Carbon Fibre bonnet for an Aurion .... Interested?

[GDUBB]

I am currently negotiating with a Carbon Fibre mob in Asia for a custom bonnet. I think it may be cheaper if they sold more than one. For negotiating purposes, how many would be keen?

[nahrsuhsist]

How much is the estimation?

[GDUBB]

How much is the estimation?

I wouldn't pay more than around $1000.... I thought I would get numbers first. I asked:

"do you make a bonnet for a 2007-2009 Asia spec Camry, Australian Aurion"

Response: "we do not have one yet. We do custom molds, but it would be expensive"

I am waiting to respond until I have some leverage to bargain

[nahrsuhsist]

It might be best practice if you know someone from Asia, say Thailand, Thai's are notorios for ripping off Aussies upto 80% of cost.

Just out of interest what would be the weight reduction?

[zedder]

i thought only 17 year olds were into that sort of thing. looks crap in my opinion, and wouldn't suit a car like an aurion. you could wrap it for a tenth of that price and nobody could tell the difference. but I guess everyone's got their own idea of what looks good.

[STYLSH]

^^ Guess this looks crap then

Edited February 3, 2012 by STYLSH

[GDUBB]

It might be best practice if you know someone from Asia, say Thailand, Thai's are notorios for ripping off Aussies upto 80% of cost.

Just out of interest what would be the weight reduction?

Singapore not Thailand.... and they were recommended....

Aurion bonnets weigh (unconfirmed) 29kg. CF will be less than 10kg, and vented.

[zedder]

^^ Guess this looks crap then

yeh your right. It does look crap.

[nahrsuhsist]

Zonda my favorite car in the world!

[EC11WA]

Defect straight away and will void insurance. The carbon fibre splinters in an accident and becomes highly dangerous. My wrx was defected for this twice. Cannot get engineers certificate for it either.

[nahrsuhsist]

I would concentrate on carbon fiber interiour, dash and door trims. Lighter seats and sports driver seat. thers probably 150KG+ allready! the power to weight in an ATX has just reach that of the TRD.

EC11WA is right you'll not get insurance, in Asia carbon producs are normal and you can bribe police over there :P

[GDUBB]

It CAN'T be that impossible. Half of the high end cars are made from CF or Fibre Glass external panels. I sent the factory some pics of the inner and outer of my bonnet, and they are designing it with vents. I will post images once I have them.

$875 AUD each if 10 are interested in a group buy. May even get a few myself since there is nowhere else to get them, and sell them off.

[GDUBB]

Defect straight away and will void insurance. The carbon fibre splinters in an accident and becomes highly dangerous. My wrx was defected for this twice. Cannot get engineers certificate for it either.

Not to brag.... Hehehe.... But I wrote off an Accord with a CF bonnet and smashed a deer in an IS300 with a CF bonnet in the USA.... Carbon Fibre doesnt shatter or splinter into pieces, just looses structural integrity and gets flimsy at the breaks.

Fibre Glass shatters into a million pieces, only the subframe remains in a high speed crash.

[Audio115]

I am most definitely interested! But I would have to see the vent designs first, cf would be virtually undetectable if painted to match... Will it include the rubber seals, and window washers?

[nahrsuhsist]

Any other ideas besides the CF material mate have you spoke to your insurer. I'm with Just Cars I’m sure they will allow it, but the premium might double? They freaked out when I said I have Club spec T3 rotors and 2, 4 point sway bars and a 2 point front strut along with about 10 other mods, they said they wouldn’t insurer me if I bolt on an Eaton, ask them about the bonnet first bro. Have you thought about a quote for the interior of the car to CF?

[EC11WA]

Your choice but if you have an accident and kill somebody, I hope you have deep pockets cause the other parties involved will sue you ***** off. I am all for saving weight, but it is just too dangerous and not to mention illegal. Our cars are not engineered to meet the requirements that the high end sports cars are when using cf panels. Your choice but I am all for legal mods. Yes it would look good, but if weight saving is a priority, get a light weight ally bonnet made up instead. Fully legal and probably weigh the same as cf. but like I said, it's your choice.

