I am starting this post to guage interest on what type of Carbon Fiber hood(s) or Wing(s) people would like to see made.

I have a friend that can help to design and protoype these.

Originally, I was going to have something made for myself because I did not see too many companies working on these. I haven't seen too many companies working on CF hoods or wings. I was going to have one made for myself with a design not commonly found for the Maxima's. Then I figured that if I would like something like this, othere may also be interested. This post is not to solicit sales as I am not in the car accessory business. I have seen other psots here trying to solicit business.
I am willing to get the ball rolling if there is sufficient interest from this community.

Realizing that a quality piece will not be cheap, I am not really interested in feedback from those of you looking for a "blue light" special.

Quality costs money. These hoods and or wings would not have a bottom of the barrel price. Those of you looking for the "cheap street" hood should probably check elsewhere. The company that would design these is well established in the automotive industry but, does little work in the import or street racing scene.

I spoke to Greg at CustomMaxima and he suggested that I get some feedback from you guys to see what is wanted or needed.

The company that I will have make this has been doing body kits, full race car bodies etc. for almost 15 years.

I can get pretty much anything made but there will be a cost to prototype. Also, to prototype different models we will need a hood or spoiler to create the original pototype.

I am creating this thread to determine a couple of things:

1) Guage interest on what is wanted.

2) See what you guys want.

3) See if it is worth it to do. Prototyping these will not be cheap. Will it be worth it to prototype or just get one made for myself?

4) What is on the wish list? What is wanted that is not out there for our cars.

5) I am not in business to do this. I just thought putting something like this together would be fun and exciting.

Please reply here or PM me. I am looking into this solely to help give back to the members of this site cause you guys and gals have helped me tremendously.

Please reply only if you are interested in seeing what we can have made for the community. If you would refrain from flooding this post with BS flames etc. that would be great.

I am located in York, PA so if there are local people with different gen Maximas ( I have a fourth gen) that would be great.

DL

I would be interested in a C/F hood, I always miss out on the G/D but this time I would be ready to get a quality hood. Let us know.

b u m p

Holes for the windshield washer nozzeles

What about a CF trunk lid? Shave weight wherever we can...

Fresh air intake (5th gen) scoop. Center mount directing air to filter/intake area. NOT extreme (read ricey) but clean and functional with a factory look under hood to mount factory matting. Along the lines of a Firebird WS-6 on a smaller scale perhaps. Thoughs?
Would solve the CAI issues alot of us may have.
l8tr -- SS

Bueller?

truck lid idea sounds nice.

Kinda like Stillen's. I think in order for it to be successful you should try and keep it simple. C/F hood and front lip would look sweeeeet!

It won't be easy though, and I suggest plenty of research & development doesn't make sense making something that very few (if any) people want. Look at Erebuni's kit for the 95-96 Max, its grotesque!!!

If anyone has any ideas or pics, please let me know and I will take this info into the meeting.
DL

the one reason i haven't bought a c/f hood yet is because of the amount of defects they have had when received. don't get me wrong, a lip would be nice too, but i'd just love to see a GOOD condition carbon fiber hood sold.

Fitment is basically guaranteed by the manufacturer. The protypes will be test fit by the manufacturer in order to ensure that the mold is set up properly. He is currently doing full bodies, fenders etc for a variety of car types with no fitment issues.

The main reason for getting interested in this was due to reliability problems I have seen here.

Thanks for the feedback.

DL

what about front fenders? kinda like the phase II ones.


i that would be nice.. i plan on either front fenders and/or hood next year.. (i am done modding for now...)

For some strange reason i kind of doubt it.................

i say that cause i saw some c/f fenders on a civic in either sports compact or super street...



and i am giving ideas.. so stop..

or i will have to give you a

I'd say CF Trunk lid. FiberImages already makes them for the M3.
I'd like to see fenders too.
And if you wanna get tricky CF Doors.
I have a friend that got approached to do Door panels. I was like Hmmm.
Could you image how light the Max would be with CF: Hood,fenders,doors and deck lid. *drool*

LOL... looks like you're hooked now. Yeah, taking more weight of the front of the car with fenders would be nice. But gee wizz, another $grand at least... our cars are becoming money pits... especially in your case.

BECOMING?!! I done fell in the pit and can't get out. I figure I'll just use my shovel and dig deeper now. Maybe I'll come out somewhere in Japan. I know its China but Nissan's in Japan

What about a hood like the I30 where the grill is attached to the hood? I like the idea about the hood scoop for the pop charger.

But what I would LOVE to see, and I would pay full price for it is a C/F hood for the 96-99 I30.

i like the cf hood with a scoop

What I meant was I kind of doubt you will not be modding anymore.....

