Carbon Fiber

B6 A4
#1

Was wondering if we could get some information going on this. I will be replacing my hood while my car is in the body shop and I’m thinking of going with CF (will be painted of course) and I’ve done some reading on AZ and I read of 1 guy that had his hood break into a million peices (EuroGear) above 150mph which I probably wont’ ever go that fast unless I could find a road to do it on :slight_smile:

My experience with CF hoods is limited, I’ve owned a VIS Racing hood that I had on my Eclipse and I had an unfortunate event where my hood wasnt secured and when I hit 80 on the freeway it flew up and completely smashed my windshield in… and basically the hood was not damaged at all except for a hairline crack down at the bottom corner. Also theres another issue that I read its reccomended to use hood pins? I’ve never heard of this and it doesn’t make any sense to me because I know for a fact the stock hood latch can hold a CF hood down with ease. So are the hood pins needed to help with any flutter?

So what I would like to know…
What CF parts are available for our car- Hood, trunk, Roof?, driveshaft, …?
Who makes high quality CF companies for German cars?
I know VIS was good for ricers but I’m not sure if its good enough for an Audi.

#2

I think the general consensus with CF hoods is ALWAYS use hood pins. What happened to Mick and again in your situation it would have prevented a hood / windshield smash if hood pins were installed…

you might have seen this thread in the S4 section

http://audirevolution.net/forum/index.php?topic=218.0

i double checked and sure enough… hood pins are present

#3

CF hood = about 12-18 lbs from my research (for the B7)
stock B7 A4/S4 hood = 49 lbs
Cost of CF double sided hood + paint + install = about $1500

Assuming the weights (at least the delta) are similar for the B6, I really don’t think CF hoods make any sense unless you’re doing it for looks, venting, or a combination of all three. From a performance point of view, eliminating those 30lbs is WAY too expensive.

I think I’d get a 30 lb battery instead…bang, there’s 30lbs dropped. Total cost could be zero if you already need a new battery. $150 if you don’t.

Sprung weight is really not your enemy. Unsprung, rotating weight is. i.e. wheels, tires, rotors, crank, flywheel. That’s where the real cheesecake is…not saving a couple dozen pounds off your hood. The hood weight is where you go to save the last 30 lbs, not the first.

#4

Thanks for the help. I understand rotating weight is the enemy, my hood is already being replaced for damage so I was trying to figure the cost of OEM vs CF and the benifits and drawbacks of having it. I came to the conclusion that for the cost of prep and paint on a CF hood vs replacement stock it was best to stick with OEM.

#5

when I had a B7 S4 I was always on the lookout for an RS4 hood. They’re made of aluminium, and only weigh about 25 lbs (vs about 50 for the A4/S4 hood).

I just don’t like carbon hoods with hood pins. And I don’t like the hood flying up and near killing me either lol.