Tag: fiber

Dallara to build its own carbon fiber sports car?

Dallara factory

Italian chassis manufacturer Dallara has built countless racing cars for teams in innumerable racing series, and with the KTM X-Bow on the road and the Alfa Romeo 4C GTA reportedly under development, Dallara has done likewise for automakers. New rumors suggest that Dallara is ready to move beyond helping other outfits develop cars, however.

Word is, Dallara is planning a two-seat sports car to be sold under its own name that’s built on architecture similar to what it developed for the X-Bow and Alfa 4C. With carbon-fiber construction and a low curb weight, it would be targeted at the Lotus Elise but come closer in spirit to the original Lotus Seven. In other words, Lotus had better pay attention.

[Source: Autoblog Spanish]

Dallara to build its own carbon fiber sports car? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Dallara to build its own carbon fiber sports car?”

More Glickenhaus P4/5 Competizione carbon fiber awesomeness

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Europe, Ferrari, Racing

Ferrari P4/5 Competizione

Ferrari P4/5 Competizione – Click above for high-res image gallery

James Glickenhaus is up to some very naughty things with his Ferrari P4/5 Competizione. Forged from the embers of a re-bodied F430 and a desire to wade into the deep end of the 24 Hours Nürburgring, the P4/5 Competizione is insanity writ large. Glickenhaus has been so kind as to share a few visions of his creation with the rest of the world via the wonder of Facebook, and from what we can tell, carbon fiber has never looked so good.

Judging from the photos, Glickenhaus and his team have completed work on the carbon fiber shell – giving the P4/5 Competizione both the low weight and strength needed to do the deed around the Green Hell for 24 straight hours. They’ve also begun snugging in the mechanical bits, and it looks like the roll cage is tucked into place as well. From what we can see, the vehicle will retain many of the sexy lines that Pininfarina first debuted on the showcar, though with the hardware necessary for going fender to fender with some of the world’s greatest racers. Check out the slew of photos on Facebook.

Gallery: Ferrari P4/5 Competizione

[Source: Facebook]

More Glickenhaus P4/5 Competizione carbon fiber awesomeness originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “More Glickenhaus P4/5 Competizione carbon fiber awesomeness”

Subaru teases JDM-only Impreza WRX STI tS with carbon fiber roof

Filed under: Sedan, Performance, Etc., Japan, Subaru

Subaru Impreza WRX STI tS

Our Japanese may be a bit rusty, but our eyes work just fine. So it was hard to miss this teaser image for an upcoming version of the Subaru Impreza WRX STI tS sporting a carbon fiber roof. When we click to the English-language portion of the site the image and information disappears, so we don’t know what else to make of this STI tS and its lighter chapeau.

For the non-Subaru aficionados reading along, tS stands for “Tuned by STI” and we last saw the crew at Subaru Tecnica International apply wrenches to the Legacy. The resulting Legacy B4 2.5GT tS had us drooling and we expect the WRX STI tS to have a similar affect on our salivary glands.

[Source: Subaru]

Subaru teases JDM-only Impreza WRX STI tS with carbon fiber roof originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Subaru teases JDM-only Impreza WRX STI tS with carbon fiber roof”

Romeo Ferraris leaves Italy, comes back with a 667-hp carbon fiber Corvette

Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Europe, Chevrolet

Ferraris Vette

Supercharged Corvette Z06 by Romeo Ferraris – Click above for high-res image gallery

Think of the words Romeo and Ferraris and you’re bound to think of Italian cars, right? Maybe so, but the two together form the name of an Italian tuning house. And while many of their subjects have been Italian themselves, Romeo Ferraris has been scoping out foreign territory as well.

The latest is the Corvette Z06. And why shouldn’t it be? The ‘Vette has a long history of customization at Italian hands. But those have mostly been cosmetic coachbuilding jobs. This is another story altogether.

RF has taken the Z06 and fitted a supercharger to the 7.0-liter LS7 V8. The result? 667 horsepower and 607 lb-ft of twist. The centrifugal compressor, aluminum intercooler, high-flow injectors and custom exhaust help it get to 62 mph in 3.3 seconds and up to 211 mph – assuming you can get all that power down – while 380mm/6-pot brakes up front and 345/4-pot brakes out back help it come back to a stop.

A series of exterior and interior cosmetic modifications have also been carried out, including what appears to be a bare carbon fiber reskin, putting Romeo Ferraris’ Z06 toe to toe with Chevy’s own factory ZR1 in more ways than one.

Gallery: Supercharged Corvette Z06 by Romeo Ferraris

[Source: autoblog.it via World Car Fans]

Romeo Ferraris leaves Italy, comes back with a 667-hp carbon fiber Corvette originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Romeo Ferraris leaves Italy, comes back with a 667-hp carbon fiber Corvette”

Driving Force: Lamborghini and Callaway Golf collaborate on new forms of carbon fiber

Filed under: Performance, Technology, Lamborghini

Lamborghini and Callaway announce their strategic partnership in Paris – Click above for high-res image

Lamborghini is hard at work finding new ways to make its cars lighter as much if not more than any other automaker. Most of that research centers around carbon fiber. Thing is, the stuff is really expensive to make. But on the plus side, although motorsport was the driving force behind the material’s development in the first place, the auto industry is far from the only one working with it these days.

Lamborghini Forged Composite carbon fiberWhile experimenting with the material at the University of Washington, Lamborghini met up with another interested party: Callaway Golf. Since their interests overlap but don’t compete one with another, the two recently announced a strategic partnership to develop a more versatile, cost-effective form of carbon fiber.

The result is called Forged Composite. Whereas conventional carbon fiber is layered down in sheets and bonded together, Forged Composite comes mixed together in a paste of fibers and epoxy that can be squeezed into any shape desired. The application makes it far easier to form complex shapes, and since the fibers come out oriented randomly, the resulting form is apparently stronger in every which direction, instead of fixed ones like in conventional layered sheet carbon.

Lamborghini demonstrated what it has in mind for Forged Composite with the Sesto Elemento concept currently on display at the Paris Motor Show. The concept’s monocoque and suspension arms are made from the stuff. For Callaway’s part, they’re planning on using Forged Composite for a new generation of golf club heads, allowing for lighter weight, a longer shaft and a drives an estimated at eight yards longer than with existing clubs. Callaway Golf plans on phasing out titanium drivers – currently the market dominator – in favor of the new Forged Composite ones within a year. There’s no word yet on when we’ll see the debut of Forged Composite on a production Lamborghini, but we’re guessing it won’t be long.

Gallery: Lamborghini Sesto Elemento Concept In Detail

[Source: Lamborghini]

Continue reading Driving Force: Lamborghini and Callaway Golf collaborate on new forms of carbon fiber

Driving Force: Lamborghini and Callaway Golf collaborate on new forms of carbon fiber originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Driving Force: Lamborghini and Callaway Golf collaborate on new forms of carbon fiber”