BMW Performance accessories is officially online with 32 upgrades Bimmer drivers, ranging from carbon fiber dress-up stuff to more serious bits like six-piston brakes with cross-drilled rotors or a carbon fiber suspension cross brace. Accessorizing BMW enthusiasts can also purchase form-fitting racing seats, a short-throw shifter, or even a steering wheel with an LED display that tracks lap times, acceleration, and top speed.
BMW is so excited (and wants you to be similarly excited) about its performance parts that it created a video to help inspire owners to pull out their wallets and do some shopping. Hit the jump to see it for yourself, and crank up the speakers in time to hear the exhaust note coming from BMW's new sport muffler.
more ...
Weds Sports, a Japanese wheel-maker, has created a full carbon fiber wheel -- rims, spokes, hub, everything -- that weighs 2.76 kg. Coming out to about 6.1 pounds, that's about half the weight of the Dymag carbon fiber wheel with a magnesium rim that you'll find on a Callaway Corvette, and just over a pound more than Dymag's all-carbon race-specific front wheel for a motorcycle. According to a rough translation of Weds' literature, they use a dry carbon fiber process that makes the wheels strong enough for... well, we're not really sure. While the rims look absolutely ace, we can't find any other company that makes an entire wheel out of carbon fiber, and Weds apparently hasn't yet put them in production, which leads us to think that these babies were meant only for the scales at the Tokyo Auto Salon. But if you have $12,000 for a set of four, and you live in an area with no potholes and no curbs, these could be the rims for you.
Automotive-themed cell phones are nothing new. We've reported on mobiles branded by Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche... even Fiat and HUMMER. But some phones don't need a licensing agreement and a flashy little badge to appeal to automotive enthusiasts. Take, for example, the new Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte. Based on the already-slick-in-its-own-right 8800 series, the Carbon Arte edition is constructed of the same stuff you're likely to find in the most desirable of supercars: carbon fiber, titanium, stainless steel and polished glass. The sleek mobile packs 3G connectivity, a 3.2-megapixel camera, 4 gigs of memory and a new "turn to mute" feature that automatically kills the ringer when the phone is placed upside down on a table. At $1,600, it ain't cheap, but it looks like a relative bargain next to the $6,400 limited-edition racing-themed cell phones from Nokia's upscale brand Vertu.
If you were looking at carbon fiber as the magical lightweight solution to the parallel automotive woes of low power-to-weight ratios and high fuel consumption, we have some potentially disappointing news for you. Two of the world's largest suppliers of carbon fiber have announced that they are raising their prices. And not by a little, either, with the going rate for the high-tech material rising by 10 to 30 percent in one shot.
The simultaneous announcement from Toray Industries Inc. (the #1 supplier of carbon fiber) and Mitsubishi Rayon Co. (the third largest) marks the first time both companies have universally raised their prices at the same time. The development would border on price-fixing if not for the fact that the second biggest carbon fiber manufacturer, Teijin Ltd., didn't participate. However Teijin is expected to announce its own price hike sometime this week, as well.
We all expected prices to drop as use of the exotic material became more commonplace in automotive, aerospace and commercial applications. However the rising costs of raw materials have contributed to the higher price. They're at Y4,000 (~$37) per ton now and are expect to go up by between Y400 and Y1,200 per ton. Because of the high demand for carbon fiber, the price increase is expected to take immediate effect. As for the impact on he automotive industry, it could mean price increases for cars using the material, while the development of new cars is likely to forgo employing carbon fiber in their construction for other materials like aluminum and plastic. Hopefully Honda and Nissan finish developing their mass-market carbon fiber sooner rather than later.
If you have the money, good taste, and connections to score the 510 hp F430 Scuderia, you likely know what the lightweight supercar from Maranello is capable of. When Ferrari decides to produce an exotic with 60 millisecond shifts and a 5.4 pound-per-pony ratio, you just know that it's track worthy. That means you're going to need something to protect your noggin when you head out to the road course. German helmet maker Schuberth Helme was commissioned to create head gear that exudes Ferrari coolness while also providing comfortable, lightweight protection for the driver. A quick glance at the photo above proves the mission was accomplished.
The helmet sports the dual racing strip of the Scuderia, and the exposed carbon fiber is good looking enough to negate the need for any manner of paint decoration. Four slotted air vents keep the head cool, and since the helmet is made of carbon fiber, its total weight is a little over two pounds. The helmet also sports a UV-protected visor to keep the sun out of your eyes, too. If you've got the money to spring for a Scuderia, you may as well go the extra mile and get one of the coolest-looking helmets on earth, regardless of the cost.
