I was at the NAIAS yesterday, attending an Autoweek-sponsored forum on automotive design. (Very, very worth the $150 cost btw). In one seminar, Frank Stephenson, head of design at McClaren Automotive (he was also responsible for the Mini and Fiat 500) mentioned the the CF tub of the F1 took 3000 man-hours to construct, but will take only 4 hours for the new MP4-12C. Apparently, they are using an injection molding technique into some sort of honeycomb matrix.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2011...NEWS/110119943

Amazing! A factor of 1000 reduction in cost, assuming his estimates are accurate.

Implications to the auto industry = stupendous!

Anyone have knowledge or links of this technique?

 

It's a bit ambiguous at the moment; nothing is clearly defined with the process other than the hinting towards a new process with drastic time reduction coming from the article.

Injection molding is nothing new although the technique of how they apply it with a honeycomb matrix as you may have overheard can be different. I would say gauging from the brief article your topic would have been better suited as "Revolutionary CF manufacturing process technology" as CF itself from the article alone doesn't show any improvement; it was just mentioned they've refined its use, not that the composition of CF itself is refined or improved upon.

Of course if you heard more or differently at the forum then that's another matter.