Carbon Monocoque
Discussion
There have been a few grp monocoque's so that would be an easy start point for carbon.
The issue with carbon is wet lay up is same process as grp so the barriers to entry are low, pre peg and autoclave the barriers to entry are very high.
I have seen a few 1 of special with carbon bodies or honeycomb panel construction, and most of the formula student type cars have composite monocoques.
The issue with carbon is wet lay up is same process as grp so the barriers to entry are low, pre peg and autoclave the barriers to entry are very high.
I have seen a few 1 of special with carbon bodies or honeycomb panel construction, and most of the formula student type cars have composite monocoques.
I've remade made my entire body in vac formed carbon including the tub (made moulds) so I know a fair bit about doing this at a reasonable DIY level and cost... and I wouldn't recommend attempting a carbon tub or buying one.... to make a lightweight, ridged and structurally strong component that is also able to take shock loads etc is not something to be attempted without a huge amount of proper cad analysis etc.
IMO a properly designed and built structural carbon Monocoque will quite reasonably be £30-50k (unless its a commissioned 1 off when it would be more)... then the rest of the carbon body would be relatively cheap as its not structural and thus can be thrown together without any design, so add in £10-15k for that.
Bonding a few sheets of carbon to a steel frame is a different story and easy peasy in comparison.
IMO a properly designed and built structural carbon Monocoque will quite reasonably be £30-50k (unless its a commissioned 1 off when it would be more)... then the rest of the carbon body would be relatively cheap as its not structural and thus can be thrown together without any design, so add in £10-15k for that.
Bonding a few sheets of carbon to a steel frame is a different story and easy peasy in comparison.
Andy
The thing that prompted the thread was watching a Discovery program on the KTM Xbow.
It looked like a small run production line, but it is easy to forget they are big in bikes, so not a small company.
McLaren have managed to reduce the production time for their carbon chassis to about 4 hours (I am sure there are thousands of CAD and CNC hours though) and there is no doubt the technology will trickle down eventually to the kit car market. Probably a good few years away yet.
With increasingly stringent emission regulations along with crash, recycling, etc., etc. requirement I think the challenges facing the self build industry are considerable going forward.
The moral is, if you wish to build your own car - do it now, before it is too late.
Paul
The thing that prompted the thread was watching a Discovery program on the KTM Xbow.
It looked like a small run production line, but it is easy to forget they are big in bikes, so not a small company.
McLaren have managed to reduce the production time for their carbon chassis to about 4 hours (I am sure there are thousands of CAD and CNC hours though) and there is no doubt the technology will trickle down eventually to the kit car market. Probably a good few years away yet.
With increasingly stringent emission regulations along with crash, recycling, etc., etc. requirement I think the challenges facing the self build industry are considerable going forward.
The moral is, if you wish to build your own car - do it now, before it is too late.
Paul
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