As far as CF items, I will be looking at the hoods to start due to the cost to prototype. The feedback i receive here, will determine the direction we head.

Good luck at Carlisle redmax!

DL in York

Hey if you're gonna make hoods and can make them fit really good. You might want to think about, Well I'm not sure how this is called but...
On some CF Audi hoods theres like a lip on the hood. You know our hood is just a flat CF sheet that goes across. Thier hoods are the same but they have a little lip that tucks in when you close the hood. Gives it more of a finished look.

Ok let say your looking at the car from the front it would be like :
.------------------.
Not very good description tell me if anyone understood me

Dood is on crack.

he he he

So is the lip in the front or on the sides? try to link a pic of one.

Hehehe I think its only on the side but I didn't notice the front. Let me see if I can find some pix.


K let me find one with the hood open.

Actually, I was giving this very subject some thought lately as I have to get my hood and bumper painted. I was thinking that it would be a good idea to graft one of the NACA style scoops that used to be on the old 280 ZX's right over the pop charger. It would provide cool air to the engine without having 3' of tubing pushing the filter into the fender and would be relatively discreet ( read: Not Ricey!). Any comments?

Spoke to the manufacturer on Friday and we will be meeting to determine costs to prototype and produce.

also, we will discuss 100% CF and CF plus Fiberglass. The scoop I am looking at will be a center hood scoop similar to what you see on the new Firebirds. Any other suggestions on scoop type will be appreciated.
DL

If you lighten the front of the car won't you have to worry about balance? (or am i being overly technical)

b/c of the Front engine/front drive most weight is at the front, optimal balance is 50/50 (max is close to 60/40), so the more weight you can remove from the front= better balance (i.e the G35 and Z), they achieve this through a mid mounted engine (begind front wheels) and rear drive. Improves handling more than anything (see the bmw 330i)...

I would look at
1) Fitment and companies policy on fitment (customer service)
2) Hood nozzels....I dont want to LOOSE any functionality
3) Hood strut hook ups. Same reason as #2.
4) Maybe a CAI scoop, but that is going to be opinion driven.
5) Prefer something that was built strong enough to not require hood pins
6) Stock hood latching system built in. Same reason as #2.
7) Above all service after the sale. I have seen some horror stories as of late and that would be a make or break no matter how much I like it.

I imagine this is going to be marketed at a higher dollar spending crowd. I will spend the money if the product is worth it. Engineering and customer service will set the guidelines.

Anxious to see what you will be able to come up with! And good luck!

I might be interested in this, b/c of a piece of wood hitting my hood and denting it

How many layers of carbon fiber are they going to use. and is it pure carbon fiber or is there a fiberglass core.

what!!!
when?
where?



how big is the dent??

Dave, incase you didn't know. I want a C/F hood!!! I think you should make the hood without the scoop first. If your going to make hood scoops, please don't make them look like how they have it on a civic, where they look like nostrals

dex, remember that saturn with the body colors pieces?
i have a couple c/f hood pics...

The saturn didn't look that bad. I like that hood. I'm just talking about on some civics, they made scoops, kinda like a firebird, and they look kinda like nostrals. I'm sure you gotta have a pic of a civic like that

for the hood vents, those are definitely an idea. what i had in mind was putting the serrated vents on each side near the front, like you see on the "predator" hoods. you could have dark colored mesh underneath it to make the vents not as choppy. on top of it, and obviously, have the vents so the driver's side is directly over or close to the normal cone intake filter, and you could even have a small, simple attachment you could put underneath the c/f hood to easily direct the air directly to and around the filter. that shouldn't be too bad. any other suggestions?

availability for the I30? I know that there are slight differences between out hoods. But is there a possibility for one for the 96-99 I30? I would put up cash now for it.

I think a couple of people touched bases on this, and I know this whole deal will likely NOT be for 3rd gens, but that NACA-style scoop sounds inviting. Sorta like how the Mitsu EVO VI has. As a matter of fact, that would be perfect, as anyone that has seen one could likely attest to.

But one thing I thought of, in that aspect, is shielding the filter/pop charger from the elements. Not everyone lives in sunny southern Cali.

I'm real interested in seeing how this comes along, and will be watching this one, fellas. From one Max owner to another, good luck on it!

Is it at all possible to make an intake out of carbon fiber? I am not sure how it stands up to heat etc but I think that would be pretty cool...Also the trunk lid I think is a pretty good idea, anmd various cf things would be cool...door handles etc

Molds can be made for anything. Cost to prototype is another issue.
Demand must be there for a product to get created.

Dave