The Future of Carbon Fiber: Revolutionizing the Automotive Industry

Carbon fiber is a game-changer in the automotive industry, offering unparalleled strength and weight reduction capabilities. When combined with carbon fibers, epoxy resin provides an unbeatable blend of performance and durability. This potent combination allows for the creation of ultra-lightweight structures that can rival those found in high-performance aircraft. By leveraging this technology, manufacturers can craft vehicles that not only excel on the track but also provide a comfortable driving experience.

One of the most significant advantages of carbon fiber is its incredible strength-to-weight ratio. Unlike traditional materials like steel, which can add significant weight to a vehicle without providing substantial benefits, carbon fiber offers remarkable structural integrity at a fraction of the weight. This allows for improved fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, and enhanced handling capabilities. In essence, carbon fiber enables manufacturers to build cars that are not only faster but also more responsive and engaging to drive.

The manufacturing process is equally fascinating. Carbon fiber can be woven into various patterns to create complex structures that provide optimal strength and stiffness. By layering multiple layers of carbon fibers and epoxy resin, manufacturers can produce components with incredible precision and consistency. This process requires a deep understanding of materials science and engineering, as well as the latest technologies in mold design and production.

Despite its many benefits, not all carbon fiber products are created equal. Unfortunately, the market is flooded with cheap, low-quality alternatives that often compromise on performance and durability. These impostors can be deceivingly convincing, with convincing marketing campaigns and misleading pricing. However, genuine high-performance carbon fibers can be quite expensive, which may deter some potential customers. Nevertheless, the benefits of using authentic carbon fiber far outweigh the costs in terms of performance, safety, and longevity.

In the automotive industry, carbon fiber is being increasingly used to reduce weight while maintaining or even improving structural integrity. This approach has been employed by several car manufacturers, including Ford, which has introduced a range of models with significant weight reductions achieved through the use of advanced materials like carbon fiber. By shedding unnecessary weight, these vehicles can accelerate more quickly, brake faster, and corner with greater precision.

Another area where carbon fiber is making a significant impact is in the realm of engine development. The flat plane crankshaft (FPC) has become an increasingly popular design choice among engine builders, particularly those catering to high-performance enthusiasts. By adopting this innovative technology, these engines can deliver improved power output, increased efficiency, and reduced weight. In the case of the Ford Mustang, the FPC-equipped engine provides a significant boost in performance, making it one of the most desirable models on the market.

The Future of Carbon Fiber: A New Era for Automotive Design

As we look to the future, it's clear that carbon fiber will continue to play an increasingly important role in shaping the automotive industry. With its unparalleled strength-to-weight ratio and versatility, this material is poised to revolutionize everything from car design to engine development. As manufacturers strive to meet ever-stricter emissions targets while maintaining performance and luxury, they'll need to rely on innovative technologies like carbon fiber to stay ahead of the curve.

In particular, the future will be shaped by the ongoing quest for lighter weights without sacrificing structural integrity. As Henry Ford once famously said, "You can't make a fast car with a fat man." This timeless adage holds true today, as manufacturers work tirelessly to craft vehicles that are not only breathtakingly beautiful but also thrillingly capable.

One of the most striking aspects of modern carbon fiber is its ability to transform a vehicle's aerodynamics. By cleverly weaving carbon fibers into complex patterns, designers can create structures that reduce drag and enhance airflow. This, in turn, enables manufacturers to push the boundaries of performance and efficiency, creating cars that are not only visually stunning but also capable of delivering unparalleled driving experiences.

For car enthusiasts, there's no better feeling than driving a car that's truly alive beneath their feet. With carbon fiber providing unparalleled strength and agility, vehicles can now respond with lightning-quick reflexes to even the slightest inputs from the driver. It's an experience that's hard to put into words but is impossible to deny – a symphony of speed, style, and handling that leaves most drivers in awe.

