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Nissan's GT-R does an impressive job of using monster power and tech to compensate for its considerable mass, but one California speed shop's decided that Godzilla could benefit from a radical course of liposuction anyway. More »
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Fifteen months ago, we tried to show you a video of the amazing carbon fiber loom Toyota invented to weave parts for the Lexus LFA. Lexus yanked that video, concerned competitors would steal the technology. Now it's back online. More »
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Thought you were done with carbon fiber after the side mirrors, hood, roof, wing and trunk lid? You were wrong. Here's the latest and greatest in unbearable lightness of being — the carbon fiber toilet seat. Really. [CarbonFiberGear via jyx] More »
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Zuzana Serbak is a Czech fashion designer who has just graduated from design school in Prague. It’s probably a matter of minutes before Lamborghini snatches her up for a lifelong position designing interiors. [Photo Credit: Zuzana Serbak] More »
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I was in Yakima. Obviously. Chopping it up with some Emirates about where to get the best carbon fiber vinyl wraps for my F40 when they asked me to define my steelo. "Neo-ratrod-cum-Kuwaiti-baller-bape-Barris-Enzo." Obviously. (H/T SpikeJnz!) [MBP via AutoGuide] More »
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Lamborghini's latest reveal/hostage photo of its upcoming Paris show car offers more kinky carbon fiber and a logo on something. Fuel cap? Window washing fluid reservoir? You think it's a carbon fiber wheel and we agree. Or a corn-thresher. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5648810&view=rss&microfeed=true For all you engineering-obsessive nerds out there, here's how Bentley's making cheaper, stronger carbon fiber parts. [Wards] More »
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What if they transported race cars with bikes, instead of the other way around? Would that be silly, or just cool? (A TdF team car outside Avoriaz, France this morning.) Photo Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images. More »
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This carbon fiber ZF MacPherson strut concept is designed specifically for cheap Euro micro-shitboxes. Sweet. Carbon fiber for the masses! [ZF via Automobile] More »
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Seibon's created replacement carbon fiber bodies for the Smart and Elise. The former? Ludicrous. The latter? Potentially amazing, as carbon fiber's for making things lighter. Unfortunately, both are heavier and $10,000 more than stock counterparts. More »
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One of only two circular looms in the world is used to weave dual-tube carbon fiber components, like the A-pillar, on the Lexus LFA. It's obsessive attention to detail like this that explains the near $400,000 price. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5393505&view=rss&microfeed=true For $4,000, I'd want my Oakleys CNC-milled from solid carbon fiber too. [Autoblog] More »
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Fancy a smoke in your super car? Austrian design shop, Purisme, has also got a letter opener, a yo-yo and a bracelet for sale—all for super car prices. Buy them in Vienna or order them online. [Purisme] More »
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The folks at Autogespot captured this carbon fiberish Ferrari Enzo traipsing around Maranello. But why? More »
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Pagani’s two million dollar Zonda Cinque is built of a new twist on carbon fiber: carbotanium. Top Gear’s expert linguists deconstruct the Italian supercarmaker’s latest Oakley-ism. More »
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With its carbon fiber body, 678 HP AMG-sourced V12 engine, $1.8 million price tag and limited production of five, we know the type of enthusiast the Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster is aimed at. Oh and it's roofless. More »
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As supercar after supercar gets canceled, one is compelled to toast them into oblivion. Do it in style with a bottle from this V8 Studio carbon fiber wine rack. More »
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This completely raw carbon fiber 2002 Lotus Elise was built for extreme weight savings, but it poses the question; is the weight savings worth the cost? More »
