# CF or light PU fibre composite - Mk1 guys...let's decide together!



## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

ok audi tt guys.. 
If u notice the Mk1 bonnet (Hood) though s made up of aluminium - is still heavy..compare it with the Mk2 aluminium bonnet (which is much lighter so it must be made up of another type of lighter aluminium composite). So if you have a choice of reducing this front weight by getting a lighter alternative - what would you do?

Choice 1 - Wet Carbon Fibre (CF) Bonnet/Hood
Very nice CF weave. But the frame and structure is typically Fibre Glass with wet carbon fibre wrapped all around it.
But let's face it, as some of you know, some brands of Wet Carbon bonnet is about the same or same WEIGHT as the alumium bonnet we all have on our car (I cant name the brand here as it's not professional)...I have read a few posts on it here. It's looks great but other than the CF looks, there is not much weight reduction. 
But then, I wouldnt leave the CF raw either - I would most probably paint over it completely - dont like the raw CF look.
Let's say this wet carbon fibre product is X amount of dollars
Choice 2: - Lightweight PFRP composite Bonnet/ Hood
Material is lightweight and flexible - but of course not so sexy as a wet CF..but it is for guys like me who will completely paint over the bonnet entirely.
but it will defintely remove the weight off the front..another car had this composite and the weight was more than half of the OEM bonnet..it was a race car.
Let's say this wet carbon fibre product is X divided by half amount of dollars..compared to Wet CF bonnet

Some things you need to know about this PFRP composite - it is not fibreglass so it doesnt crack easily .. and it is flexible..
but one must still have the habit of NOT slamming the bonnet just in case (same as wet carbon fibre as it is a fibre glass frame and fibre glass is brittle..) ..but I think the PFRP is stronger as the racecar I mentioned above is really roughly handled..saw the bonnet slammed a couple of times - but still no cracks..
SO what u guys think?
Spend more money on looks - but no function
or less for the performance potential? but doesnt sound or look as sexy

And hood pins are optional of course..our bonnets are so large that any material is going to be quite heavy (even when halfed by the lightweight PFRP composite) so we might not need the pins..

BTW..
And Dry CF found on F1 cars, which is the best cause it is truly light - is so expensive (more than 5K for such a large piece) so out of budget of anyone here who would most probably spend it on a BT setup or ported engine..
thanks guys!!
_Modified by robingohtt at 1:00 PM 7-15-2008_

_Modified by robingohtt at 1:01 PM 7-15-2008_


_Modified by robingohtt at 7:47 PM 7-15-2008_


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## scoTT la rock (Jun 17, 2007)

hate to be the guy that says the negative stuff, but the difference here seems to only be a few pounds at best.
for that, i'd rather skip the big macs for a few weeks and lose a few pounds myself rather than mess up my TT with rigged parts. seems like a total waste of money to do anything in this direction. sorry!


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## cdougyfresh (Sep 16, 2004)

*Re: (scoTT la rock)*

WTF is a bonnett?!


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## thenamescolby (Apr 18, 2007)

*Re: (cdougyfresh)*

LMAO...

it's a hood.

and a boot is a trunk.
it's UK speek!


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## cdougyfresh (Sep 16, 2004)

*Re: (thenamescolby)*

Bonnett = hood? thats kinda gay


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## l88m22vette (Mar 2, 2006)

*Re: (cdougyfresh)*

Getting a new hood is a waste of money, for $600+ I'd rather get a tune, or suspension, or a carputer, or...
Edit: Thinking about it, you can buy a $130 lightweight battery, and remove 25-30lbs. The rear seatbacks are 45lbs




_Modified by l88m22vette at 6:28 PM 7-15-2008_


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (l88m22vette)*

done for the batt...relocated the bat to the back. I dont have rear seats
the savings from a light composite hood are greater!
and even the rear boot is also somewhat substantial..
total savings for hood in lightweight PFRP composite are estimated at 10 - 15kg (our front bonnet is pretty large - name me another car that is that big in one piece for the hood...I can only think of the new mini cooper and that is still smaller)
total savings for rear boot in lightweight PFRP composite are estimated at 6 - 7kg for roadster... 15kg for coupe as that is much larger and that is steel for the rear with windows
11kg to 22kg together for roadster..
25kg to 30kg for the coupe



_Modified by robingohtt at 8:13 PM 7-15-2008_


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (cdougyfresh)*

bonnet does not equal to what the little gals (like Melissa Gilbert, daughter of Michael Landon) wear on their heads in "Little House on the Prairie 

it's a hood - edited on top...hahha


















_Modified by robingohtt at 8:07 PM 7-15-2008_


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## l88m22vette (Mar 2, 2006)

