# Carbon Fiber Hood



## Guest (Jun 17, 2003)

Please don't let the subject run you off..

A simple question: if cars are built with crumple zones, meaning the hood is meant to crumple and absorb energy. What happens when you put a (some say indestructable) carbon fiber hood on your car, if you get in a wreck.
I do not plan on getting in a wreck, no one does. My point is, if the hood of a car is meant to absorb energy and it is replaced with a rigid hood that does not 'crumple' what will happen?

Sorry for making a 'simple' question difficult.
Tia,
-TheComputerGuy23


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Many unpredicted things can happen...that's why in many states CF hoods are illegal. In some cases it will break in half and simply not absorb any energy so the impact goes farther into the car (hard to explain, basically the car gets smashed more because there's less resistance to crumpling). Another case is that it could become detached and actually go through the windshield, but I've only heard of very few cases where that happened. Basically you're right, less energy is absorbed by the hood so more damage is done to the front of the car generally.


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2003)

yah, I'm sticking with the stock hood.
I wouldn't make any modifications until the warranty expires because I don't want to void the warranty before it ends.
I can do other mod's (battery relocate) to take away from the weight on the front end.
I don't have a SE R SpecV, yet! I went the the nissan dealership earlier today. They have a SpecV with everything but it's yellow. I don't want yellow, so they are looking to do a dealer swap. The dealership has either $1500 cash back or APR from 1.3%, which I might be able to get.
Thanks for your input.. more input is welcome!
-TheComputerGuy23


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## tekmode (Feb 22, 2003)

the hood isn't going to void the warranty.


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2003)

*yes.. but*

Probably not, but other things might. I've read on this forum that if you change the exhaust and something exhaust related breaks, warranty won't cover it. I am going to wait for the warranty to expire before I do any modifications to it for two reasons. 1, I don't want to void the warranty. 2, By the time the warranty expires I will have the majority of the car paid off, so I can afford to modify it.
Thanks for the feedback..
-TheComputerGuy23


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## tekmode (Feb 22, 2003)

*Re: yes.. but*



tcg23 said:


> *Probably not, but other things might. I've read on this forum that if you change the exhaust and something exhaust related breaks, warranty won't cover it. I am going to wait for the warranty to expire before I do any modifications to it for two reasons. 1, I don't want to void the warranty. 2, By the time the warranty expires I will have the majority of the car paid off, so I can afford to modify it.
> Thanks for the feedback..
> -TheComputerGuy23 *


i guess, but modding is always a risk. if you do everything right the first time stuff usually doesn't break. you can always change back to stock fairly easy with bolt ons.


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## YES_SER03 (May 28, 2003)

yeah just switch it back to stock before you take it into the dealer


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2003)

If your going to go, your going if you like it or not


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

Back to the subject....If you get into a wreck, its not too often that you need your hood to absorb that much force because you rarely have head on collisions at those kinds of speeds and because hoods are thin and they can't absorb that much energy anyway, they crumple so that they dont slide into the cabin and slice your head off, thats why there are little hooks by the hinges, to hook the hood in case of a collision. now, replace that with a CF HOOD, its gonna do the same thing because #1, carbon fiber are strands apon strands and layers apon layers and will crack and chip, each layer giving some resistance, rather than just a clean break. and #2 some carbon hoods come with a metal brace, which in an accident wil bend, and it being attached to the CF, with not let it break, and provide resistance. dont worry, CF hoods are safe, and hoods never get damaged, unless you can't drive and pile into something goin 70. in most cases, people brake hard before an impact, reducing velocity greatly, and damage is usually light. ive been in 6 accidents and only one need and hood to be replaced, and it wasnt even damaged that much. damn...too much velocity and Force talk, thats what i get for taking AP Physics


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## tekmode (Feb 22, 2003)

Silvspec86 said:


> *Back to the subject....If you get into a wreck, its not too often that you need your hood to absorb that much force because you rarely have head on collisions at those kinds of speeds and because hoods are thin and they can't absorb that much energy anyway, they crumple so that they dont slide into the cabin and slice your head off, thats why there are little hooks by the hinges, to hook the hood in case of a collision. now, replace that with a CF HOOD, its gonna do the same thing because #1, carbon fiber are strands apon strands and layers apon layers and will crack and chip, each layer giving some resistance, rather than just a clean break. and #2 some carbon hoods come with a metal brace, which in an accident wil bend, and it being attached to the CF, with not let it break, and provide resistance. dont worry, CF hoods are safe, and hoods never get damaged, unless you can't drive and pile into something goin 70. in most cases, people brake hard before an impact, reducing velocity greatly, and damage is usually light. ive been in 6 accidents and only one need and hood to be replaced, and it wasnt even damaged that much. damn...too much velocity and Force talk, thats what i get for taking AP Physics *


how many of those 6 accidents were your fault?


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

don't be fooled, hoods bend in accidents all the time, all it takes is a front end collision of 20mph or more....


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## Scissors (Mar 24, 2003)

The 2004 Corvette Z06 comes with a carbon fiber hood. If there were any danger in this, it wouldn't have made it past the Feds.


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Yeah, lots of exotics come with cf parts stock, the difference is the car is designed with the cf parts in mind, and their lack of support vs metal parts. The car is designed and crash tested with those parts on, and it is engineered to withstand a collision with those cf pieces. Our cars are not


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## tekmode (Feb 22, 2003)

Scissors said:


> *The 2004 Corvette Z06 comes with a carbon fiber hood. If there were any danger in this, it wouldn't have made it past the Feds. *


 sounds like it's gonna look hot. too bad i can't afford one


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## Silvspec86 (Apr 4, 2003)

Only one was my fault.....TekMode...and it was cuz it was raining and i Hydro planed, no ABS


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## Lazarus_023 (Jun 3, 2003)

Silvspec86 said:


> *Only one was my fault.....TekMode...and it was cuz it was raining and i Hydro planed, no ABS *


HA! gotcha beat! 8 reportable accidents!! and all of them attributed to my "excessive speed"


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## SpecV03 (Jun 19, 2003)

Well first you should check to see if carbon fiber hoods will even pass inpection in your state. Most won't unless you know a mech that will do it for you. But the good news is that Nismo just released a handfull of parts that won't void the warranty inc a cat-back exhaust. No headers or CAI though.


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## Lazarus_023 (Jun 3, 2003)

SpecV03 said:


> *Well first you should check to see if carbon fiber hoods will even pass inpection in your state. Most won't unless you know a mech that will do it for you. But the good news is that Nismo just released a handfull of parts that won't void the warranty inc a cat-back exhaust. No headers or CAI though. *


actually, i think an emissions-legal header just hit the market through NISMO. be prepared to spend cubic-$s, tho...


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## tekmode (Feb 22, 2003)

Lazarus_023 said:


> *actually, i think an emissions-legal header just hit the market through NISMO. be prepared to spend cubic-$s, tho... *


like almost $800


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

hoods are made to crumple so they dont come thru
the whindshield and made you a little shorter,I've seen 
CF hoods after a wreck,they shatter (the one I've seen anyway)
as far as warranty,if you have a cat back & your injectors go
out,the exhuast had nothing to do with it, it must be proven
that the mod caused the malfunction to void warranty, just 
some facts I've experienced


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## SPEEDO (Jun 9, 2003)

Lazarus_023 said:


> *actually, i think an emissions-legal header just hit the market through NISMO. be prepared to spend cubic-$s, tho... *


Have you seen the header with the cat? It looks like what
we have on our cars now!! I wonder if its a high flow cat?
they say like 12 more horses,with out cat 16,


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2003)

My first car was a '97 200sx SE-R and an old guy was nice enough to stop ni front of me on an on-ramp for no reason. Needless to say I hit him doing like 15 or 20 mph and the hood bent not just once but like 3 times. I am curious how it would have turned out with CF


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## MDMA (Oct 23, 2002)

First off you need to realize that 99% of the cf hoods have a fiberglass skeleton. So, in the event of an accident the hood will simply crumble. REAL cf looks BLACK. It will not break and can go right through you in an accident but not the hoods we get. So, be safe and rest assured.


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