Quote:
Originally Posted by Number 3
The C5 and C6 Corvettes are all composites bonded to the steel/aluminum hydroform rails. No problems at all in crashworthiness or durability. I worked on both the steel and aluminum frames and most of the parts bonded to them. No issues what so ever.
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You assume that I believe that "composites" are 100% carbon fiber, which they are not.
The original Saturns and 4th Gen F-Bodies, as well as a few GM Minivans were made of "composite" body panels, which is a generic term that doesn't mean "carbon fiber".
As I said above, carbon fiber is a great lightweight and strong material, but it is very brittle and is prone to damage and failure from fatigue, etc. This is well documented in the field of aircraft design. It also costs a LOT more to produce than metal alloys. For the most part it doesn't pay for itself in weight savings and the manufacturing process for the material has a rather beefy "carbon footprint". Once everyone is fully committed to building cars with it, someone will figure out that it must be helping kill polar bears and we'll be back to square 1 with some even more expensive process making cars even more unobtainable.