carbon fiber hoods
 

In my relentless effort to lose weight, I am shopping now for a carbon fiber hood. So, who's got one? Which products are good, and which ones should have never been made? CF haters need not answer that one!
FYI, I'll be using the stock hinges, but ditching the latch (gotta be a couple of pounds) and using aluminum hood pins.

How do you keep the Boxster in "balance" when removing weight from the front?

I am interested as well, my stock hood has a dent near the battery and I want to replace it one day with CF. I want to keep the stock hardware on mine though.

Check out Ebay Motors. I've been watching them for awhile and there are a couple of diffetent versions. Best price I've seen is around $750. I'll wait till the pricing gets closer to $500 though. But that may be awhile.

The latch is very light. You might want to rethink ditching it. There's no security in hood pins.

Make sure you know what you want and what you're buying. Most low cost cf hoods are fiberglass with a cf outer layer. It's much less expensive and heavier than a full cf hood.

Also, there are some cf's that show the weave pattern in the surface, meaning that you can see it when painted, if you want to paint it.

the best carbon fiber hood i've seen to date was made by Kaminari. not sure if they make one for the boxster, but anything is possible with enough $$$$$. might be worth giving them a call.

for 100% carbon there is also carbon by design. very light and 100% carbon. they can make anything you want. no rolled edges, etc. with their stuff though. still it's light and that sounds like you're target.

brad

Flavor - I've got coilovers, so among other advantages, I can corner balance the car. Hell, if it gets too front end light I'll just drive it like a 911 - HA!

I've seen what's advertised on Ebay, but I was hoping someone might chime in about the fit/quality/weight of those hoods. GT-Racing does a fiberglass hood that's just under 20 pounds. I believe the stock hood is around 50.

I really do want to ditch the latch and everything that goes with it, including the cable. I've already swapped the rear mechanism, since my trunklid is fiberglass. With the front gone, I can also lose the door sill assembly in the cabin. The rest of the interior is already gone. I'll be AXing next year in F Prepared, and I'm eying NASA or SCCA time trials down the road. I'd like to get to 2500 pounds but stay just legal enough to maintain the Virginia inspection sticker.

The stock hood is around 50 pounds? I've never lifted one, but I'm surprised they would weigh that much. Where did you get that data?

Here's what GT-Racing has to say:
"This lightweight hood fits all 996 and Boxster models. It boasts an ultra strong construction with the stock type reinforced inside frame. This hood is designed to be able to use the existing hood hinges and latching mechanism or you can use hood pins or rubber draw latches. Average weight: 14 lbs Stock steel hood: Approx. 52 lbs"

Anyone out there got a GT-Racing hood?

Looks good. Notice the $200 difference between fg and cf.

Check out the techart catalog

I have seen the GT Racing site before and often wondered how much weight could be saved replacing the bumpers, bonnet, boot lid, clam shell, doors and fenders. I would not bother with the rear quarters, even though GT Racing sells them, as it looks like a hell of a job.

I am now seriously considering replacing some panels, since I had a small accident recently that scuffed up my bumper. It needs to be painted, so while I'm buying paint and pulling a bumper off, why not do a bonnet and fenders while I'm there, and possibly doors, and my boot lid does have a couple of hail dents in it...

I wouldn't go CF, fibreglass would be good enough and less expensive.

Would I get a reasonable weight reduction or is it a waste of money?

The hood (that's what we call it over here ;) ) clam shell, and trunk lid are the big winners. If the hood saves just under 40lbs, I'd put the clamshell at 10 and the trunklid at 15-20. The fenders would probably be worth another 20. The doors are a different issue. Those shouldn't be swapped unless you have a full roll cage with significant side bars. On top of that, you'd have to lose the windows.
The front and rear bumper covers in FG are actually slightly heavier then the stock plastic.

Your hood is part of the crumble zone, no one will sell you a racing only 100% CF hood as they all have to be reinforced.

I have the ...
 

... one from Deft Racing: 97, 98, 99, 00, 01 - Up Porsche Boxster (Boxter) Carbon Fiber CF Hood
When I bought it 4 years ago it was under $400.00 delivered, so it was a great replacement for my at-the-time damaged hood which would have cost me over $800.00 once it was purchased new and painted.
Because I liked the new hood the way it looked, I haven't and won't paint it.
It's held up great in the Florida sun.
The hood has a fiberglass base and carbon fiber overlay.
It's very light and saved me 33 lbs from the original hood.
Also, my gas struts were almost to the point that they could no longer hold the hood open. Because of the much lighter hood I did not have to replace the struts.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...n/PICT2909.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3.../AtSebring.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...n/IMG_3331.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/3.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/2-2.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/1-3.jpg

Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro, that hood looks awesome! Please be so kind and post some pics from under. Also, installation, any issues? Did you use any special parts? Does the OEM hood latch work? We need more info!!
Thanks!!

Awesome find!

So j.fro, if your numbers are right, we would be looking at a weight saving of around 90 lbs (about 40kg "down under")? I know how different my car feels with 90 or so lbs of groceries (a few boxes of bottled water) in the front boot (trunk). It doesn't sound like much, and I suspect straight-line speed would not be improved by a great deal, but the car would feel much more nimble.

Has anyone here been serious enough about weight reduction to get their cars below 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs)? So many threads on this board are concerned with people going to great lengths (and great costs) to extract a few hp. I am yet to see someone spend the same sort of time and money dropping serious weight, which in my opinion, would make these cars a LOT more fun.

As my Boxster is a 100% dedicated racing car, I am constantly looking to reduce weight - I would love to get under 1000kg, and hope to do so one day.

But I also have to make sure the car does not get to light as that will push me into the same class as the 997 Cup cars and then I will have no chance :rolleyes: