Automotive

Lamborghini first auto manufacturer to use carbon fiber in passenger cars - I recently came across again the statement that Lamborghini was the first marque to use carbon fiber in a production street passenger car; in this case, the front bumper of the Lamborghini Countach QV was identified as the specific part.  I do know that the Diablo, back in the early - mid 1990's used a carbon fiber engine compartment, and in fact Horacio Pagani was in charge of the composites and carbon fiber department at Lamborghini before striking out on his own to specialize in advanced composites, which evolved into the highly regarded Pagani car company.

Any anoraks out there that might confirm or dispute this "first use" claim, hopefully with specifics if this claim is incorrect? I am familiar with the British MOD role in the early development of carbon fiber, and that Rolls Royce was one of a few original licensees of the new materials technology, though only in aero applications. Anecdotally I've heard the disasterous early foray into commercial applications for carbon fiber was one of the reasons for Rolls Royce' financial troubles in the 1970's which culminated in Rolls Royce and Bentley being sold to German automotive conglomerates (BMW and VW, respectively)  To my knowledge, there were no automotive applications in those early days, and I can't think of any examples that predate the Lamborghini claim to first use in production.

Regardless of historical first use trivia, Automobili Lamborghini certainly was a pioneer in the use of composites and maintains their leading edge pioneering status in the field to this day, co-founding and sponsoring the Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory (ACSL) research center on carbon fiber and advanced composites at the University of Washington in Seattle (think Boeing...)

Advances and new materials which are finding their way into commercial applications include CarbonSkin, made with flexible resins which will allow it to replace leather trim in the passenger compartment as well as making complete personal goods such as handbags and softsided luggage. CarbonSkin mini-skirts, anyone?  Supposedly, CarbonSkin is thinner and tougher in the same applications than cowhide or alcantara, with weight savings of up to 50%.  When I visited the Lamborghini factory in St'Agata earlier this year, I was able to handle the material and did see some sport seats upholstered in the material, if I remember correctly, though they might have been for static display purposes only.

The Aventador J, shown in Geneva in 2012, used seats that had a forged carbon shell with CarbonSkin upholstery - see below. (aside - I was surprised to learn who makes the seats for Lamborghini...) From a pure haptics standpoint, I think I still prefer fine leathers at this point...

CarbonSkin was first used in the Aventador J -

note the forged carbon sheel of the seats...looks very similar to the carbon forge used by Audemars Piguet...

Other breakthroughs include the development of thermoset resins  that can accept friction welded fastening tabs; improving production processes and bulk materials for both pre-preg (vs individual hand laying) and injection molding; and "forged carbon" as noted above which can result in extremely fine surface details as well as ultra high quality paintable surfaces (aside: Audemars Piguet, supposedly inspired by the boating industry, with technology developed at Swiss research institutes, has used the "forged carbon" process in fine watchmaking - 

 Lamborghini's forged carbon process was developed with Callaway Golf, interestingly...

On the matter of CF repairs (this issue comes up with regularity in the Audemars Piguet forum) I was told by McLaren when I visited their MPC and MTC last year, that it is possible to repair their CF monocoque tubs used in the 12C. Both BMW and Lamborghini are committing major resources to a CF and composites repair program that is field implementable so major structures don' t have to be returned to the manufacturer for repair.  To be clear, though, I am still awaiting clarification on the distinction between re-FINISHING and repair...

Cheers,

TM

ps: it is interesting to see that Porsche, in their 918, uses forged carbon fiber mounts for suspension and powertrain mounting points to the carbon fiber monocoque. Previously, the leading state of the art was to use aluminum (previously steel) inserts into the CF tub for the mounting plates. This used to be strictly Formula 1 and LeMans racing technology...

The trim in my M3 is carbon fiber but I don't know if it's real carbon fiber or if it's just a leather stamped carbon fiber design.  Do you know which it is?  It feels like leather though.

- Anthony

 

be surprised if the upholstery in your M3 were CF.

Any good pics? I'm guessing it's leather or other fabric with embossed "weave" pattern.

TM

This carbon fiber trim is only on the front dashboard and not on the door sides.  It feels like leather w/ a carbon fiber stamped weave when you touch it but I'm not 100% sure what it is.