Carbon Fiber parts...

Have you calculated how much weight you'd lose with a carbon fibre hood? The aluminium one is already pretty light.

 

As a matter of curiosity, what use are you intending with the lightened Prius?

 

I don't know man, the prius hood looks like it's been engineered to crumple in a frontal collision. Depending on your use of the vehicle this may not matter but I sure wouldn't want that carbon fiber hood coming thru the windshield in an accident.

 

Your aluminum hood is not likely to go through your windshield.

 

i know the prius you have needs body work.. which makes this perfect..

but.. how about starting at the wheels? get some lighter wheels. after that, make sure the 12v is charged. hook up a solar charger is possible. i've seen a lot of cases where a dead 12v fights the car to stay charged and a charged 12v works wonders.

the rear seat doesn't weigh much.. i'm sure if you strip out everything, seat, rear plastics, passenger seat, door panels, spare tire, hatch plastic, etc.. you might see some difference in mpg.


if you strip it all down and do some test.. please post. i'm curious.

 

Sorry, I can't answer these questions. I thought you would know, because you're considering the swap, and I was curious. The stock hood is already pretty light, and doesn't appear substantial enough to make it through the windshield, if that's your concern. For what you'd spend to replace it, you could buy a fair amount of gas on your continental circumnavigation. But that's just me. Still, I'd be interested in hearing what you discover. And in pictures, both of the car and the tour.

 

It is a little scarry that you can dill various size of holes all though the body and still pass NY inspection.

How about if after you reomve all the interior panels in the back area, you fit it with a clear plastic baloon type liner, evacuate the air and replace with helium?

But you also need to be concerned about it blowing off the road if you encounter wind gusts.

 

Why not get a car body kit, build it from scratch and install the Prius drive train?


1) easy to add aerodynamic and weight saving materials during the build
2) totally unique vehicle
3) only as much mass as is needed to be street legal

Trying to modify an existing vehicle, my first step would be to strip it to bare metal. Then cut out any metal than can be taken out. Use fiber filler plates and covers for the holes. And you're still stuck with a tall Prius with good but not excellent aerodynamics and three to four extra seats.

Now if you really want to go radical, get a shell with a 'large trunk' and after the front wheel drive is debugged, put in a second Prius engine and drive train in the rear. Couple the front and rear steering and then go visit some street racer hangouts. <grins> Get real good at forced charging.



Bob Wilson

 

There's radical, and then there's radical. I'd go visit that guy who built the limo and start with a complete body shell. Then scout around for a compact V8 and see how that fits in the back, add a complete roll cage...call it an update on the "Hemi under glass" theme.

 

This is the kind of thread i'd like to see more of. A hot rodded Prius stripped to its essentials and modified for max performance? (performance read "efficiency") Its natural for an American to demand the most speed from a sports car, capacity from a truck, traction from a 4wd, i'm surprised there isnt a bigger contingent of Prius folks seeing what can be gained beyond driving technique.

As for the hood, I for one haven't seen an off the shelf option, so you may have to go custom, or stick to the stock one.

For now, drool over a full carbon fiber Mitsu Evo as inspiration:
HKS USA HKS Beats Own Track Record with Carbon Fiber HKS EVO TRB-02

 

Bob, you can't be serious?
With a Cd of 0.26 the Prius is the lowest drag 4 door sedan on the market and among the lowest drag vehicles in production, in my book I say that is excelent.

 

The drag force is the coefficient of drag times the profile area and air density. The excellent shape of the Prius allows the inside to be a little larger with good interior space yet still get good mileage on the highway. So start the design with just the engine and transaxle and wheels on a frame:


So the passenger compartment goes in front of the engine and fix the drive wheels to always point forward. The driver and navigator sit on the battery with a little bit of padding and just high enough for a rear view over the top of the engine. The fuel tank is the seat back. The drive wheels and tires are over sized with the narrowest tread and maximum inflation pressure. If the CG is too far back, put the battery over the front wheels.

Structurally the frame is carbon fiber over cell beams. Hot-wire formed foam is covered with fiberglass for the shell. The total body weight, not counting the engine and transaxle, should be about 500-700 pounds.

See, why fiddle around with a perfectly fine, general purpose Prius body and trim off a pound here or there when you start with a clean sheet and make an ultimate cross-country efficiency car. For good measure, size the tank for a non-stop, coast-to-coast run and install a toss-over steering wheel and redundant brake pedal so the navigator can drive while the pilot naps. . . . Unless you're out to make a 'funny' Prius.

Bob Wilson

 

kit car prius
thats going to be a first

really wanna see some pics when you starting the carbon modifications