Ok, so forgive me for asking first off... But I don't think I'm the only one wondering why.

Now don't get me wrong, I do understand there is a certain appeal to being different, and also 'bling'.

But why is CF bling? I see CF as a specialty material, used to strengthen & lighten certain parts, which makes sense. But I don't get how CF is now considered bling, as well as the rampant amounts of fake CF.

Why have no CF on your car except for the scoop, boot handle, or other little places, where true CF wouldn't really help?

 

It's bling because the advertisements told everyone it was... now they just believe it.

The added benefit to the industry here is that it did start out as a performance material so all the ricers out there can still try to convince themselves (and their friends) that they're buying it for performance reasons.

 

BECAUSE YOU LIKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HELLO??????? why change anything on your car??? why do we choose a color for the paint????? Are we back in Communist Russia where no freedom of choice is allowed??? Every mod speaks to the likes of the individual, for whatever reason. And yes, sometimes..just because we think it looks good!!!

Jeeesh

 

A similar question would be "Why a MINI?"

I'm an active participant in a sport which uses the term "whuffo" to describe non participants. The term derives from the non-participants asking "whuffo you do that fo'?"

In this context, a "MINI Whuffo" asks "whuffo you want to drive one of them cars?" and a "Carbon Fiber Whuffo asks "whuffo you want that carbon fiber?"

 

I think its fair to say, adding CF to your vehicle makes it one step closer to a "race car." I think it's safe to say that the majority of MINI owners are interested in speed.... Please correct me if I am wrong.

Nonetheless, CF is just sexy material, no matter how you look at it!

 

It's like any other accent piece in or on your car such as crome or even black plastic, carbon fiber trim can be used as accent just like any of those details. Some people like their black plastic trim exterior trim kept black others like it body color. I make my living from carbon fiber details for moedl cars see:
www.scalemotorsport.com

So my real car has a number of real carbon fiber trim pieces.

 

I fell in love with CF cause my brother was in school for mechanical engineering when it was developed...he was verying to racing so he kept up on that stuff....he told me about this material...lighter than plastic, ten times stronger than steel....I thought it was so kewl...didn't really know what he was talking about as I was 8 or something...heh heh....buuuut whatever the case...

on top of that I jsut love the look...it's wierd...but bling....I don't see it as bling...uuuhhh no....

 

Plz take this constructively because I think your way off base here. The majority could care less about speed. Given about 122K cars sold through June in US, how many are "enthusiasts?" Maybe 2 - 4K? More than half are MC, not MCS. Who are all those people who don't "wave". They are just people who think its a car and need cheap transportation with good gas mileage.

There is an enthusists group, but I seriously doubt its the majority.

As to CF, its bling. Take a look at the JCW CF boot handle. Its a thin veneer of a plastic body that hold the bulbs and wiring. Pure bling. IN fact, I think the "chrome" one might be lighter

 

Sorry folks but CF is butt ugly. The lightweight and strength of it are the only benefits and I'd paint over it faster than you can say CF. Not everyone likes CF but then again...that's just my opinion.

 

Because you can pay money and make your car lose weight. Much easier than sticking to healthy diet and exercise! (from a guy who no longer fits into his jeans)

 

I think Yuls expressed the point I was trying to get at a little better than I hinted at in my the first post, but I also wanted to hear everyone opinions, and not because I wanted to start a flame thread.

I understand it's a performance type material, but the cause for my question is so many non-performance applications, and that something which should be performance, is being used for 'bling'. That's the part I'm confused about.

 

Ahh, good question. I guess I could see a lighter bonnet if your into racing, Fact is, few people are relative to the market share. Maybe the JCW wing might be lighter if pure CF, if they actually use it in the JCW challenge, I'm sure its for a reason other than bling.

A good question would be to the real race car owners who do it for a living. How much of their cars is CF vice some other material?

 

Same reason as why have gold 200 spoke wheels, cars that hop, brand new rods that look like they've been in storage for 40 years. It's whatever floats your boat. What I like may not be what you like but we both have our opinions.
Jim Williams

 

No offensive taken... You make a strong point, however look how many people mod their MINIs. I think there a lot of people who may not know of the whole "cult" of the MINI.