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This carbon fiber child's safety car seat, created by Rory Craig of the Art Center College of Design, is not an official Sparco product but rather a clever prototype. Though we're a bit fatigued with all of the carbon fiber options out there (we're looking at you carbon fiber toilet), this particular model is admittedly well-designed. Meant to appeal to racing enthusiasts, the carbon fiber isn't even the best part. The child seat adjusts from an infant seat to a toddler model to a booster seat, which allows the buyer to save some of the money they just forked over for a safety device made of an outrageously expensive material. Craig is trying to pitch the idea to Sparco and has fictitiously named it the "Sparco Wingman" in order to grab their attention. We think they should do it, if only to encourage Lewis Hamilton and his Pussycat Dolls girlfriend to make sexy fast babies. A closer look at the functionality below the jump. More »
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You can now add wheels to the list of random car parts (mirrors, spoilers and toilets) made of carbon fiber and attached to exotic cars and Honda Civics. These wheels, featuring an outer rim made of carbon fiber and a regular wheel face with magnesium hub, are the work of HRE/Dymag and debuted at SEMA last week as the first production carbon fiber wheels. How much for a set of these bad boys? More »
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Uh-oh, more folks messing with Godzilla. At first we liked the way the dry carbon fiber hood and trunk on this Nissan GT-R looked compared to the more popular glossy stuff. But the more we stare at it, the more we think it looks kinda cheap. We're reminded of guys driving around in Honda Civic coupes with carbon fiber hoods that were once glossy but have since faded in the sun. That's not good considering these parts from Seibon are so new they're not even out yet. Perhaps it's just that the rest of the car doesn't match the dry carbon fiber? More »
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Despite the owner's manual for the Nissan GT-R strictly forbidding it, a Japanese company has gone ahead and released a carbon fiber kit for Godzilla himself, defying everything Nissan stands for this with vehicle. Arios is the company behind this mess. Despite it not being a giant wing or massive fender flairs, the inclusion of carbon fiber front and sideskirts is enough to make every Nissan designer crap their pants, simultaneously. Along with the kit, Arios offers to swap the new GT-R front emblem with the older one from the Skyline GT-R KPCG10. Please. [WCF] More »
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While the current hypercar mega-star, the Bugatti Veyron, may be a very impressive piece of machinery, the kids today often forget all about its predecessor. Yes, we're talking about the good ol' EB110, from the decade that brought us the Ferrari F50, Porsche 911 GT1, and McLaren F1. Since then, we've moved onwards and upwards— or have we? While a modern hypercar wafts along with a cozy cabin and an excess reserve of power, the definitive essence of the '90s was that of an unforgiving hardcore attitude. Case in point, this naked Bugatti EB110 Super Sport. More »
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Here's a pretty slick wall display from Plasan, the supplier of the carbon fiber parts for the 2009 Corvette ZR1. Instead of just stacking their stuff on the floor and making a path for people to walk through, like we do in the home office, they decided to utilize the wonders of vertical storage and even went all the way with a clever labeling scheme. Here we find out the weights of all the carbon fiber bits they supply for the mega-Vette. More »
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Hardigree and I drove our respective red supercars at roughly the same time yesterday. While he went for the flashy Audi R8 V12 LeMans TDI Prototype and was escorted through traffic like a Russian Oil Baron by a phalanx of Audi Q7s, I hopped into the Hybrid Technologies Lithium Powered Super Car with the guy who built it. There was no top, so I enjoyed the welcome good weather—at last!—in NYC. OK, maybe the name needs a little work, but the car itself was a hoot to drive. More »
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Now this is our kind of safety package, not an overly enthusiastic traction controls system or side-curtain airbag in site. The Caparo T1 relies instead on a Formula 1 style carbon fiber an aluminum honeycomb tub surrounded by a crumple zone made from the same material. Carbon is again employed in the nose, which models itself on the crushable items found on the front of F1 cars. Retardation is supplied by AP racing 14-inch disks all round, with 6 piston calipers at the front, 4 at the rear, capable of hauling the car down from 100mph in under 3 seconds. To ensure that drivers are able to make the most of the T1's incredible handling and braking abilities, Caparo run a mandatory -yes that means everyone - training course for potential customers.

