I have read about CF for years now, and think about its advantages, yet I haven't really read about the "real" advantages. When I say "real", I mean advantages you can feel or experience.
I am constantly worried about mpg, and strive to get better...what I want to know firstly, is...
Does weight make a large impact on handling and mpg?
I wonder what CF bumpers(front, back) hood, trunk lid, and fenders would do for weight and handling. Do you guys think it would halp a lot? Or os it not worth it? Because I, as many of you also know, that all those pieces in CF would cost no less than $1.2k. I wouldn't be worth it in the short run, or if your not an avid racer, but it may be worth it if you love the idea, have lots of money, and are going to own your lude for a while and want the most out of milage.
After I put my cf hood on I could feel the car rotate a little more in turns. Any significant weight taken off the front of a Prelude is going to be beneficial. As far as a CF trunk, the trunk is already pretty damn light idk how much of a real diff that would make. Your best bet would either be a lightweight dry cell battery or just relocating it to the trunk, that'll do some good for you in terms of handling
A hood or trunk isn't going to make any difference at all. If you think it does or has, it's all in your head. You'd have to do a LOT in carbon to notice anything at all.
A hood or trunk isn't going to make any difference at all. If you think it does or has, it's all in your head. You'd have to do a LOT in carbon to notice anything at all.
Thats the exact question I'm asking. I in my opinion don't think that some CF would do that much help. Some people are big CF fans, and I'm sorry for you all, but I don't think spending 1.5-2k dollars on CF parts is very smart when you won't get enought out of it...
Hmm, idk TJ, maybe it was in my head but the butt dyno felt pretty good around turns... Who knows tho
You hafta watch out for the butt dyno. It's very sensitive to the amount of money you've spent on your go-fast parts. The more you spend, the worse the calibration gets.
Thats the exact question I'm asking. I in my opinion don't think that some CF would do that much help. Some people are big CF fans, and I'm sorry for you all, but I don't think spending 1.5-2k dollars on CF parts is very smart when you won't get enought out of it...
..now someone prove me wrong.
It's all in the look. That's the only reason anybody buys that stuff. I was guilty of it.
You hafta watch out for the butt dyno. It's very sensitive to the amount of money you've spent on your go-fast parts. The more you spend, the worse the calibration gets.
Lol well I got my OEM VIS for $150 brand new so it's ok
Hahahahahah, thats great. I don't think I'll ever buy this stuff now. That is, if it really is all for looks(not all, but mostly). My butt dyno works great(because I only buy what My lude needs). Thanks for the info, I thought so myself, but I thought it was worth asking some people who actually know something and have experienced it for themselves. \
Think about this: Let's say it does lighten the car up, how much gas savings will you see? Probably not enough for the mods to pay for themselves in the long run, so it's a waste of money. I am seeing 3-4mpg better with the 5speed trans than I did with the auto. That will eventually pay for itself...Just a matter of when
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2008 - Nissan Titan LE - Tow / snapper holder
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1986 - Mazda RX7 widebody - L92 500hp/550tq "race car"
1983 - Porsche 944 - "weekend / fun car" Weltmeister bushings, #220lb Weltmeister springs, Bilstein HD's F+R, '86 951 front and rear sways, stainless brake lines, Odyssey lightweight battery, low temp fan switch, Schnell SSK, sport seats //future LS1 swap//
I can admit that i like the look of carbon fiber, which is one of the reasons i bought my hood and trunk. I believe the lude looks hot with one, so i got one. Weight savings and MPG wise i probably lost some weight, but not anything significant enough to talk about.
Theoretically, the more weight you lose, the better MPG's you'll get.
But you'd have to probably lose in excess of 200lbs off the car to maybe see 1mpg increase, and that's alot to take off a Prelude and still keep it livable.
But that's why you see cars that have an engine swap with a bigger engine get better MPGs, because they have less weight to pull around and the engine doesn't see the need to use all that fuel when the load on it is so small.
Does anybody remember that guy who dropped that K20A into the Insight a couple months ago in Honda Tuning? I think he claimed he started to get 35mpg, because the Insight's body was so light without the battery (and just being small to begin with) yet he still had all that power he could use to really make it move.
There was also an article in Sport Compact Car years ago about a guy putting a Cadillac Northstar engine in a Volkswagon Golf III or something like that and he claimed he was getting 30mpg.
So only if your goal is to start shedding major poundage will you ever have to resort to getting carbon fiber (because you'll look for weight everywhere you can).
After I put my cf hood on I could feel the car rotate a little more in turns. Any significant weight taken off the front of a Prelude is going to be beneficial. As far as a CF trunk, the trunk is already pretty damn light idk how much of a real diff that would make. Your best bet would either be a lightweight dry cell battery or just relocating it to the trunk, that'll do some good for you in terms of handling
WTF?
Carbon Fiber is starting to be the new altezza taillights. All the ricers are buying it up. If I got anything carbon fiber a majority if not all of it would be painted.
Ahhh, I see. Unfortunately I daily drive my car and can't really afford to live without a spare. However, the back seats are pretty useless being that noone ever rides in them. How much weight are they? I assume aboiut 40 pounds.
And here is another question about efficiency. I'm somewhat of a motorhead so I know this would help, but I've never tried it myself, so I'm thinking someone on this forum has done it before...
What gains do you get by shedding the power steering and/or the A/C? Is it worth it. I know it would help, But is it worth living without. How about to the average commuter?
I bought my CF hood because the hood that came with my car was chipped up and rusted in the front. I went to a repair shop and they wanted $500.00 to repair and repaint the original hood. So thats when I purchased the CF hood off of ebay for $500.00, fits perfect and lot of compliments.
__________________ "2001 Type SH" "We are the people our parents warned us about"
What gains do you get by shedding the power steering and/or the A/C? Is it worth it. I know it would help, But is it worth living without. How about to the average commuter?
Again, you will gain some hp which will gain some efficiency but all these small little things could go out the door the minute you floor it.
Not worth it. If you are really worried about mpg, trade your car in for a kia.
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