Interior Exterior
Q:
KMS, I give you credit for this kit, its a high quality piece that has a purpose unlike the cf that most people are willing to buy. I find it amazing how many people will buy cf just b/c its cf. I point towards a lot of porsche guys who will add any cf piece just b/c its cf. (take that w/ a grain of salt, i spend a lot of time on porsche forums and see SOME quality stuff, but for the most part, those guys think they're elite b/c they're buying cf overlays for their interior or mirrors). I agree that this is probably the wrong market b/c of the price, but I also dont find anything wrong w/ it either. It is made well and w/ performance in mind. I hope you can sell a lot of these kits to the right people and I really hope that there are no vendors that make cheap imitations and give this car a bad name by adding on cheap cf pieces b/c it sounds cool and will impress the kids in their rice. On top of that, the pic w/ the 2 or 3 elises in it looks sick. keep up the good work
Thank you.
A:
Thanks for the reply. I have seen the RACs Shinoo will be offering, very nice. For my self, I'm still interested in the five spokes. More from an aesthetic standpoint than performance, however I will be adding a bit more power to make up for the weight gain. How much heavier than stock? Also any company name or site I can view these (5 spokes). Thanks.
You have a PM.
A:
I would like to know the where the 224 lbs come from?
Are you saying that this parts weight half of what it's in sector111 site?
Because if I add up the ones listed there it totals to 46.56 lbs CF vs 150.13 lbs Stock for a savings of 103.57 lbs for $35K
What am I missing?
The number was given to me by the owner of benetec and it was based on his car (he weighed before and after). I may confused you guys a little as well as myself but total number came from his car which includes exhaust system, etc. Also You probably haven't counted their Diffuser/undertray, Side steps, Rollcage cover, seats, etc. to the total weight.
A:
needs to be primed and painted....
I clear coated mine to protect it from the UV rays. You do have to either paint them or clear coat them, that is true.
If you are happy with what you got then don't even think about doing this.
But remember that if you get a replacement body parts from Lotus you have to do the same to them or more (from what I hear).
I have several people interested in some of the parts. If you got a damaged rear clam then replace it with a rear CF clam and you can save a lot of weight. Yes it will cost you more, but if you have to pay for it anyway why put it back the way it was? I would use this chance to improve my car.
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I believe they are +35 in the rear for our car.
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KMS forgot in my pm. Pls email the info you spoke of.
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So if Kevlar is cheaper and is more durable for non-stressed components like these, why don't they make Kevlar ones. My canoe is Kevlar and very light. I just want a lighter elise (its such a pig compared to most north american cars). Lotus should offer a cf/kevlar upgrade for the whole body on s3 elise which probably would only be in the 8-10k range and I think that a lot of us would buy it. 8-10 k for a couple of hundred pounds makes a lot more sense than the upgrade to the elise.
can this be made in kevlar and why not?
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I just had a orgasm!
A:
I just had a orgasm!
"I'll have what she's having."
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And the big news is that the first one will be here in the US this April!! Also the Manufacturer's statement of the official weight saving over the stock Elise is......101Kg = 224 lbs! I am not joking. Here is a photo of the CF elises out on the run.
I've looked into a full CF body panel replacement - ...Benetec is one the total weight savings that can be achieved is roughly 200 lbs. ...that's both clams, doors, ect. It runs a bit over $30k + the cost of clearcoat the parts & install. You'd have the baddest Elise around!
....Seems the word got around.
A:
I hate to do this, and I know that there are going to be people shooting me down for saying this...
And BEFORE you shoot me down let me start by saying that I have PERSONALY been to a factory that makes Carbon Fiber parts for F1 cars, DTM cars, and BTCC cars. This is what I have been told and seen, I'm just letting you know about it.
The company that I'm talking about asked me not to mention them because they are personally tired of people calling in and asking for parts, they do not sell to the public they make parts for factory backed race teams.
So here's a little bit of info for those of you know may not know how it's made and why it's so expensive.
Not all carbon fiber is lighter... There are many types of CF (carbon fiber).
Dry Carbon - This is what is used on F1 cars and high end race cars. This comes in sheets that are usually frozen and have a hardening agent premixed in it. As the sheet defrosts they shape it into a mold and the hardening agent helps take form and starts activating. Once the mold is lined with this carbon they then put them into large bags that have vacuums attached to it and suck all the air out allowing it to form tightly to the shape desired. Once the item has been vacuume formed they then pull it out of the bags and bake it in an oven. This is to infuse the carbon and the hardening agent.
