Well, my thoughts of ricing my car out have reached frenzied levels.

I picked up the latest issue of Sport Compact Car and saw a mini-ad for Carbon Creations, showing a mostly CF RX-7. Looked sorta jankass, but hey.. if I had an big single turbo RX-7, I'd probably get wacky with all sorts of air dams and splitters too. Anyhow, thats what I was thinking.

I go to their site out of curiousity, wanting to further cry over how much I forked out for Gin-U-whine Spoon CF mirrors. No mirrors thankfully. I did check out some sweetlooking and reasonably priced hoods, fenders, and front grills. No grills for the GenIII unless you want to go JDM. Which... I'd been toying with ever since I got my OEM Type-R front end and ghettofab CF hood. Funny how that happens AFTER I'd already bought the parts I needed.

Anyhow, a full CF JDM front end would look kinda cool in a "I'm rice but I'm ricey in a unique sort of way," sort of way, I think. That aside, I'd be able to replace my fenders instead of having them filled, sanded and repainted. I also desperately need a new radiator support, as mine has been bent out of place twice, back into place with a crowbar twice, and finally had two holes drilled into it because I got sick of my radiator sitting so far up and back that it rubbed my exhaust manifold. I'm justifying...

Has anyone had any run-ins with this company or any of their products, and if so, what'd you think? Is the work all good and such? The way I figure it, it'd be about the same (maybe a few hundred more) to get an all- or mostly all-CF front end and leaving the CF bare, as it would be to get a "conversion kit" and have it painted to match the rest of my car.

Thanks in advance and feel free to flame/tout my ricey/innovative idea.... but only if you leave feedback on the company. Random, non-constructive flaming kills threads dead.

( :joshers: / :snoopy: )

 

I'd be afraid to drive around on public roads with an all-CF front clip.

 

Theft, lack of crash safety, or threat of ridicule?

I started thinking about this last night, and if I went this route, I'd probably just stick to the upper grill, hood, and chin spoiler. I don't really like their lower grill, and the fenders would look jankass in any configuration other than a full clip.

 

Seems to me that a CF front - particularly fenders - would be subject to fatigue cracks at the mounting points, and wouldn't fare very well in the event of even a minor fender bender, never mind a big crash.

Overall, I can understand something like a CF hood, on account of the weight savings, but to run a naked CF front end on any car is going to [visually] break up the form of the car enough to just look odd....in a bad way IMO.

These CF bumpers and fenders can't be cheap, I'd bet. I'd personally save my money and put it towards powertrain upgrades.

My 2.3Ą

 

Like I said... going with the CF stuff is actually about on par with a JDM ITR conversion (urethane bumpers/steel fenders). I'm at a point where something HAS to be done to repair the damage. It needs a full-body paint job, and the front end has to be replaced one way or another. I've got a replacement USDM bumper, CF hood and lamp housings already, but I still have to invest another 2000 bucks (1000 for headlights which were both ruined, 100+ for lamps/500+ if I decide to make an HID conversion, 350 for radiator supports, and roughly 300 for the energy absorber, gussets, and reinforcement bars) not including paint, labor or anything done with the fenders (which could possibly be popped and bondoed). Besides... my powertrain doesn't need an ounce of upgrading.
To err on the side of caution, I'll probably only do a chin spoiler, upper grill and hood, fabricating some custom trim pieces on my own.

So... to revise my original question some, what is the quality of the parts these guys sell? Is it on par with the much-hyped VIS, or lesser, greater, etc?

 

CF is brittle. It doesn't bend, it cracks. The reason I wouldn't want to drive around on the street with a CF front clip is because if it got damaged in any way the entire panel would need to be replaced. If you want some CF, a hood and maybe a lip (although that is pretty susceptible to damage as well) are about as much as I'd do. Fenders and a bumper made out of CF are not things I would want to use on public roads. For a race car, maybe.

 

my friend has cf fenders and hood... hasnt had any problems

 

Has he run into anything yet? :chuckles:

 

I'll just echo what's already been said but I could justify a complete carbon fiber front end for a track car that's interested in weight reduction but not for one that's daily driven.

 

:werd: And as Mike illustrated earlier, CF is too brittle and fragile for street use. Even an errant bump that a normal urethane OEM bumper would bounce back from could cause a CF bumper to crack like a raw egg.

And unless the CF front was painted, JDM front end or no...I still say it's going to look damned strange unpainted- even on a black Integra. h:

That said, I was not aware that the bodywork had to be done- or that the car had been in an accident. h: (How soon they forget, eh?) In closing, the pragmatic solution is to go with OEM steel fenders and an OEM bumper rather than fragile CF parts. If I were in your shoes, that's what I'd do.