As we hurtle toward a future where carbon fiber plays an increasingly central role in automotive design, one thing is clear: the sky's no longer the limit. With its limitless potential for innovation and improvement, this revolutionary material will continue to shape the industry for years to come. Whether you're a seasoned car enthusiast or just starting your journey into the world of driving, carbon fiber offers an unparalleled opportunity to experience the thrill of speed in ways previously unimaginable.

The Power of Carbon Fiber: An Engine like No Other

One of the most compelling examples of carbon fiber's transformative power is the Ford Mustang's flat plane crankshaft (FPC) engine. By adopting this innovative technology, Ford has created an engine that not only delivers unparalleled performance but also reduces weight and enhances efficiency. This remarkable feat is a testament to the ingenuity of modern engineers, who are continually pushing the boundaries of what's possible with carbon fiber.

For those unfamiliar with the FPC design, it's essential to understand its significance. Unlike traditional crankshaft designs, which rely on offset flywheels to balance engine power, FPC engines utilize a flat, compact arrangement of cylinders and crankpins. This innovative approach enables smoother operation, reduced vibration, and improved fuel efficiency – all without sacrificing a single ounce of performance.

When paired with advanced materials like carbon fiber, the FPC design becomes truly formidable. By leveraging this technology, engineers can craft engines that are not only faster but also more responsive and refined. In the case of the Ford Mustang, the FPC-equipped engine provides a significant boost in power output, making it one of the most desirable models on the market.

The allure of carbon fiber lies not just in its technical prowess but also in its aesthetic appeal. When expertly integrated into vehicle design, this material can create breathtaking visual effects that leave onlookers in awe. From the swooping curves of a sports car to the angular lines of a futuristic supercar, carbon fiber provides an unparalleled level of sophistication and style.

As we look to the future, it's clear that carbon fiber will play an increasingly important role in shaping the automotive industry. With its boundless potential for innovation and improvement, this revolutionary material is poised to transform everything from car design to engine development. Whether you're a seasoned enthusiast or just starting your journey into the world of driving, carbon fiber offers an unparalleled opportunity to experience the thrill of speed in ways previously unimaginable.