Prodrive boss David Richards led the consortium that bought Aston Martin last year. His company also fields race teams that have a habit of winning (including Aston Martin's). Now, in the interest of the winning part of the equation, Prodrive's efforts aren't necessarily confined to four-wheeled racers. Some trade wheels for legs and have just one horsepower. That's because they're, you know, horses. Prodrive has developed ultralight, super-strong carbon fiber stirrups for Alan Webb Racing saddles used by steeplechasers. (Steeplechase is also known as jump racing or national hunt racing.) They help bring the weight of the company's latest saddle down to 1.3 pounds (600 grams), the idea being that every gram of weight saved can manifest itself as fractions of a second gained on the race course. In that sense it's no different than motorsport, so is it any surprise then that a saddle manufacturer would want the Aston Martin of stirrups for its equipment?
Honda and Nissan are looking for ways to make cars lighter, better, and more recyclable, both for their own benefits and their customers. We've heard about the increased use of aluminum to save weight; next on the heavy R&D frontier could be carbon fiber. Both companies have teamed up with Japanese carbon fiber company Toray, and Mitsubishi Rayon -- a Japanese version of DuPont -- to research new, less expensive carbon fiber for cars.
Their efforts will be helped by the government, which is injecting two billion yen into the project over five years. The plan is that by the middle of the next decade, they'll be able to mass produce a cost effective carbon fiber and use it to reduce the weight of cars by 40-percent. And when they're finished with it, they will also be able to recycle it to reduce production costs.
The current price of carbon fiber makes its use prohibitive except for ornamentation or for use on the most expensive cars. With the price of steel -- and cars -- expected to keep climbing, the mass produced, recyclable carbon fiber will make financial sense in the not-too-distant future. Add in the fuel savings from lighter vehicles, and fewer emissions, and it looks like everyone wins.
On the surface, carbon fiber sounds like a wonder-product which can replace much of the heavy metal, especially steel, that makes up the vast majority of nearly every automobile's structure. Dig a bit deeper, however, and there are a few flies in CF's ointment that make it very difficult to use in vehicles: price, supply and the time it takes to mold a the weaved material. Japan's big three carbon fiber producers are tackling each of these issues in a number of ways. First, the price of CF is expected to become more competitive as both carbon cloth goes down and rolled sheet steel goes up. What's more, as additional CF producing plants come online in the coming years, both the price and availability should improve. Third, new molding processes are being developed which could reduce the time it takes to produce a CF part from hours to minutes.
Carbon fiber is expected to ease the transition to more fuel efficient vehicles as it weights a fifth of what steel does for a part of roughly the same strength. As Automotive News points out, the overall weight of any given vehicle could be halved by replacing major structural steel components with CF, so expect to see CF move down market from the exotics to more mainstream models in the next decade or so.
GM has an ulterior motive with the launch of the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. The sports car offering is not only meant to be the company's ultimate display of performance, but also an experiment in carbon fiber. The ZR1 is a test mule to demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing carbon fiber parts in mass production vehicles. It also provides a means for GM to monitor the degradation of C.F. parts over time. The ZR1 is built with a carbon fiber roof, hood, front splitter, front fenders, side skirts, and spoiler. They make for a 35-pound weight saving over the standard Vette's fiberglass pieces.
GM hopes that carbon fiber will be the answer to vehicle weight reduction as safety requirements, among other things, have caused automobiles to pack on the pounds over the years. However, carbon fiber is currently not an economical solution. But with increasing demands for the material from the aerospace and automotive industries it is expected that cost will eventually decrease as more production sources become available. It may take ten years for the light weight material to tickle down into vehicles of a lower price range though.
Aside from GM, other auto manufacturers are also exploring further use of the substance. Toyota has already teamed up with a carbon fiber company for their own needs. It is also well known that BMW greatly incorporated the material into the design of the new M3.
The new CAFE regulations might spell the end for big V8s, but future Corvettes will be packing a similar performance punch with a smaller footprint. Automotive News sat down with the Corvette's vehicle line exec, Tom Wallace, to discuss the future of the iconic coupe and he said that a 700 hp 'Vette is off the table. Instead, Chevy is looking to lighten the Corvette's weight and utilize a smaller V8 in order to keep the same power-to-weight ratio of the current generation models. Although Wallace didn't get into details, that didn't stop AN from speculating that the next Corvette could go on a 300 to 400 pound diet and get motivation from a 4.7-liter V8 (making 150 hp less). However, Wallace's own words are more telling, saying that the next 'Vette could be "more fuel efficient [and] even nimbler than it was before.