*Re: (robingohtt)*

If you really want to make something TTers would buy, build a CF hatch and a Lexan rear window, and sell them together OR separate (hate when you can't get parts). The hatch weighs a ton, and that would also really help the center of gravity. Lower is better, not that you ever hear that on this board







Too bad you can't spacer the center of gravity


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (l88m22vette)*

that's true about the rear hatch hood - I would do it but later.
1) I have a roadster now - my brother-in-law's coupe crashed when he was drinking under the influence 
2) priority is reducing weight in the front 
with a lightweight battery relocated to the back and the lightweight hood - it will help the car handle better - for both FWD and Quattro, Coupe and Roadster, 1.8T and 3.2..so there is a bigger market out there to tap first..
then developing a bolt-on front Lexan windows kit for all Audi TT variants
then I will go for the rear parts - rear boot for roadster and coupe (with Lexan windows)
Reducing the weight from front to back is the best way.
then I intend on making a good roof for the coupe ..

like I said - the coupe stated for this project crashing out was a bumper was me..



_Modified by robingohtt at 7:18 AM 7-16-2008_


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## cdoug3 (May 29, 2007)

*Re: (robingohtt)*

I would be up for an aftermarket hood that offered ventilation (flame on everyone) as long as it offered vents in a tasteful manner, I don't want the ***** look but I would like to try to keep things as cool as possible under the hood.


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## Neb (Jan 25, 2005)

*Re: (cdoug3)*

a CF hatch would be sick. I'd be down for one of those


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (cdoug3)*

the one I am developing does have vents..


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## outinfront (Oct 30, 2007)

*Re: (robingohtt)*

Well where in the hell can you find the lightweight stuff? There's a VIS cf hood, but I think it's that wet shiz.


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## cdoug3 (May 29, 2007)

*Re: (robingohtt)*


_Quote, originally posted by *robingohtt* »_the one I am developing does have vents..

In that case I will be watching this very closely http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## Audiguy84 (Nov 14, 2006)

*Re: (cdoug3)*


_Quote, originally posted by *cdoug3* »_I would be up for an aftermarket hood that offered ventilation (flame on everyone) as long as it offered vents in a tasteful manner, I don't want the ***** look but I would like to try to keep things as cool as possible under the hood.

NOOOO WE NEED A VENTED HOOD. our hoods are like huge heat trap.. I mean look at the sides are on the fenders.. And trust me living in AZ I can't even touch the air filter b/c it gets to hot... WE really need a vented hood http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

yep..it will be vented definitely..once the heat rises above the engine block - it should get vented out immediately!! 
that is how the design will be... not just some useless slots
pixs below


_Modified by robingohtt at 7:59 AM 9-6-2008_


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

_Modified by robingohtt at 9:09 AM 9-6-2008_


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## Murderface (Nov 13, 2006)

*Re: (robingohtt)*

So are you with the guys that made the ultra-wide body kit?

_Quote »_ when he was drinking under the influence 

Drinking under the influence of alcohol...sounds good to me


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

yes..
And the hood is unversal for all Mk1 Aud TTs


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## Krissrock (Sep 10, 2005)

*Re: (robingohtt)*

what's your website again?
you should put it in your sig


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

thanks, Krissrock...did it..website is not ready as most of the professional pixs were taken for mags..have to wait for the mags to run the features before we release our website
will post more pixs of interior and exterior of hood when it is completely done..in this forum first


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## 1.8Tabamoura (Jul 29, 2005)

to be hones your design looks really bad, you should follow the hood lines and not make extra ones and I think the only vent that would look nice on the TT had to be inwards kinda like this one with or without the side vents .
can you make something like this ?


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (1.8Tabamoura)*

looks are subjective. I respect that u hate it.
We did look at this sort of BMW hood before like in yr pix..but on the Audi tt, we felt it wouldnt do anything usefull - the BMW engine is different. 
This hood that we made has 2 designated functions:
1) reduce weight
2) Release engine built-up heat
Hence:
The centre vent has to be near the back, just above the block, so that heat can actually be released after it rises to the surface beneath the hood. We know this works as while we were testing it for 8 months, we noticed that the engine heat (like boiling steam) was fogging the windscreen..during idle and on the track.
Because of this, we will be making 2 bolt-on discs to cover the vents inside the interior (after u remove the 2 grill-looking snap-on pieces...install the discs,,put back the 2 grill-looking snap on pieces)
and ask customers to switch the AC to not blow on the front windscreen.
If the vents were too near the front, then a couple of things can happen:
1) Heat is still trapped within the engine, then the hood would lose half it's purpose.
2) Water from rain would flow into your fuel rail, AC compressor, electrical parts in fron of our car = NOT GOOD. 
With the vents near the back
1) Heat is released as it rises from the block, valve cover and upwards into the centre vent slot
2) Rain just drips into the valve covers and the heat evaporates the water.
We also tried cutting parallel slots like in the BMW pix.
No heat could be seen been released as effectively as the design
see here.
I am sure the BMW would look nice to some = it does to me, frankly...
but if I were building an Stage 3 BT audi TT, I would want this hood to work really well--------> remove increased heat 
(or what is the point? For looks only? the OEM hood looks best..