In conclusion, carbon fiber is more than just a cutting-edge technology – it's a game-changer. By revolutionizing the automotive industry with its unparalleled strength-to-weight ratio and versatility, this material is poised to shape the future of car design and engine development. Whether you're a driving enthusiast or simply someone who appreciates the art of automotive engineering, carbon fiber offers an unparalleled opportunity to experience the thrill of speed in ways previously unimaginable.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthat's me well another episode of Jay Leno's Garage you know we've been talking awful lot lately about new technology and that's what this car is all about it appears to be a completely stock 2016 350 our Mustang one of my all-time favorite cars I've got one myself but this one has a huge difference beginning close you can see the entire car is made of carbon fiber I'm not the chassis but all the body panels saving well more than a few hundred pounds give me a how light that is walking ham yet here is here's the fender okay 1.8 pound that's a front fender now the whole car is this now the roof this piece this panel here normally about 20 pounds a little less than four pounds and the whole car the hood everything making this well increasing your power-to-weight ratio pretty good I guess it's like adding another 50 or 60 horsepower maybe I don't know something like that but I mean this is this like a piece of typewriter paper oh yes well let's meet the men responsible for this thing or the men and women responsible of this thing sorry don't sue me okay David come on in David Swasey all right yep hey Jerry speed flow is the cooperation let me hand this back thank you pretty amazing I mean whenever I think a carbon-fiber I think Lamborghini Ferrari McLaren and the fact that you guys are doing it for Mustang Camaro challenger american-made stuff why aren't the original equipment manufacturers doing this it seems like the greatest way to save weight I think they're on their way to be there you know it's a cost game yeah makes sense so they're gonna be there and I believe between 2023 to 2025 and it called half of the parts on the car will be carbon-fiber now if you were to go buy a brand-new steel fender for a Mustang unpainted what would it cost you call it three four hundred bucks okay and one of these carbon fiber fenders is how much forget about 800 okay so it's about twice as much twice and so price-wise it's not there yet correct but I see it come I mean these wheels are a classic example I've talked about this on the show before number of years ago we had a company from West Germany in carbon revolution yes and they came with these wheels for and they were trying to sell him a Lamborghini Porsche what of the wheels are $20,000 apiece and I thought well it's so crazy but incredibly light one fingering of the whole deal then they said we're working with the Original Equipment Manufacturer we can't say who it is three four years later they're on a Ford Mustang I mean originally those four wheels cost 20 grand more than this car now they're on this car so manufacturing techniques means it just keeps coming down and down doesn't it yeah and that's on its way so basically same with the wheels it's like plasma TVs you know out of the box they were ten grand now you get them for 800 hours same scenario and it's I mean I'm the panel gap all of this looks completely stock if not even better I mean it's pretty amazing can you do better tolerances with carbon fiber that you could with steel you can and when we make the molds you can change all that and CAD so then when we make the mold see and see them out we can change all the data to editing tolerance we want so yeah I mean this really is fascinating to me and plus if you wanted to you could paint this so you didn't see the carbon fiber yeah but Ferrari does it Corvette does it you know but you guys do it just to show how good the weave is I guess right you clear coat it yeah we have some great artisans that lay this up and they get the direction all perfect and you can see the flow from the fender going to the hood everything matches and the guys are really great and it's almost done on a on a tight Illume type deal isn't it we make carbon fiber yeah it used to be in the old days yeah so basically we get in prepreg and that's what aerospace uses and it comes frozen to us so we put it in a mold and then get the directional on the weave there so prepreg is the perfect mix of epoxy and carbon fiber and it's 60/40 and that's how you get it the strongest so I imagine it's not inexpensive to convert this whole car to a carbon fiber car yeah we get about 70 grand call it to convert the exterior right and you save about what four to six hundred pounds we did a Hellcat for SEMA this year right and we saved 680 pounds total but we also changed the brakes to carbon ceramic right eliminated the rear seat and then that was a giant weight savings because that's a 4,400 pound car originally so you turn a Hellcat into a demon just about yeah okay pretty amazing and the car everything else about the car is stock isn't it yeah he wanted to go for the aesthetics of it and carbon fiber I mean it's the future but it's the present so if you look back at history a lot of things that were technical turned into style so