looking like crap. If it were my decision I would see if I could find one that was vacuum infused; or just stick to the stock one. Sorry, but i have no idea who might make a quality hood any more. Composites Fab made some nice ones. If you could find out what happened to them, you could probably find a damn nice one. Good luck.

 

If this is a D.D dont go carbon fiber on the hood.

The factory hood was designed at a certain weight to help keep the car on the ground at high speeds, down force isnt always enough to keep the car on the ground...

A hood weighs a helluva alot if you've taken one off by your self, but the weight reduction from carbon fiber isn't gonna make you any faster if thats what you have in mind. I say dont do it

 

LOL what? Keep the car on the ground?

I've taken Civic hoods off before by myself and I can't agree they weigh a lot.

Although I am kind of a big guy

 

LOL well I'm probablly not so big to you lol, so I guess I struggle...

Since the integra DA, honda began designing their hoods to help keep the car on the ground at high speeds. So theri hood designs have a purpose, not just looks.

Also my interpretation of high speeds is like 120mph+...(in my world)

 

The hood weighs the same at 50 mph as it does at 120 mph. I really can't see how the weight of the hood in particular would affect anything at any speed. It would be a faaar stretch to say that even the aerodynamics of the hood were designed with high speed in mind.

Ps. Have you ever seen a Civic actually lift off the ground at high speed? Why would the engineers see this as a problem?

 

Well my civic even though its lowered when I get on it, I feel it really lift up (like really noticable) , other people see me get on my car and they say it starts to lift alot.....so mine does, but its heavily modded.....

 

My rx7 has a carbon fiber hood and at high speeds the hood rattles and starts to pull lose from the hood supports causes its so light but it has a turbo 2 hood real scoupe if you get a carbon fiber hood dont get a hood scope or do i would stick with the stock one which i did on my hatchback

 

I have a Seibon CF hood and love it.

I've also had a Fiber Images hood, but the quality of my Seibon is much much better.

 

WTF? there are some peeps in here that have NO idea what they are talking about.......anyways.....you know who you are.....btw, the carbon hood looks nice, but there needs to be an investment in hood pins. I have a friend who had a seibon hood, and the latch broke away from the hood, and it cracked the windshield and dented his roof on his eclipse......just for precautionary warning.

 

I have heard that some of the latched on aftermarket hoods have not been as strong as OEM ones. For this reason, hood pins are suggested (real ones, not ones from your local auto parts store).

I've seen hoods fly up on cars before. It happened on a friend's fifth gen Civic. It's not something you want to have happen. A dented hood and smashed windshield seem easy enough to fix, and they are, but often the hood coming up causes fairly significant roof damage too.

I personally am not a fan of carbon fiber hoods. I think they usually throw off the flow of the rest of the car. Often the hood gives little to no weight gains plus there is the added risk mentioned above.

So the bad I can think of:
- Cost
- Possible damage to vehicle
- Fitment
- Finish fails in months to years
- Tendency to rattle (more common with trunks and hatches from what I've read)

And the good I can think of:
- Possible weight loss, but unlikely

Looks are purely opinion based, so they could fall into either category or both.

 

Just a question... but how can a steel hood not weigh more than a carbon one? I must be missing something.
So I guess you'd say don't buy the carbon lift gate either cause there won't be a significant weight loss from steel to carbon fiber?
Isn't there a 30% loss in weight from steel to aluminum? Could be me... but I'm definitely missing something.

 

I have a VIS Invader carbon fiber hood on my 95 honda civic coupe. I dont have hood pins and it has never rattled at any speed. Like the looks of it much better too.

 

A lot of these parts are just wraps. They're not pure carbon fiber.

 

Go with seibon or VIS, I have had them both. Had the seibon on my 00 si fitment was a little weird. I would go with VIS if I was you.

 

You need new shocks lol. But from carbon parts i've seen, the hoods can get holes kind of easy, and the gel coat comes off after a while not with only hoods but mirrors and such too

 

Even if the hood is just fiberglass it will be much lighter than a hood composed of steel. After all, fiberglass hoods were performance option on the muscle cars of yesteryear.

In any case, I would much prefer an aluminum hood even if it weighs a bit more than carbon fiber. There is no chance of it delaminating around the latch so there is no risk of it flying up and also no need for hood pins. Aluminum will also never rust from rock chips.

 

noobs!!!

 

What is this, Formula One? Aerodynamics? I don't know why anyone would worry about the design or weight of their hood affecting their high speed handling?.....WOW.....Weight savings?..... The minimal weight savings from a carbon hood is a joke. Even if it was 30lbs lighter, so what. The weight savings does not warrant spending that much money on a part. Carbon hoods are for looks. The only people that consider all carbon body parts as an alternative are race teams, or wealthy independent racers. For street cars, they just look good......period

Also, Honda hoods are light anyway....

I have been considering a carbon hood for my Eg hatch. My hood is painted black from the previous owner so I was thinking of picking one up instead of having it painted. I too have heard the fading stories, and the latch issues. I would never put hood pins on a street car. Honda's are easy enough to steal...... let's not do them any favors. I would like to hear more opinions though....

 

my 0.02 is cf is ricey but if you have to do it.....paint it so no one knows

 

i think if you are set on carbon fiber
i would go with either vis because
they have a good rep, or seibon
they are fairly new company but
have heard good things about them
and they have oem fitment.. or
maybe check into that carbon kevlar
hood,thats supposed to be good also.

 

I'm not saying there is a great difference though.

I only mentioned it because it's always mentioned in threads about carbon fiber hoods.

In fact, I believe there is a thread on this site going over some different hood weights.
How are hood pins going to make the car easier to steal?

The look of carbon fiber is purely an opinion. I can't say I'm crazy about it.

It is funny though that you think spending ~$400 on weight savings (even if it's only 30 pounds, as you put it) is ridiculous, but spending the same amount purely for looks is perfectly understandable.

 

look, without spending thousands of dollars on a carbon fiber hood, your not going to see a huge difference in anything, and yes you migh need hood pins. it all depends on how well the hood fits and latches. and if you live in a sunny or hot place it will speed up the process of ruining the coating and "bleach" the carbon with greyhish white spots.

 

Nevermind on the hood pin thing....long night.

As far as the Carbon goes.... It's all relative. $400 is $400. If I spend $400 on a carbon hood hoping to save weight with the result being better performance, then I am going to be disappointed. However, is I spend $400 on a carbon hood knowing that it will simply look better, then its good.

It would be like buying a turbo kit because you don't care about more power. You just want to pop your hood and everything to look cool.

There is a purpose for everything, given the cost. Granted, a carbon hood may be consider a little expensive for just "looks", but ultimately it's purpose is looks and not performance. I am a performance man all the way. I like a nice clean car with the money spent on what goes on behind the scenes. Typically, I would never consider a carbon hood, but given my situation and I would definitely buy used if I get one.