)
another thing that u mentioned was the open vent flowing inwards..
well we tried..our strut bar would be hit by the lip of the wind-flow guide - so it had to be raised slightly
And we did want the air vents to be wider so as to not create new lines and flow with the 2 straight lines on the OEM hood..but too wide and rain water could potentially flow into the electricals ...the vent is parrallel to the engine block width = water flow on-top of the 
valve cover, it evaporates - so the amount of flowing water into the engine bay is limited.

_Modified by robingohtt at 12:58 PM 9-6-2008_


_Modified by robingohtt at 1:00 PM 9-6-2008_


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## stjacket (Apr 26, 2007)

*Re: (robingohtt)*

go with the lexan, cf is expensive, the other stuff won't hold up like lexan, trust me on this one, i did it with my roof







and it is bullet proof with some mods







. i had a golf ball chipped onto my lexan roof smack dead center and it just bounced off with no cracks chips or anything. got to love that stuff, and your headlights are made of it btw.


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (stjacket)*

for the material for the hood?? 
How does it hold up to heat?
the material for this is lightweight composite - the whole car kit is made of it as well..
We dont know how to mould lexan - not our expertise..
but we plan to use lexan for the front windscreen and rear windows for our build


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## stjacket (Apr 26, 2007)

*Re: (robingohtt)*

its easy, very, very easy, and holds up to the heat very very well, pm me.


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## 1.8Tabamoura (Jul 29, 2005)

*Re: (robingohtt)*


_Quote, originally posted by *robingohtt* »_looks are subjective. I respect that u hate it.
We did look at this sort of BMW hood before like in yr pix..but on the Audi tt, we felt it wouldnt do anything usefull - the BMW engine is different. 
This hood that we made has 2 designated functions:
1) reduce weight
2) Release engine built-up heat
Hence:
The centre vent has to be near the back, just above the block, so that heat can actually be released after it rises to the surface beneath the hood. We know this works as while we were testing it for 8 months, we noticed that the engine heat (like boiling steam) was fogging the windscreen..during idle and on the track.
Because of this, we will be making 2 bolt-on discs to cover the vents inside the interior (after u remove the 2 grill-looking snap-on pieces...install the discs,,put back the 2 grill-looking snap on pieces)
and ask customers to switch the AC to not blow on the front windscreen.
If the vents were too near the front, then a couple of things can happen:
1) Heat is still trapped within the engine, then the hood would lose half it's purpose.
2) Water from rain would flow into your fuel rail, AC compressor, electrical parts in fron of our car = NOT GOOD. 
With the vents near the back
1) Heat is released as it rises from the block, valve cover and upwards into the centre vent slot
2) Rain just drips into the valve covers and the heat evaporates the water.
We also tried cutting parallel slots like in the BMW pix.
No heat could be seen been released as effectively as the design
see here.
I am sure the BMW would look nice to some = it does to me, frankly...
but if I were building an Stage 3 BT audi TT, I would want this hood to work really well--------> remove increased heat 
(or what is the point? For looks only? the OEM hood looks best..







)
another thing that u mentioned was the open vent flowing inwards..
well we tried..our strut bar would be hit by the lip of the wind-flow guide - so it had to be raised slightly
And we did want the air vents to be wider so as to not create new lines and flow with the 2 straight lines on the OEM hood..but too wide and rain water could potentially flow into the electricals ...the vent is parrallel to the engine block width = water flow on-top of the 
valve cover, it evaporates - so the amount of flowing water into the engine bay is limited.