magnesium turned into mags yeah aluminum bodies turned in aluminum treatments and body now carbon weight savings turns into aesthetics and then we use that as a styling hue any electrical grounding problems with carbon fiber because I know on a lot of the modern carbon fiber super cars you can't get AM signals anymore and they say oh nobody listens I am well I listen to news and stuff and it's usually because he can't get a good ground yeah this we haven't had anything but it still has steel chassis correct okay so we're okay on that but it's interesting that you mentioned acoustics because having a carbon-fiber body the acoustics of the car make the car actually quieter so it's almost like the tensile strength and the carbon itself is above our ear tone and it makes the car quieter so when you drive it later you'll see that it's gonna be quieter than you're just experiencing or now I thought it would be noisier I thought you know I some carbon-fiber cars I driven there's a resonance it seems to come through the chassis but maybe that's because there's no sound deadening that could be part of it yeah yeah yeah and also when we bond the panels on so like the quarter panel the steel one came off so we put on the carbon fiber one we're using a 3m panel bond adhesive so now every joint around everything is bonded so you're actually making it stronger than would it be welded with a steel product and when you have an accident or a fender bender or I guess you don't have a vendor anymore do you have a Fender cracker it's not like great you just have to replace the fender it's better to replace you can't really repair a carbon you can as long as it's painted but you gotta use like materials so body shops I don't think you still want to use carbon fiber you want to back it and they don't want to be it out and there's a whole process to drag it out so the fibers you don't have goest lines but you can repair it and I think the equation industry will be there as the OEMs go more and more in a carbon fiber and how long does it take obviously the stamp offender there's your fender pretty much stamping carbon fiber takes a bit longer no it's faster oh it is I mean I faster than the punch but right I'm you get the process you do four layers on this fender that's what we have you can do that in about two hours it goes into an autoclave and then that's the time it takes to cure right though because I know when I mind McLaren f1 well that came out in the early 90s it was something like 2000 hours to make the carbon fiber tub now it's an hour and a half to do the p/y that's amazing yeah I mean so I mean it showed you how quickly things happen I mean it really looks good I'm astounded it's amazing I love the look of it yeah I'd just give you a heads up on the process so when we autoclave the parts everything we do we use prepreg and then we autoclave it so it goes into a I don't remember than autoclave but it's like a giant oven it's actually it is but it adds pressure right so it we cook our stuff at about 180 210 right and then we add 80 pounds per square inch so I'll give you an example in the hood because like maybe 50 by 60 inches right so we're putting just over two hundred thousand pounds of pressure Wow on the hood eighty pounds per square inch and then that makes the hood so we make an a side and a B side and then that gives us its strength as well like Kentucky Fried Chicken yeah the big pressure cooker thing and you make yeah the colonel knows best yeah yeah extra crisp yeah cool well very much well I yeah it's and this is is probably what you said another 70 grand over the cost of the Mustang yeah so but if someone had a Mustang just they could buy this piece here exactly I'm in five rupees a lot of guys buy splitters spoilers diffusers and the rockers and like you said the mirror panels it's the center of gravity I suppose doing the roof would make sense with it oh yeah keep it all changes yeah cuz it's a great pony car already making a lighter just makes it better have you done any early Mustangs like sixty-five that seems like it would be fun we have not yet we've done a kudos 1970 the tantrum from last year's show and then we're working on a full carbon fiber 1970 charger as well with aluminum frame and bodywork so it's going to be exciting because everything that we're doing now really revolves around carbon fiber so when we open the hood I just like to feel like the hood is so get a side and a b-side yeah so if you buy carbon fiber always make sure that they have a finished bottom because sometimes it's just the a side and then the bottom side will be hairy like carbon fiber weave okay yeah I mean it's the one yeah it's amazing yeah so like the front bumper for example on your stock 2350 yard how light it is that's a steal but it will just /aa okay there you go yeah so we made a one-piece front bumper which eliminated a lot of parts and weight so we inducted these pieces directly into the main piece so then you get one solid and then that makes it lighter and then more serviceable yeah I know on my 350 I've torn the splitter twice is going around Willow Springs and stuff so putting one of these on that makes perfect sense what do you have here so here's some carbon-fiber examples so these are two different twill patterns and this is dry carbon that we might use to back it up or strengthen