Carbon Bonnet for Polo - Finally!

[clubracer]

Hey guys,

I've tracked down some guys making carbon bonnets for the Polo in China. I'm still waiting to hear on final shipping costs but my guess is they'll be under $650 landed. I'm going to bring one in to start with purely to test fit it and make sure they are the goods.

Can someone confirm that the 05/06 Bonnets are the same as the 07-09?

Give me an idea of numbers and they'll be cheaper if I can cut chipping costs...

Cheers

Pete

[team_v]

I really doubt they wil be legal/ADR compliant or any lighter than the standard bonnet but will be interesting to see.

[noone]

Illegal but light!

[clubracer]

Aren't all carbon bonnets illegal? No crumple zone?

[team_v]

I believe there was a company in Australia that made ADR compliant wet carbon bonnets but i can't recall their name.
Edit: I believe it is DMD that make ADR compliant carbon fibre parts.
Also blits body kits are said to make ADR compliant fibreglass parts.

If it was for track use and weighted less then i would say go for it.
For street use you are going to get the same weightloss benefit if you just remove the spare wheel and/or run enkei's.

Have you actually removed the stock bonnet and weighed it?


There is also this from PSI Parts:

Hi Guys,

My name is Shane and I'm the General Manager of PSI Parts (www.psiparts.com.au).

I will try to clear up a few mis-conceptions about frp and carbon fibre hoods.

When you replace the bonnet with either of the above materials the whole vehicle needs to be complied. There is NO such thing as an ADR approved bonnet, despite what some people claim. This is because there is no set ruling for after market hoods Australia wide.

We sell a wide variety of carbon fibre and frp hoods and trunks and our customers have not reported any trouble with the police. I have had numerous accounts from customers of how they were given a Defect Notice for multiple things but the carbon bonnet and boots were ignored. This is because there is NO LAW against them, having set that, there is no law stating they are legal as well. They lye in the grey area of the law. The law does however state that if you change any panels forward of the firewall you need a Compliance Certificate. We have contact many state and territory road authorities and have not been able to get a clear statement on what we can do to make them legal.

[triode12]

How much weight can you save going to a CF bonnet?

[clubracer]

If done properly it'd be a few kgs. I have enquired about the weight. It depends on whether they have kept all the bracing, how many layer of carbon there is, the resin ration (resin is the heaviest part). A very good one should only weight a couple of kilos, a bad one more than stock..

[triode12]

If done properly it'd be a few kgs. I have enquired about the weight. It depends on whether they have kept all the bracing, how many layer of carbon there is, the resin ration (resin is the heaviest part). A very good one should only weight a couple of kilos, a bad one more than stock..

Then I don't see the point if you are going to be sacrificing safety and paying for it too. Better to remove the spare wheel or something that won't compromise your own and pedestrian safetly.

[clubracer]

Yeah I'm a sucker for lightness though... If it's heavier then I won't be purchasing one myself. I take my spare tyre out as well as my back seats for track days. At some point all that will be left of my interior will be the bare dash! But then it'll be a track only car...

[noone]

Can you remove the bonnet for track days?

[xtturbo]

no

10char

[injidup]

If you want to save weight, go for unsprung mass - wheels and tyres - first.
Then paint a carbon-effect bonnet!

[noone]

Do rotors vary much in weight? My 312's weigh a ton...

[Buller_Scott]

Do rotors vary much in weight? My 312's weigh a ton...

probably, dude...

a little birdy, whom you've dealt with, told me of slotted ECS rotors for the back of his car, simply for the weight saving.

rotors are important though, ben. i'd harp on about wheels, but you have the lightest in the industry (trust me- i've ***king searched and searched for the lightest wheels, your enkei's are the lightest by a fair bit.).

what's the next step? get those tyres sorted with nitrogen?

im getting nitro on my next wheel alignment, purely for the placebo effect (nitro is supposed to weigh less than oxy).

after that, it's gotta be a bigger turbo... but until then, i dont want to mod the car to the point where one thing will be inadequate to handle ''another'' thing...

cheers,,

scotty

[Gti Dave]

Yeah I too thought about the carbon bonnet thing a while back but in the end said stuff it and might just get it painted black like what others have done. Either that or I'll just stick on some 3m di-noc carbon vinyl.

[Hilal]

Stock bonnet is already pretty light as it is..

Those Carbon Fiber bonnets aren't full carbon fiber, they're 95% fiberglass and then its wrapped in Carbon Fiber sheets to give it that Carbon Fiber look..