Dry Carbon is the type of CF that many people refer to but VERY few make or get. DC (Dry Carbon) is very expensive to make because of the tools needed, like the MASSIVE freezers, and MASSINCE ovens. Even though an Elise/Exige is a small car you could imagine how large the oven and freezer would have to be to do a clam!
Just to give you an example of prices on such work...
A single fender for a DTM car, AFTER ENGINEERING COSTS HAVE BEEN MADE, will cost about $1800-$2200 USD.
BTW: this company I'm talking about calls it DC because it looks dull when pulled from the mold, it does not have a glaze on it.
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Now let's talk about CF that is found on "Tuner Cars"...
Let’s call this CF "Street Carbon" or SC.
SC is made much like a fiber glass mold and then glazed over, it has not been baked or vacuume formed. Not only that, some of them are just sandwich plates where the part is made out of fiberglass and then a very thin sheet of carbon is laid ( I said “laid”) and glazed on top of it. With all these layers, resin, glaze, and what not can cause the same part to become heavier.
Beware of this type of CF IF you are looking to make your car lighter. If you like the LOOK of it and just want it for the STYLE then by all means go for it, and there is nothing wrong with it either, as long as you know what you're about to get.
I must admit, I like this look on some cars, there is nothing wrong with this, it's a style, and that's what people forget... SC is for STYLE! NOT Function!!!
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Why am I saying this? Well a lot of people on this site want to make their car lighter, and there is nothing wrong with that, it's the Lotus way. But I think there may be better ways to go by doing it like the DBA brake rotor set up and such.
Let's face it, a CF clam in DC would cost and easy $20k if it were one piece and cheaper if 2pc @ around $14k or 3pc @ around $12k.
I don't own an Exige just yet, I should have mine in about 5 months or so and when I do I'll look a little more into making the car lighter, but to be honest, body panels are going to be last in line...
Hope this helps, and please, don't shoot the guy that gives it to you straight.
A:
Great info!
Thanks for that.
No CF (SC) for me, thanks.
I'd rather put an RST-V8 in my car and lose even more weight than CFing my whole car!
Now that's called ACTIVE weight loss where the weight loss component actually adds power to the car also.
It both increases the numerator and decreases the denominator of the POWER / WEIGHT ratio.
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so, who's going to make the roof from the GT3 Exige?
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So I did a little search for carbon parts for the exige/elise, this is what I found:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babel....augment.jp%2f
That is the same one in the pic that started this post. It seems as though they are selling it, but at the prices that they have posted I am almost willing to bet that it's not a TRUE Dry Carbon... but then again it may be made in china, so cost on labor would drive the price down.
A:
well thank you for your opinion^
here let me go through this way...
i have a 350z
CF hood= $ 900.00
cf hach= $1400.00
cf doors=$3000.00
cf fenders=$1400.00
cf bumpers=$1300.00
that equals $8000.00
then give me another 4k to have someone custom fabricate me some rear quarters and a roof.
That equals 12k exactly what i said i could justify spending for this mod.
35k is a ridiculous amount of money for this.
but i do agree with everything people are saying about mods and your car. You supposed to have fun with it and do what makes you happy.
So buy this is if u want....hell i would love to buy it i think its freakin awsome.
Im just saying its overpriced. Just my .02
$35k is alot, but you cannot compare the prices with 350z parts for a few reasons. 1. These parts are alot more complex. If you molded the hood, bumper and fenders for the z all together it would be alot more then just their prices added together. 2. The 350z has alot larger market so the prices can be alot lower. Its like my e34 m5 vs an e36 m3. Parts for my car are alot more be case the car is far more rare. 3. I dont know what parts you are looking at for the z, but I am pretty sure these clams are auto claved dry carbon fiber. Not cheap stuff. And to afford an auto clave large enough to house them would cost a pretty penny.
Just my 2 cents.
A:
I hate to say this but you could probably find a local fabricator or one in China to do something similar for half if not less then the half.
I am sure we could argue all day about the quality of what you would end up with but my point also is that 35k is very steep for what you get.
a lot of carbon is used in boatbuilding these days . a top boat builder should be able to take clams n doors n roof etc , make moulds and build them for a sensible price . the ones in the pics look hot but if you got a group together and went to a good , experienced carbon boat builder , maybe a smaller guy , jointly contributed to the cost of the moulds , you could produce them economically . the boat guy would have the bags / ovens etc and be able to work normally with prepreg ... and you would get a light wieght body . nice .
why doesn't the factory do this , carbon has come down heaps in price and lotii are supposed to be light .. my exige must weigh nearly 200kg over my mk 1 elise .