it right so because we're getting seventy percent lighter than steel and forty percent lighter than aluminum with the carbon fiber so that's a backing and then this is prepreg so normally this is frozen and they use it frozen as in temperature froze yeah so when you get it it's got to be frozen and always has to be kept that way and comes in long rolls so okay you can see the resin content in until it's sticky and what happened was it falls out we didn't catch flies - yeah cause out so when you put it in the mold you shape it and it goes right to the autoclave and that's where we're cooking 22:10 okay yeah and then when it's against the mold you might do four layers like we did on the fender and then it's part of the cure process and carbon fiber is what is it like it's like a metal thread isn't it it's yeah so base there's a process that turns it into pure carbon atoms but when we see this strand here we're not actually seeing a carbon fiber we're seeing 12,000 carbon fibers that are smaller than a human hair that make up one strand of the carbon fibers so we just see that little guy there that's 12,000 strands so when you add the perfect amount of epoxy with that carbon it gives us it's strength and that's why you can be stronger than steel which is relative to the shape and the part of course as a human hair yeah well if you have there yeah thank you but no that's pretty because a lot of people don't including me we understand what carbon fiber you know it's think of it as this but it's really it's a weave I mean you can yep made out of pure carbon and then actually you can actually see through it well light comes through done it yeah so you back it up and then when you have four layers and then it's cooked and pressurized yeah basically the resin then is loose in there and it takes form of the mold that you're putting it into though does each manufacture like yourself have their own sort of quote cooking secret I mean it comes to make or it's all comp right pretty much made the same are you guys able to make a stronger bet you know what I mean is it 450 degrees and pressed baked or yeah there's different types of prepreg so different cycles different pressures different times basically we have a group of artisans they lay it up so that's one part of our secret sauce but the other one is the material and then what you do with the material and how you handle it I guess what I'm saying is yeah you want to be careful for people making bad carbon fiber it's something this carbon fiber is extremely cheap at this point you need to be suspicious yes if it was cheap it's not real Pete that's what I'm saying there's a lot of carbon fiber look it's like during the Jewish holidays kosher style food you know wait a minute it's not really good you know I mean it's that same kind of deal because I've seen things advertised carbon fiber wing for your what 80 bucks how could you know that's unseen pomade and shine that's what I mean so you want it you want to go for the real thing yeah and if it's you know if it's expensive there's a reason why it's expect right right so you're always buying the better cool cool well this is one of my favorite cars to drive you know this oh I feel sorry for people bought the last generation Mustang before this flat plane crank model came out because this to me is the greatest American motor sin it's a small-block Chevy is amazing fantastic powerplant and twin cam 4 valves flat plane crank it's basically a Ferrari engine and in a Mustang which seems almost ridiculous but that's what it is and it's just the greatest car to drive so with four to six hundred pounds lighter I'm anxious to see what differences we take a risk spend love to that's real light on its feet kind of liking you go to white watches and you lose 20 pounds you go dancing out came out a better dancer you just feel better about don't feel light on that sweet it's funny if you add in 600 pounds I would feel it right away you take 600 pounds away it does feel lighter but I'm not you know I can't make the connection as quickly immunity yep so the future is yeah you can't make cars more economical all right I'm sorry you can't make their Commission's better so you have to make them lighter right right so what is you know a lot of guys are changing the compression to 13 to 1 to burn more missions so future they have to go lighter to meet the cafe standards yeah yeah you know when Henry Ford builds his cars they're pretty light spindling maybe used to take a lot of grief for it he always used to say you ever seen a fat man outrun a skinny man it's a good one tongues feel lighter maybe it's psychological but it does seems to fall quicker and more how do you feel about the acoustics it's pretty tight huh I mean I was very kind rattling nothing like that well very cool the 350 yards one of my favorite cars of all time and now it's like between four and six hundred pounds lighter you really feel the difference on the highway I couldn't tell so much in bumper-to-bumper traffic obviously once you get on the road especially in third year it just seems to gather speed quicker yeah it's it's obviously it's expensive it's kind of cool but what a piece at a time you know you crumple snd and put a carbon fiber on or crumple the other one put another carbon you know buy one at a time I mean the fender weighs one point