[EC11WA]

Otherwise if it's just for looks. Cf wrap current bonnet and maintain structural integrity. Saw an Audi TT with full body Cf wrap today, looked awesome.

[GDUBB]

Your choice but if you have an accident and kill somebody, I hope you have deep pockets cause the other parties involved will sue you ***** off. I am all for saving weight, but it is just too dangerous and not to mention illegal. Our cars are not engineered to meet the requirements that the high end sports cars are when using cf panels. Your choice but I am all for legal mods. Yes it would look good, but if weight saving is a priority, get a light weight ally bonnet made up instead. Fully legal and probably weigh the same as cf. but like I said, it's your choice.

Look.... Everyone is open to an opinion. But not every opinion you hear is based on fact. Are CF panels illegal? Yes. Because they are unsafe? not exactly, more because they aren't crash tested for each particular application and Australia is erring on the side of caution. Fiber glass is also illegal... Polyurethane body kits too... and guess what, an ally bonnet is illegal too... Nobody will get an ADR on a aftermarket panel anywhere past your firewall with out putting serious coin for engineered tests. Have you seen CF in an accident? I have. Do you have any examples of CF being the cause of death and not the impact? Love to hear some proven facts on this. Check out the link below. Do some other research and get back to me then.

http://www.ehow.com/facts_6816516_benefits-carbon-fiber-car-parts.html

[trentmeyer23]

I think all the people with opinions on this need to create their own thread to b*tch and moan and not clog this one up. Mods should also clean all the sh*t out too.

[GDUBB]

I think all the people with opinions on this need to create their own thread to b*tch and moan and not clog this one up. Most should also clean all the sh*t out too.

BRILLIANT...... amen to that.

[Steven]

There isn't actually any legislation or regulation in Australia that outright bans carbon fibre bonnets, nor are there any that support them.

The reason why Insurance companies aren't keen to insure a vehicle with an aftermarket carbon fibre bonnet (or any body panel for that matter), and why they attend to attract defect notices, is actually far less to do with safety and how they absorb damage in a crash and more to do with technical red tape.

Any car released in this country is stringently road and crash tested, to determine how safe they are and to see if they comply with individual design rules. Having satisfied these rules, the car is legally allowed to be sold in the Australia market. Note that MANY cars are destroyed for the purpose of these tests.

Now any replacement panel that deviates from the OEM design and construction materials also needs to be thoroughly tested, and even then if the tests were successful that panel would only be approved for on-road use for that particular design and for that particular vehicle.

So you can have a CF bonnet for the Aurion, but you would probably need to sacrifice several of them (and pay exorbinate amounts of $$$) to have them tested and (hopefully) approved.

Which is why insurance companies aren't keen to insure you, or cover a claim, if you install an unapproved CF panel - can you imagine the insurance company faces any success in a civil claims court if it's found your car had modified crash characteristics that could have potentially led to a worse outcome? Facts aside of the panels actual strength or safety, the very fact that it was untested creates enough doubt to put you in a huge pile of the proverbial (even if the other party actually caused the incident).

So GDUBB is fairly spot on, but also potentially opening himself up for a world of hurt (at least financially) if such a panel was installed on his ride.

[EC11WA]

Being ex police, yes I have seen the end result of cf panels in an accident. Enough said!

[GDUBB]

Being ex police

ah yes..... Enough said indeed

[Defyant]

LOL the carbon fibre roof wrap i looked at the other night wouldn't fool anyone, looks nothing like the real deal.

I'm not ex cop tho, so it's not the final word. but i do drive an ex cop car if that gives me any cred LOL

I do know that insurers will use any excuse in the book to NOT payout if you give them one.

But half the cars in this forum are in that boat. Including myself.

I'm certainly keen to hear more gdubb, do you have any links mate? specially the vents, i'm very keen to see what vent design they can come up with.

[Audio115]

Agreed with defyant I am really interested!