 

CF is fine, but if you are going to use it you should have enough $ in you budget to paint it. Otherwise, it just looks rather cheap and unfinished.


Motor on.

 

Ahh, modifications can be anything. I've seen lots of dressed up MINIs, dressed up for different occasions and that follows with MINI marketing for "yoification" but thats not racing.

Its probably hard to find a MINI NOT modified in that sense. Agreed! After all, why not dress it up!

However, for example, I saw an older guy coming out of the grocery store in a MC. Totally plain MC. I smiled and gave him thumbs up. He did the same to me and I was just walking by in the lot. I'm sure he could care less about racing ... no bling at all, but he STILL looked like he loved his car!

 

you mean clear it? cuase yes that' makes a HUGE difference

 

Don't misunderstand me, I am not saying everyone wants to race... CF is a way for me to "feel" like I have a race car... Love the F1 and I cannot afford anything close to what they're producing! I love all MINIs, modded or not... I love to see how different people customize their MINI.

 

There are two types of applications, one is functional and one is non-functional.

The functional carbon fiber often replaces a standard factory part that is either grossly overweight or whose location represents an area where even the slightest weight reduction is worthwhile (sunroof panel or hood for example) or a product that is added to enhance the vehicles performance, but must be manufactured using a material that adds the least amount of weight to the vehicle and offers structural rigidity (functional splitters, wings and other mostly aerodynamic aids). If they can be seen on the car, these parts are often painted because the owner of the car has used the cf to enhance the performance of the vehicle, not to impress his mostly uneducated friends who aren't aware of the performance advantages.

The non-functional carbon fiber can be any of a number of things that often replaces a factory part or simply covers a factory part with the carbon fiber cloth. These items are usually added to the vehicle to give the illusion that it is somehow performance-oriented. Because these parts are almost always purchased for "image", they are usually left unpainted in an effort to grab attention from onlookers.

It used to bother me when I saw non-functional carbon fiber trinkets added onto cars that I would point it out, but now it's so mainstream to buy a bunch of garbage and tack it onto your car, I often just point and laugh. It's so sad that the general car-buying public actually prefers if the parts are left unpainted in OEM applications such as the wing blade and mirrors (which aren't carbon fiber, rather plastic painted to look like cf) on the Porsche GT3RS or the roof panel on the BMW M3 CSL or the vents on the sides of the rear engine glass on the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale.

Just my $.02, YMMV :smile:

 

Oh yeah, agreed. I seen some people who change with the seasons! That takes a lot of energy and thought

 

I'm with ZAMIRZ on this one. CF all came out of racing and since every kid with a five year old Civic wants his car to look like a race car CF has found a large market. Its obviously left unpainted so everyome KNOWS your little grocery getter is really a rally car.

Its "bling" because its expensive, unecessary, rare (used to be) and highly conspicuous (unpainted).

 

because CF is a guy thing. If you're a guy and don't like CF, then there's something seriously wrong with you.

It's like asking your wives and girlfriends (and some boyfriends?), why
do you put diamonds on places where it has no functional benefit?
diamonds should be on a drill or lathe bit. they should make wedding
bands out of CF.`

 

or on a cutting or grinding wheel for that matter!


i dont understand the problem here.

why is it such a big deal to have CF on your car where it isnt functional? it looks cool, i love the look of CF. i would like to have alot of CF, but i cant afford much. why is it a bad thing to have CF where it isnt functional? i just dont understand some people view on such a simple thing.....

 

Don't worry - pretty soon we'll all see carbon fiber stick on hubcaps at Wal-Mart (with optional spinners) and then it'll be mainstreamed, along with white/clear tail lights


I don't happen to like the look of it myself, in most applications - such as JUST a hood, or as a stick on interior dress. But to each thier own for style. I just wish it was more mass produced so main panels could be CF to begin with for performance/fuel ecconomy purposes.

 

MINI2 is reporting a lot more JCW internal and external bits coming this way in CF, to include, get this

A CF steering wheel!