eight pound it's less than two pounds for old fender that's pretty pretty cool so guys thank you very much hey thanks for having me odds great it's fun to see the future before it happens and this is the this is the way it's all going so very very cool see you guys next weekthat's me well another episode of Jay Leno's Garage you know we've been talking awful lot lately about new technology and that's what this car is all about it appears to be a completely stock 2016 350 our Mustang one of my all-time favorite cars I've got one myself but this one has a huge difference beginning close you can see the entire car is made of carbon fiber I'm not the chassis but all the body panels saving well more than a few hundred pounds give me a how light that is walking ham yet here is here's the fender okay 1.8 pound that's a front fender now the whole car is this now the roof this piece this panel here normally about 20 pounds a little less than four pounds and the whole car the hood everything making this well increasing your power-to-weight ratio pretty good I guess it's like adding another 50 or 60 horsepower maybe I don't know something like that but I mean this is this like a piece of typewriter paper oh yes well let's meet the men responsible for this thing or the men and women responsible of this thing sorry don't sue me okay David come on in David Swasey all right yep hey Jerry speed flow is the cooperation let me hand this back thank you pretty amazing I mean whenever I think a carbon-fiber I think Lamborghini Ferrari McLaren and the fact that you guys are doing it for Mustang Camaro challenger american-made stuff why aren't the original equipment manufacturers doing this it seems like the greatest way to save weight I think they're on their way to be there you know it's a cost game yeah makes sense so they're gonna be there and I believe between 2023 to 2025 and it called half of the parts on the car will be carbon-fiber now if you were to go buy a brand-new steel fender for a Mustang unpainted what would it cost you call it three four hundred bucks okay and one of these carbon fiber fenders is how much forget about 800 okay so it's about twice as much twice and so price-wise it's not there yet correct but I see it come I mean these wheels are a classic example I've talked about this on the show before number of years ago we had a company from West Germany in carbon revolution yes and they came with these wheels for and they were trying to sell him a Lamborghini Porsche what of the wheels are $20,000 apiece and I thought well it's so crazy but incredibly light one fingering of the whole deal then they said we're working with the Original Equipment Manufacturer we can't say who it is three four years later they're on a Ford Mustang I mean originally those four wheels cost 20 grand more than this car now they're on this car so manufacturing techniques means it just keeps coming down and down doesn't it yeah and that's on its way so basically same with the wheels it's like plasma TVs you know out of the box they were ten grand now you get them for 800 hours same scenario and it's I mean I'm the panel gap all of this looks completely stock if not even better I mean it's pretty amazing can you do better tolerances with carbon fiber that you could with steel you can and when we make the molds you can change all that and CAD so then when we make the mold see and see them out we can change all the data to editing tolerance we want so yeah I mean this really is fascinating to me and plus if you wanted to you could paint this so you didn't see the carbon fiber yeah but Ferrari does it Corvette does it you know but you guys do it just to show how good the weave is I guess right you clear coat it yeah we have some great artisans that lay this up and they get the direction all perfect and you can see the flow from the fender going to the hood everything matches and the guys are really great and it's almost done on a on a tight Illume type deal isn't it we make carbon fiber yeah it used to be in the old days yeah so basically we get in prepreg and that's what aerospace uses and it comes frozen to us so we put it in a mold and then get the directional on the weave there so prepreg is the perfect mix of epoxy and carbon fiber and it's 60/40 and that's how you get it the strongest so I imagine it's not inexpensive to convert this whole car to a carbon fiber car yeah we get about 70 grand call it to convert the exterior right and you save about what four to six hundred pounds we did a Hellcat for SEMA this year right and we saved 680 pounds total but we also changed the brakes to carbon ceramic right eliminated the rear seat and then that was a giant weight savings because that's a 4,400 pound car originally so you turn a Hellcat into a demon just about yeah okay pretty amazing and the car everything else about the car is stock isn't it yeah he wanted to go for the aesthetics of it and carbon fiber I mean it's the future but it's the present so if you look back at history a lot of things that were technical turned into style so magnesium turned into mags yeah aluminum bodies turned in aluminum treatments and body now carbon weight savings turns into aesthetics and then we use that as a styling hue any electrical grounding problems with carbon fiber because I know on a lot of the modern carbon fiber super