Carbon Fiber
 

I'm looking to get a cowl carbon fiber hood for my 8 and have a few questions. First off, if I wanted to paint it, is there any special prep work involved on a carbon fiber part? Second, if I later get the Mazdaspeed front end, will that interfere with the hood at all? Lastly, anyone have any good recommendations for finding a well made cowl carbon fiber hood? Thanks in advance! ;)

I don't know about the cowl carbon fiber hood, what is "cowl"? I do know that when I installed the MS front nose, that it was attached to the same bolt holes and lined up the same way as the stock hood did towards the top of the front nose. You shouldn't have any problem with clearance, as long as the hood is the same specifications as the stock hood.

why do you want carbon fiber if you are thinking about painting it? If it's for weight reduction, your aluminum hood is pretty light as is.

Lastly, are you the cute girl from TX who posted awhile back in the self pics thread?

A cowl induction hood simply looks more aggresive, the RX8 cowl hood is raised up on its goofy little V thingy on the upper portion of the hood. Some say it looks a little "ricey", but I like it.

Yes, it is for weight reduction, yes I am from Texas, and yes I posted a picture.

hey you are a coors light advertisment...hmmm I like Miller Lite myself (Skol Viks!)

well if you just want it for the 'cool look' you might want to look into a non-carbon fiber hood, ie FRP (Fiberglass) which would cost MUCH less and would still fullfill your 'cool look' fantasies...actually you could probably get the thing for 1/5 the price...would be easier to paint too

the only reason to have carbon fiber is if you want to shave some weight off for racing or if you want to leave it un-painted for styling (bleck!)

good luck...I would recommend saving your money for something more aggressive then a little lump in the hood that will give virtually no performance advantages until you have a FI kit...even then its advantages would be limited

Here is an example of a cowl hood for an RX8...

why don't you save that money and use it towards something more functional like sway bars, coilovers, or keep it for a rainy day (forced induction)?

Some peeps on the board have posted about some cute women driving around in 8s in TX. is that you?

that is the Veilside Ver. 1 hood I believe...looks like that black 8 has the Veilside D1 front bumper though

you may like how it looks from the front but I've seen it from other angles (especially back and to the side) and the thing looks cheap and fugly...it looks as if someone cut out the vents with an applepeeler

although if you are interested...buy it and modify it to look quality...you could even cover up the vents since it really wont do a bit of good because Cowl induction hoods are supposed allow more air to be pulled through the engine bay and out the top (like the Mac cube with induction cooling system) but since our Rotary is only 1.2 liters and is almost sitting on the ground the advantage will not exist...look around there are many threads on this and I believe Takahashi posted an airflow diagram of the engine bay where he highlighted the advantage of the Buddy Club front bumper and from the great diagrams you can see an induction hood could hinder airflow as the air could be drawn out of the bay prematurely...creating an area of higher pressure around the engine that is condusive for higher tempatures (although minor)

Raised hoods to me shout 'american' and sleek sexy is japanese (that's why i've got the asian gf)

it's not a veilside hood. the front nose is veilside. the veilside hood has a raised roaty symbol with vents. that hoos jsut has a horrid looking hood scoop... i'm sorry to say but this car isnt a WRX, please calm down with the hood scoops. save it for the MS front end.

Carbon fiber blocks heat. A vented CF hood would be a GOOD idea, if you are going to get a CF hood...

my vented CF hood should be here soon from Gemini Composites. i'll post some pics once i get it on.

here is a pic of it before they shipped it out...

see now that is a decent hood...no huge hump to make it look like we have a V-8 with an Air-ram (ala Pontiac Trans Am bleck)

i wanted stock look with some functional vents. not 3000 slots all over my hood!

Heres mine from Gemini Composites.... :D

the vent ( after starting up the car and driving for awhile i had my hand over the vent and tons and tons and tons of hot air rushes out of there.... i guess it works and serves its purpose :D)
http://www.geminicomposites.com/prod...zda/rx8_07.jpg

check out the fitment
http://www.geminicomposites.com/prod...zda/rx8_08.jpg

check out the fitment again :)
http://www.geminicomposites.com/prod...zda/rx8_09.jpg

I didnt want a CF hood that has big vents and such to jump out at ppl... so this design really suits me... the vent is functional.....its nothing too exagerating....
http://www.geminicomposites.com/prod...zda/rx8_10.jpg


Mr.Ed i cant wait to see your blue kevlar CF hood installed........OMFG is it ever gonna be sweet on your blue 8... :D

and just a little insider for you im working with Gemini currently to make some interior CF pieces :cool:

your hood looks painted in those pics. i thought it was cf?

lol look closely? :confused: its CF

look at the first pic you can clearly see the weave :D

dammit BIU why you gotta keep bringing my hood up! :D its hard enough knowing its on the way and then i see pics of yours!!!!!! ARGGGGGG!!!! i want my HOOD!!!

but i will post some pics of mine. mine will have a few more vents then BIU's hood. :D

dang that's one of the nicer ones I've seen, I don't guess cf bleaches out in sunlight or? my only beef would be the hood changing colors after a while, still looks sweet, nice fitment too.

nope it wont change color.. Gemini's UV gel coating is very nice :)