Performance Car Reviews, News and Parts for the Car Enthusiast

Most car owners at least tinker with the idea of modifying their car in some way or another. Often these thoughts of modification might lead even beyond performance auto parts and to the idea of using a body kit to radically alter the way that their car looks.

For anyone looking to trick out their car in a big way, it’s hard not to consider carbon fiber parts and carbon fiber body kits. If you have done any research into body kits for your ride, then you are probably aware of how many of them use carbon fiber. What you might not be aware of is how amazing this wonder fabric is. It is widely used in modern manufacturing, engineering and design.

Believe it or not, carbon fiber has been around since the late 1950s. Yet, it has only been in the last couple of decades that the stuff has really started to come into its own. Manufacturing of carbon fiber has picked up in recent years. This has lead to the wonder material being used in everything from spacecraft design (that’s right spacecraft design!) to formula one racing cars. But why is carbon fiber so loved?

Carbon fiber is such a darling in the manufacturing world because it is lightweight, very flexible and as tough as the hatred of a mother-in-law. In fact, carbon fiber has an atomic structure that is similar to another impressive substance, graphite. Graphite has been used in wide scale manufacturing for generations. Carbon fiber can be bent into all sorts of cool shapes, yet comparatively it weighs very little and is just plain tough.

With carbon fiber, automakers and body kit manufacturers have a material that lets them produce lightweight parts that are durable, strong and impressively flexible. This, of course, allows them to produce cars that are lighter and more fuel-efficient. Now when you are thinking about modifying your car or truck, it’s always a good idea to consider how much weight you are adding. The good news with carbon fiber is that this wonder material allows you to get the look you want without adding much weight. That makes carbon fiber a true winner.

Kenny Jursen is a Chicago native who is a serious car junkie. You can expect to find Johnson either under the hood or with a car magazine in one hand and a coffee, straight up and black, in the other. After decades of working in car and body shops and working on cars and performance auto parts, Johnson is writing about what he loves the most, cars.