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For the last several weeks we've been sticking with the classics. Cars like the Facel Vega HK500, Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and the all-conquering Bugatti Royale — vehicles that aren't so much pure fantasy as they are automotive high water marks. This week we're turning our attention to a modern classic, and the more things change... Back when Farago first launched our little Fantasy Garage, there was no question than an F1 would (someday) grace our car hole. The McLaren F1 should actually be synonymous inside every pistonhead's head with the word "Fantasy." In point of fact, it very well might be the greatest supercar ever made. Which may be why the Sultan of Brunei owns eight of 'em. Have a look. More »
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So we noticed at SEMA this year that carbon fiber has become the new matte black. And if you remember, as we learned from SEMA last year, matte black is the new black. Now, because of a desire for the "carbon fiber look" — lovers of tuners of all shapes, colors and chrome appendages are taking the time-honored tradition of finding ways to lighten their cars — and throwing them out the window. Most of us already know that instead of fabricating new carbon-fiber parts, many lovers of the over-pimped are merely wrapping their pre-existing car parts in carbon-fiber. Yay, 1.25 times the weight, and 1.25 times less performance. Anyway — if you happen to be one of the silly people interested, the folks over at VolvoSpeed have put together a little "How-To" on wrapping your car parts in carbon-fiber. Although it may seem like we're aiding and abetting, we've gone and galleried 'em up below in the hopes of showing the little ones what not to do with their side mirrors. You know — for the kids. Don't follow along with the step-by-step instructions under each one of the pictures. More »
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Carbonetic is an offshoot of Across, which produces carbon-carbon composites using a patented method. The translation is that since they can make nearly anything out of carbon-carbon, they can also produce a series of clutches, limited slip differentials, and brake pads using the same stuff. What impressed us the most was the multiplate clutch setup. The usually heavy steel floater center plate discs in carbon-carbon weigh almost nothing. Picking one up makes for a hand does not believe the eye kind of thing. Carbonetic also has a line of single plate street clutches using sprung hubs and carbon composite for the under 500 horsepower cars out in the garage or driveway. [Carbonetic] More »
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Because the old Zonda wasn't bat guano enough, right? This sucker seems to have been born from the same design chic that hatched the Countach 5000QV. That is to say, "Josepi, if you find any flat surfaces, put a scoop in 'em. Also, definitely needs more wing." Apparently more power (up to 750 horses) and carbon fiber, too. The new track-focused Zonda is longer and wider than the "regular" Zonda. In fact, the two cars will only share 10% of their parts. We just like how it looks a tiny bit like an Audi R10, because we so love the Audi R10. We'll supposedly be seeing this particular track-car next spring at the Geneva Auto Show. [Motor Authority] More »
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By and large we're not big fans of adding carbon-fiber gewgaws and doohickies to vehicles that honestly don't need them. But for readers of Max Power, it seems to be a pretty common pastime. Witness this fine example of CF-accesorization — a vortex generator a la Mitsu's AWD road-torcher that can be fitted to your ride. We can't wait to see our first Aveo so equipped. [Monster Modz via Max Power] More »
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Hey Blake, you might want to hold off on your order for the new Lamborghini Murcielago Superveloce. Looks like Boeing and Airbus are snapping up all the super lightweight resin they can get their hands on. The price per pound for the good stuff has mushroomed from $5 to $20. There is a certain irony to this story. As you may know, the filthy rich the world over are using private aircraft more and more. Yet commercial planes are still able to piss them off. We think its a pity, not for the rich, but for the you and mes, as a mega-lightweight econobox with fantastic mileage would be 99 times better than a dirty old hybrid. Stupid Adam Smith. – Jonny Lieberman More »
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The whiz kids down in Oak Ridge, TN, at a lab originally established to enrich and extract the uranium 235 used to incinerate/ irradiate Hiroshima, is working with a consortium of auto manufacturers on ways to make carbon fiber cheaper, and thus a more viable option for everyday vehicle construction. Currently, commercial-grade carbon fiber's running around 8 bucks a pound; the goal is to drop the price by three to five dollars and make it easier to work with on a large scale. More »
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If 1967's "The Graduate" were remade in 2005, Benjamin Braddock would probably drive a Scion instead of an Alfa Duetto (natch), and the poolside career advice he recieved would have encompassed two words instead of one: "carbon fiber," not "plastics." These days, carbon-fiber — which costs nearly 10 times more than steel — is the ultimate prestige accessory. Carmakers like Porsche and Ferrari and BMW (M6 roof, pictured) have been using the megabucks material to lighten up their supercars, and aftermarket suppliers are selling truckloads of expensive carbon-fiber doodads like hoods and body panels. What's next for this space-age material, other than $500 day-glo interior trim? More »
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