carbon, gfk, lightweight parts??

[RS2 Sedan]

are there any carbon or gfk parts like hood,fenders,dashboard and so on? for street use...
my sedan must be lighter..

[Lee]

I could arrange real pre-preg Carbon panels for you if you like. I work with a few of the F1 suppliers/teams and they will make anything you need. Do you have a budget in mind? Might be better to go for glass fibre or wet layup carbon (ie like glass fibre but using carbon cloth instead of glass fibres). Pre preg carbon requires an autoclave to cure and the best quality is produced from polished aluminium moulds...ie mega expensive. I know that pre-preg can also be moulded directly by using the original panels to make a carbon mould. Bit cheaper and it may be possible to catch a batch of hardware going through the autoclave to save costs. Pre-preg would certainly be the lightest and I would expect you could take the bonnet mass down to about 3 or 4 kilos without sacrificing stiffness and the wings should come down to around 1 kilo or less depending on how thin you want to make them!

A lot of carbon hardware is manufcactured in South Africa since the labour and other manufacturing charges are cheap. This keeps costs down. If you can be bothered, that may be your best bet if you want to spend plenty of time searching, to save some costs.....could be risky though.

To save mass, try the following (if you haven't already done so):
Polycarbonate sideglass
Remove aircon
Remove aux rad and reduce water volume (counter this by adding oil cooling and oil volume. Net result will be a weight saving!
Remove all unsused hardware and accessories
Fit an aluminium cased ngearbox with only 5 gears from the Quattros if it can take the power (it would drive me crazy, personally I love the 6 cogs!!)
Ditch the ABS and go back to a more direct system
Get rid of power assistance for the brakes and steering (would need many mechanical changes to allow you to be able to use these controls properly without assistance!)
Magnesium alloy wheels
If you have a sunroof, get rid of it and weld the hole closed!
Aluminium block if it can take the power of your monster upgrade
Throw away the radio, speakers etc
Get rid of the spare wheels (carry a tin of tyre sealant instead)
Fit a smaller battery!

I can arrange the follwoing if required:
'Real' carbon doors, trunk, bonnet, wings etc
Carbon propshaft
Low mass tubular anti rollbars, driveshafts etc
Lower mass strut braces
Lower mass wishbones
Lighter flywheel
Whatever else take your fancy!

Do I need to go on? If you want to save mass it is equally beneficial to attack lots of items shaving small amounts from each. You will be surprised how quickly the mass will drop.

Even if you consider that proper carbon is expensive, it might be more cost effective than increasing power if you are after performance. Decide what balance you want to strike with comfort, style, toys, acceleration, maximum speed, driveability at low speed etc etc and the you will understand where you can afford to save mass!!

Lee

PS where did your crankshaft some from? What is the material specification and treatments applied? Looks really sweet. Any chance of you bringing your beast to the UK next year to go to GTi international???? Go on, pleeeaaaase!!

[91_S2]

A lot of carbon hardware is manufcactured in South Africa since the labour and other manufacturing charges are cheap. This keeps costs down. If you can be bothered, that may be your best bet if you want to spend plenty of time searching, to save some costs.....could be risky though.

I can arrange the follwoing if required:
'Real' carbon doors, trunk, bonnet, wings etc
Carbon propshaft
Low mass tubular anti rollbars, driveshafts etc
Lower mass strut braces
Lower mass wishbones
Lighter flywheel
Whatever else take your fancy!

Lee

- Maybe Shane Naidu from SA can help us source stuff. A guy I know who supplies carbon parts to Dodge Viper teams says that a lot of stuff is also made in China for the same reasons.

- Do you already have a light weight flywheel or do you mean you can get it fab'd?

- In general I am interested in saving weight on any part that rotates and in parts that are high up in the car in order to lower the CoG. Like I said, are these parts already available?

Rich