_Modified by robingohtt at 12:58 PM 9-6-2008_

_Modified by robingohtt at 1:00 PM 9-6-2008_

I gave the bmw hood as example of the opening inwards , it does not have to be exactly like that , the opening can be farther back on top of the turbo. which is the part that generate more heat in the bay.
Or you could follow the hood lines and make the scoop pretty much disapear when seen from the front. 
If you are only making it for your car its fine, but if you are asking our opinion I think it looks horrible, I see a lot of TTs with big turbos running 400+ HP out of the 1.8T engine and nobody has a hood opening . GoTTzila does not have a hood scoop for that matter, so if you want to sell the carbon fiber hood with the opening , why not make it look nice and be functional and not only functional? I bet you will sell a lot more. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

The clubracers have the same idea - and they dont have 400hp either


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## Krissrock (Sep 10, 2005)

have you seen the SGI hood? it has vents in the front of the hood, back and the side...I love it. Plus, you can customize the hood and get only the vents that you want. Why not do it like that? The only reason I don't have the hood yet is because it will cost almost 1600 to get it imported....


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## 1.8Tabamoura (Jul 29, 2005)

humm . for some reason I was expecting a little something special under the hood.




















_Modified by 1.8Tabamoura at 7:52 PM 9-7-2008_


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

old pix - 1 year old..mostly bone stock then..








because the entire list isnt in yet..in fact the entire list in my nick is in boxes.







1 third from BobQ and the rest from Dan 034motosport, Brahn Brenner, Forgemotorsport and JEGS
once the remaining turbo is in..








go ask
































BT survey & thread here
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3888151
_Modified by robingohtt at 7:12 AM 9-8-2008_


_Modified by robingohtt at 7:19 AM 9-8-2008_


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## Krissrock (Sep 10, 2005)

*Re: (robingohtt)*

i thought we were talking hoods...








Not the best pic, but you can see the vents. As I said , you can get any combo of vents you want..you don't have to get all. Robintt, say you of these vents? Functional at all?


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (Krissrock)*

that SGI hood is functional all right.....I havent seen that pix for years!....I never saw anyone in this forum with this hood though...on the other end that SGI rear wing "tongue" is famous though








saw it on the cover of eurotuner - that purple Audi tt
those slot holes at near the windscreen are good..but not the ones at the side of the bonnet near the door (that's just design or weight savings)
the ones near the front are suppose to be for downforce. but we didnt need it for us as we have a deep front air dam and front lip..
on stock...might have have much downforce either..
the in fact we have some one who wanted to do this to our hood (see below...rough drawing) after he collects it...same idea..a bit extra - cooling for the engine AND the turbo http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif ..same at the SGI hood..
maybe I will too...it's just a matter of drilling holes on the composite material,,











_Modified by robingohtt at 8:10 AM 9-8-2008_


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## DurTTy (Aug 14, 2007)

non of those pictures work for me :S 
cf hood that would be painted soungs like a great idea







where are you located anyways?


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## robingohtt (Nov 6, 2005)

*Re: (DurTTy)*

in singapore
durtty..yr email that u sent u me
[email protected]@hotmail.com
dont work..cheers


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## DurTTy (Aug 14, 2007)

*Re: (robingohtt)*

lol its [email protected]


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## BeasTToftheEast (Sep 20, 2007)

i have the sgi hood, ill try posting some pics soon, right now it doesnt match my car though


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## Krissrock (Sep 10, 2005)

*Re: (TTguy30)*

how much that run you?


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## BeasTToftheEast (Sep 20, 2007)

well i bought it used from a guy in cape coral, florida, but i had trouble seeing how much sgi would charge for it since the site was in german


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## Krissrock (Sep 10, 2005)

*Re: (TTguy30)*

lets' see some pics dude...i'm considering this hood if Robin doesn't come out with something soon ;-) 
yeah, I emailed them and hood was like 1200 and of course shipping was gonna be high. I can't remember the exact price, but i remember it was gonna be a total of around 1600. What is it made of?


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## BeasTToftheEast (Sep 20, 2007)

dual layered fiberglass so its really light and actually not that weak, but it will bow after time though, thats the only drawback in my opinion


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## Krissrock (Sep 10, 2005)

....pics ?


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## BeasTToftheEast (Sep 20, 2007)

there was a post a while ago ill see if i can find it and ill make a post to make it more current


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## BeasTToftheEast (Sep 20, 2007)

ok just bumped it on the classifieds so if u check it soon it says tt custom hood


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## Krissrock (Sep 10, 2005)

*Re: (TTguy30)*

i'll be got darn if that dude wasn't in PA too!! 
Looks good, was it the pic or is the hood a little wavy? and how's the fit to the front of your car? didn't seem like it was meeting up too well on that car in the pic

so Robin, what' the word on your hood?


_Modified by Krissrock at 10:32 AM 9/18/2008_


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## amek0n3 (Sep 3, 2005)

what about somthing like this??


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## l88m22vette (Mar 2, 2006)

*Re: (amek0n3)*

How about a small NACA on the driver's side for a cold air feed for the airbox? That scoop looks like it came off the Shuttle...


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