Carbon Fiber Hoods Or Fiberglass Hood? Car Body Kits That Save Time And Money

Do you like to race and give your car extra speed? Make it lighter so it will increase your mileage? Do you want to personalize its look and make it as comfortable as your bedroom?

Ok, the last one was a joke.

There are a plenty of car accessories and exterior car products available in the market. For the car enthusiast, depending on his needs, he can use it as an opportunity to accessorize his car and personalize it. He can even improve the aerodynamics of his car if he wants to increase its speed and improve mileage. Popular movies like The Fast and the Furious or MTV’s Pimp my Ride show the public what can be done to improve and accessorize their car. Due to this subtle car body kits marketing, aftermarket products have become highly in demand.

What is a hood?

A hood is one of the most visible parts of a car and the least complicated because it requires very little engineering. Manufacturers try to make fancy accessories by using various designs in their material. The wide range of choices available ensures that the customer will find a range of choice that appeal to his taste.

Fiberglass hoods

Fiberglass is a composite material consisting of fine glass filaments bound together with resin. Light weight and widely used, it is almost inexpensive. The rigid composition of the material allows for extreme styling.

Fiberglass hoods are a cost alternative to manufactured hoods because it reduces the weight of the vehicle, is durable and easy to work with.

Fiberglass, however, received a really bad reputation because of cheap, low quality imports sold on the market today. Nevertheless, there are a lot of quality fiberglass parts offered by quality manufacturers that do not easily break and are not difficult to attach.

When working with fiberglass, extra steps must be observed in the painting process. You have to see to it that it is sanded absolutely smooth aside from adding a smooth coat of primer, topcoat and a sealer adding more work and expense in the process.

Carbon fiber hoods

Carbon fiber is a material that involves taking together carbon filaments, placing them under pressure and binding them with resin. Carbon fiber was originally used in aircraft technology and is a more expensive material compared to fiber class.

As it is light, installing a carbon fiber hood greatly reduces the weight of the vehicle. The reduction in weight allows the car to run on lesser power and fuel consumption. Because the hood is right on top of the front wheels, lesser weight on the front wheels gives the vehicle better balance when driving. The latest models of carbon fiber body kits possess cutting edge designs due to the material’s capacity to be molded into interesting forms. Carbon fiber is used in racing cars being of light and strong material. The only downside to carbon fiber hoods is that if it breaks down, it has to be replaced.

Essential Guide To Getting A Great Car Body Kit Certified To Make You A Great Chick Magnet

Due to the growth of the aftermarket tuning industry, factory body fitted body parts are becoming more available as a response to this growing market and manufacturers now have in house motor part divisions developing styling upgrades. These departments work to upgrade and fine tune their product using their product vehicle as a platform.

Vehicle enhancements like carbon fiber hood or an after market wing were originally made by other companies as add ons or cheaper alternatives to original parts a manufacturer does not offer. They designed body kit components designed to complement each other but some car owners do a mix and match approach where the front of the body kit is matched with a different rear design.

Why get a vehicle enhancement?

If you have been watching movies like The Fast and the Furious, Tokyo Drift, you’ll understand why a car body fit can give your car that extra push. These exterior car products improve the aerodynamics of your car better than its mass produced brother.

It is also known to improve the gas mileage and mile times of your car aside from the fact that it can make your car look really cool making it a certified chick magnet.

Many cite additional weight as a down side to getting these styling kits, but the truth of the matter is, most styling kits really don’t add weight at all.

And even if it did, it doesn’t make much of a difference as to actually affect the performance of the car. An Accord, for example, if replaced with fiberglass front and bumper/air dam, side skirt assembly could affect the weight of the car by 50 lbs. when you replace the factory urethane bumpers.

Kinds of car body kits

Car body kits come in three kinds: fiberglass, polyurethane and carbon fiber.

Fiber glass accessories like fiberglass trunk are the cheapest and most widely available aftermarket accessory in the market toady. It is light weight and easy to make. Despite its popularity, its down side is that, unlike polyurethane and carbon fiber, it is brittle and easily cracks upon impact.

 

Polyurethane accessories are a more resilient option than fiberglass. They then to be thicker, able to flex into place and can withstand an impact better than fiberglass. The down side to polyurethane is that it costs more than fiberglass and more difficult to come by. Highly popularized import tuners favor this material.

Carbon fiber body kits are also a popular performance upgrade. It is light and is normally the material of choice when the car owner is concerned with the speed and weight of his vehicle.

Autobarber.com - The place for you to change your car as you like. My car, My world! Car body kits, exterior car products, carbon fiber hood etc. parts are also available. For more information please visit: http://www.autobarber.com/