Carbon painted Lamborghini?

If I recall correctly the Murcielago GTR is unpainted CF.

EDIT: found photo...

http://www.celebritymotorsports.com/images/Classifieds.jpg

 

Does not unpainted CF degrade when exposed to sun light? It seems to on motorcycles.

 

Wasn't there an all CF Countach in Road & Track a few years back? I think I've read stories of Horacio Pagani being at Lamborghini at that time and got a lot of his expertise with CF from that project.

 

When unprotected, it does turn a yellowish color. You can put a UV protectant on it and it will stay the same (this is what they do for aftermarket rear decklids and hoods).

 

Any carbon fibre worth a dime these days is made with resin already containing UV protection. They carbon fibre last about 7 years in Miami type sun conditions without yellowing, after that, its a crap shoot.

 

Would that be Banana Boat or Hawaiin Tropic ?

 

How much weight does it save? Few pounds?

 

The carbon fiber fairings on my 748 saved a few pounds and if you replace the tank and every thing I think it is in the neighborhood of a 20 pound reduction. The stuff is just plain light.

 

It depends on what you're replacing. If you're replacing aluminum body panels, you won't be that amazed with the savings. If it's steel, you'll save a lot. Changing out glass for plexi saves a lot of weight, too.

 

I saw an episode of Motorsports Mondial on Speedvision years ago that had a bare carbon fiber Diablo. Looked pretty good actually...

-R

 

Sorry, what I meant was not painting it. What would the paint and clear coats weigh?

 

I've always seen CF clear coated even if it's not going to get painted. Paint can weigh a lot depending on the layers. I can only guess you'll probably save something like 30-40 lbs (depends on size of car and coats).

It's better to reduce any weight that has rotational inertia (unsprung weight) like pulleys, wheels, tires, brakes (CF, smaller diameter), clutches/flywheels, drive shafts, etc.