cars you can't get AM signals anymore and they say oh nobody listens I am well I listen to news and stuff and it's usually because he can't get a good ground yeah this we haven't had anything but it still has steel chassis correct okay so we're okay on that but it's interesting that you mentioned acoustics because having a carbon-fiber body the acoustics of the car make the car actually quieter so it's almost like the tensile strength and the carbon itself is above our ear tone and it makes the car quieter so when you drive it later you'll see that it's gonna be quieter than you're just experiencing or now I thought it would be noisier I thought you know I some carbon-fiber cars I driven there's a resonance it seems to come through the chassis but maybe that's because there's no sound deadening that could be part of it yeah yeah yeah and also when we bond the panels on so like the quarter panel the steel one came off so we put on the carbon fiber one we're using a 3m panel bond adhesive so now every joint around everything is bonded so you're actually making it stronger than would it be welded with a steel product and when you have an accident or a fender bender or I guess you don't have a vendor anymore do you have a Fender cracker it's not like great you just have to replace the fender it's better to replace you can't really repair a carbon you can as long as it's painted but you gotta use like materials so body shops I don't think you still want to use carbon fiber you want to back it and they don't want to be it out and there's a whole process to drag it out so the fibers you don't have goest lines but you can repair it and I think the equation industry will be there as the OEMs go more and more in a carbon fiber and how long does it take obviously the stamp offender there's your fender pretty much stamping carbon fiber takes a bit longer no it's faster oh it is I mean I faster than the punch but right I'm you get the process you do four layers on this fender that's what we have you can do that in about two hours it goes into an autoclave and then that's the time it takes to cure right though because I know when I mind McLaren f1 well that came out in the early 90s it was something like 2000 hours to make the carbon fiber tub now it's an hour and a half to do the p/y that's amazing yeah I mean so I mean it showed you how quickly things happen I mean it really looks good I'm astounded it's amazing I love the look of it yeah I'd just give you a heads up on the process so when we autoclave the parts everything we do we use prepreg and then we autoclave it so it goes into a I don't remember than autoclave but it's like a giant oven it's actually it is but it adds pressure right so it we cook our stuff at about 180 210 right and then we add 80 pounds per square inch so I'll give you an example in the hood because like maybe 50 by 60 inches right so we're putting just over two hundred thousand pounds of pressure Wow on the hood eighty pounds per square inch and then that makes the hood so we make an a side and a B side and then that gives us its strength as well like Kentucky Fried Chicken yeah the big pressure cooker thing and you make yeah the colonel knows best yeah yeah extra crisp yeah cool well very much well I yeah it's and this is is probably what you said another 70 grand over the cost of the Mustang yeah so but if someone had a Mustang just they could buy this piece here exactly I'm in five rupees a lot of guys buy splitters spoilers diffusers and the rockers and like you said the mirror panels it's the center of gravity I suppose doing the roof would make sense with it oh yeah keep it all changes yeah cuz it's a great pony car already making a lighter just makes it better have you done any early Mustangs like sixty-five that seems like it would be fun we have not yet we've done a kudos 1970 the tantrum from last year's show and then we're working on a full carbon fiber 1970 charger as well with aluminum frame and bodywork so it's going to be exciting because everything that we're doing now really revolves around carbon fiber so when we open the hood I just like to feel like the hood is so get a side and a b-side yeah so if you buy carbon fiber always make sure that they have a finished bottom because sometimes it's just the a side and then the bottom side will be hairy like carbon fiber weave okay yeah I mean it's the one yeah it's amazing yeah so like the front bumper for example on your stock 2350 yard how light it is that's a steal but it will just /aa okay there you go yeah so we made a one-piece front bumper which eliminated a lot of parts and weight so we inducted these pieces directly into the main piece so then you get one solid and then that makes it lighter and then more serviceable yeah I know on my 350 I've torn the splitter twice is going around Willow Springs and stuff so putting one of these on that makes perfect sense what do you have here so here's some carbon-fiber examples so these are two different twill patterns and this is dry carbon that we might use to back it up or strengthen it right so because we're getting seventy percent lighter than steel and forty percent lighter than aluminum with the carbon fiber so that's a backing and then this is prepreg so normally this is frozen and they use it frozen as in temperature froze yeah so when you get it it's got to be frozen and always has to be kept that way and comes in long rolls so okay you can see the resin content in until it's sticky and what happened was it falls out we didn't catch flies - yeah cause out so when you put it in the mold you shape it and it goes right to the autoclave and that's where we're cooking 22:10 okay yeah and then when it's against the mold you might do four layers like we did on the fender and then it's part of the cure process and carbon fiber is what is it like it's like a metal thread isn't it it's yeah so base there's a process that turns it into pure carbon atoms but when we see this strand here we're not actually seeing a carbon fiber we're seeing 12,000 carbon fibers that are smaller than a human hair that make up one strand of the carbon fibers so we just see that little guy there that's 12,000 strands so when you add the perfect amount of epoxy with that carbon it gives us it's strength and that's why you can be stronger than steel which is relative to the shape and the part of course as a human hair yeah well if you have there yeah thank you but no that's pretty because a lot of people don't including me we understand what carbon fiber you know it's think of it as this but it's really it's a weave I mean you can yep made out of pure carbon and then actually you can actually see through it well light comes through done it yeah so you back it up and then when you have four layers and then it's cooked and pressurized yeah basically the resin then is loose in there and it takes form of the mold that you're putting it into though does each manufacture like yourself have their own sort of quote cooking secret I mean it comes to make or it's all comp right pretty much made the same are you guys able to make a stronger bet you know what I mean is it 450 degrees and pressed baked or yeah there's different types of prepreg so different cycles different pressures different times basically we have a group of artisans they lay it up so that's one part of our secret sauce but the other one is the material and then what you do with the material and how you handle it I guess what I'm saying is yeah you want to be careful for people making bad carbon fiber it's something this carbon fiber is extremely cheap at this point you need to be suspicious yes if it was cheap it's not real Pete that's what I'm saying there's a lot of carbon fiber look it's like during the Jewish holidays kosher style food you know wait a minute it's not really good you know I mean it's that same kind of deal because I've seen things advertised carbon fiber wing for your what 80 bucks how could you know that's unseen pomade and shine that's what I mean so you want it you want to go for the real thing yeah and if it's you know if it's expensive there's a reason why it's expect right right so you're always buying the better cool cool well this is one of my favorite cars to drive you know this oh I feel sorry for people bought the last generation Mustang before this flat plane crank model came out because this to me is the greatest American motor sin it's a small-block Chevy is amazing fantastic powerplant and twin cam 4 valves flat plane crank it's basically a Ferrari engine and in a Mustang which seems almost ridiculous but that's what it is and it's just the greatest car to drive so with four to six hundred pounds lighter I'm anxious to see what differences we take a risk spend love to that's real light on its feet kind of liking you go to white watches and you lose 20 pounds you go dancing out came out a better dancer you just feel better about don't feel light on that sweet it's funny if you add in 600 pounds I would feel it right away you take 600 pounds away it does feel lighter but I'm not you know I can't make the connection as quickly immunity yep so the future is yeah you can't make cars more economical all right I'm sorry you can't make their Commission's better so you have to make them lighter right right so what is you know a lot of guys are changing the compression to 13 to 1 to burn more missions so future they have to go lighter to meet the cafe standards yeah yeah you know when Henry Ford builds his cars they're pretty light spindling maybe used to take a lot of grief for it he always used to say you ever seen a fat man outrun a skinny man it's a good one tongues feel lighter maybe it's psychological but it does seems to fall quicker and more how do you feel about the acoustics it's pretty tight huh I mean I was very kind rattling nothing like that well very cool the 350 yards one of my favorite cars of all time and now it's like between four and six hundred pounds lighter you really feel the difference on the highway I couldn't tell so much in bumper-to-bumper traffic obviously once you get on the road especially in third year it just seems to gather speed quicker yeah it's it's obviously it's expensive it's kind of cool but what a piece at a time you know you crumple snd and put a carbon fiber on or crumple the other one put another carbon you know buy one at a time I mean the fender weighs one point eight pound it's less than two pounds for old fender that's pretty pretty cool so guys thank you very much hey thanks for having me odds great it's fun to see the future before it happens and this is the this is the way it's all going so very very cool see you guys next week\n"