Carbon fiber is slowly migrating into the mainstream, with manufacturers like Ford and BMW actively working to bring associated costs down, so that more cars can benefit from the multitude of benefits it offers.
Now, according to a report from Edmunds, Volkswagen, which is also working towards the same goal, is currently developing a carbon fiber roof for its high-performance Golf variants, which will lower the car’s center of gravity and reduce its weight by around 18 to 20 pounds (8.2 to 9.1 kilos).
The current challenge faced by the engineers behind this project is the development of solid and reliable watertight seals between the carbon fiber parts and the rest of the body, windshield etc.
Furthermore, aside from the slight performance gains, this new roof will also make future fast Golfs marginally more economical, because that’s what you always get when removing excess weight.
However, don’t go thinking carbon fiber can only be used to create (body) panels, because its range of uses is very wide. For instance, Volvo is developing a system called Flywheel KERS, which uses inertia stored in a spinning flywheel to power the vehicle, without having to use the internal combustion engine or a complicated electrified hybrid system.
The Swedes had been testing the system for many years, but up until this point they had been making it out of steel, which was always deed as being too heavy for this application – now they’re looking of putting it into a production car.
By Andrei Nedelea
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