From Racetrack to Hatchback

[Brown, Jon Brow]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12691062

An interesting article explaining how carbon fibre has gone from being 'too abitious' to use on F1 cars to being an everyday material for road cars.

I think it is important that racing cars are always seen to be developing the advancement of road cars, whether it be in safety, performance or efficiency. I just hope that the strict regulations we now have in F1 doesn't impact its ability to innovate.

[555-04Q2]

I don't know about carbon fibre being an everyday material for road cars, unless you are looking at Macca's, Ferrari's, GTR's etc. Over 95% of road cars dont and wont be using carbon fibre for a another decade or so at least. It's just to exotic and expensive for the average car.

[AndyL]

I don't know about carbon fibre being an everyday material for road cars, unless you are looking at Macca's, Ferrari's, GTR's etc. Over 95% of road cars dont and wont be using carbon fibre for a another decade or so at least. It's just to exotic and expensive for the average car.

Not quite "has gone [...] to being an everyday material for road cars," more like "is going [...] to being an everyday material for road cars." However with the likes of BMW and VW investing heavily in basic carbon fibre manufacturing, in order to secure a high-volume supply chain, I think we'll start seeing mass-produced models using carbon fibre in less than a decade.

[Tazio]

Cars!! Heck I bought my first carbon fiber fishing rod in the mid '70's, and I never went back to fiberglass
My mountain bike has many carbon fiber components.
Then you have your aftermarket auto, and motorcycle components.
My riding gloves have carbon fiber knuckles in them.
I can see how much more expensive it would be to use them in mass production of autos,
But not too prohibitive for high end vehicles
And I agree with Andy L that mass production will be relatively common in less than a decade.

[Robinho]

carbon fibre parts such a gearboxes and suspension parts will likely be the large uptake, rather than body panel and the like. this is quite a growth area and i expect will become pretty mainstream in a few years

[Retro Formula 1]

Cars!! Heck I bought my first carbon fiber fishing rod in the mid '70's, and I never went back to fiberglass
My mountain bike has many carbon fiber components.
Then you have your aftermarket auto, and motorcycle components.
My riding gloves have carbon fiber knuckles in them.
I can see how much more expensive it would be to use them in mass production of autos,
But not too prohibitive for high end vehicles
And I agree with Andy L that mass production will be relatively common in less than a decade.

The list goes on and on.

Do you remember how light and firm those early CF rods were but you pick and early one up and compare it to a new CF/Kevlar model then it feels positivly soggy.

I have made some small cosmetic componants for one of my cars but only cosmetic changes and nothing structural. Brackets, guards and that sort of thing.

[Tazio]

The list goes on and on.

Do you remember how light and firm those early CF rods were but you pick and early one up and compare it to a new CF/Kevlar model then it feels positivly soggy.
I have made some small cosmetic componants for one of my cars but only cosmetic changes and nothing structural. Brackets, guards and that sort of thing.

I hear you bro!

[wedge]

Pffffft

Manufacturers should sort out their flappy paddle transmissions before investing in carbon fibre.

[TheFamousEccles]

I can see the new flappy wing being a boon to future hatchback shopping trolleys....

[Zico]

I've studied manufacturing with CF, joined a CF forum and pictured lots of manual labour, autoclaves and long curing processes... so watching what I've described below was a real eye opener and leads me to believe that as fuel prices continue to rise we may well see items like this in your average saloon car in the near future.

I watched a video or documentary on CF last year, one part was about the advances made in production technology in a CF research centre, I was extrememy impressed to see a series of pre-cut super fast cure flash resin pre-preg layers of CF placed in a mould which was then rolled up to the hydraulic ? vac press which clamped down and the contained heating elements switched on for just minutes iirc possibly less, then the press opened and popped the piece from the mould.. a perfectly made Carbon fibre car door structure which was then lifted up... by one finger... all completed within a few minutes.

They also produced a dome shaped CF bowl in the same manner which they whacked with a sledgehammer to a resounding 'DING' like you would hear if beating a metal saucepan, I wouldn't have believed it.. and no damage, not even a mark. Impressive stuff. I'll need to try and find the video doc again to share with you.

We already have HDPC wings etc used in production of many cars.. CF in your average car is not far away.