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Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

blog.caranddriver.com

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Re: Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

#61

Post by wallace_f »

conistonwater wrote: post #6
arcanus wrote: post #2

Has Lamborghini ever made a car that had actual technical merit as a racecar? I'm general, supercars are vastly overpriced for what you get. You can easily crush most for a fraction of the price with a dedicated track car. But simultaneously, no supercars are remotely practical on the road, and in fact are not even fun to drive on the street because of speed limits. Some supercars have been a good investment, such as…

If you're a company making Veblen goods, the last thing you want is to make something that's worth all that money. Then it's not a Veblen good any more!

If you're after performance, a shifter cart, well... especially a super kart will beat 99% of anything Ferrari and Lamborghini have produced, on almost any track. Superkarts even hold the outright lap records on some tracks, over F1 cars even.

Shifter carts are reasonably cheap and they're a hell of a lot of fun and adrenaline. If you truly like racing, that's where a lot of the F1 guys start their careers. Not the safest thing in the world, though. Spec Miata is way more tame, relaxed and safer.

Re: Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

#63

Post by geon »

From wikipedia about forging:

> As the metal is shaped during the forging process, its internal grain deforms to follow the general shape of the part. As a result, the grain is continuous throughout the part, giving rise to a piece with improved strength characteristics

This process seems to be just casting. Why do they call it forging?

Re: Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

#64

Post by fsloth »

criddell wrote: post #16
arcanus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got a Honda cbr600, love it. But a top Ducati sport bike costs 40k, not 400k.

When you are very rich, the difference between $400k and $40k isn't noticeable.

Is this from experience? Most wealthy people I know are also the most cost sensitive.

Re: Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

#65

Post by Neil44 »

geon wrote: post #63

From wikipedia about forging: > As the metal is shaped during the forging process, its internal grain deforms to follow the general shape of the part. As a result, the grain is continuous throughout the part, giving rise to a piece with improved strength characteristics This process seems to be just casting. Why do they call it forging?

It seems they call it that because of the goal to use this process to replace forged metal parts. I agree though it seems misleading.

Re: Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

#66

Post by astrodust »

cpursley wrote: post #18
joshu wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern modern ones are a bit cramped but are as practical as any other sports car (that is, not particularly.) There is a Lamborghini series (super trofeo) but not much beyond that. I rarely even see them at track days. Quattro drive (or whatever it is called now) is not really awesome for road racing. It causes too much understeer. That said, I heard the Huracan is much better than previous cars. (I own and have tra…

What's funny about supercars is you rarely see them on the track. It's the folks out there with their spec Miatas having all the fun. I've passed more 100k+ Vipers, M5s and Ferraris on track day in a first-gen 130bhp Miata than I can remember. Working on a Chump car ( http://www.chumpcar.com/ ) build with my brothers now. I've met people racing in that series who've owned every supercar imaginable. But when it's a be…

If you take your car on the track there's a very high probability it will get seriously fucked up. Unless you're cruising around casually you're going to be taking chances, and when you take chances you'll eventually go off the road, grind into something, or worse.

Fixing your Porsche is expensive. Fixing your Ferrari is stupidly expensive.

If you want to have fun on the track take out a car you can afford to wreck. A Porsche with a track setup you can really let loose on is going to be way more fun than a Ferrari you need to be gentle with.

There aren't many people that have enough money to not worry about wrecking their Ferrari, and fewer still that have time to bomb around on a track in one.

Plus, if you run your tuned up track Porsche into the wall and it's a write-off, hey, shit happens. If you do that with a Bugatti or an Enzo you're just being a dick. Those sorts of cars are rare and deserve some respect.

There's also another factor: After-market modifications for cars more commonly made are easier to source. You can mod an Audi or Porsche easily, it just takes money, but doing the same with a Ferrari is significantly more complicated, you'll probably need to have a lot of things custom fabricated.

Re: Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

#67

Post by marssaxman »

criddell wrote: post #16
arcanus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got a Honda cbr600, love it. But a top Ducati sport bike costs 40k, not 400k.

When you are very rich, the difference between $400k and $40k isn't noticeable.

Since most of us are not and never will be very rich, the fact that a not-rich person can buy and ride a motorcycle which will easily smoke the pants off any car but the sort of supercar only a very rich person could buy is, in fact, noticeable.

Re: Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

#68

Post by wastedhours »

arcanus wrote: post #2

Has Lamborghini ever made a car that had actual technical merit as a racecar? I'm general, supercars are vastly overpriced for what you get. You can easily crush most for a fraction of the price with a dedicated track car. But simultaneously, no supercars are remotely practical on the road, and in fact are not even fun to drive on the street because of speed limits. Some supercars have been a good investment, such as…

Then you're not the target market. There's a fundamental difference between a "premium" product (which is objectively better) and a "luxury" product (which is intangibly better) - people spend money to get the halo effect imparted on supercars, might be vain or illogical, but it's a pretty common human trait. Also, I've driven track and super cars and would say supercars on the road can still be fun, although having also had a go in a single seater (FRenault), would say that wipes the floor with them all on a track.

Re: Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

#69

Post by asimuvPR »

joshu wrote: post #15
arcanus wrote: post #2

Has Lamborghini ever made a car that had actual technical merit as a racecar? I'm general, supercars are vastly overpriced for what you get. You can easily crush most for a fraction of the price with a dedicated track car. But simultaneously, no supercars are remotely practical on the road, and in fact are not even fun to drive on the street because of speed limits. Some supercars have been a good investment, such as…

Modern modern ones are a bit cramped but are as practical as any other sports car (that is, not particularly.) There is a Lamborghini series (super trofeo) but not much beyond that. I rarely even see them at track days. Quattro drive (or whatever it is called now) is not really awesome for road racing. It causes too much understeer. That said, I heard the Huracan is much better than previous cars. (I own and have tra…

Its hard to beat a 911 gt3 cup. Well, the miata might but it fares better than any supercar. They are affordable and don't cost that much to operate. Its a Porsche so the thing is reliable. Its hard to top the spec miata if you are doing club racing. I think the Porsche can offer somehow similar enjoyment while being faster.

If you are feeling lucky then try out rallying. A miata will also work but its quite a different experience.

Re: Lamborghini Is Forging Ahead with Forged Carbon Fiber

#70

Post by elmar »

cpursley wrote: post #18
joshu wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern modern ones are a bit cramped but are as practical as any other sports car (that is, not particularly.) There is a Lamborghini series (super trofeo) but not much beyond that. I rarely even see them at track days. Quattro drive (or whatever it is called now) is not really awesome for road racing. It causes too much understeer. That said, I heard the Huracan is much better than previous cars. (I own and have tra…

What's funny about supercars is you rarely see them on the track. It's the folks out there with their spec Miatas having all the fun. I've passed more 100k+ Vipers, M5s and Ferraris on track day in a first-gen 130bhp Miata than I can remember. Working on a Chump car ( http://www.chumpcar.com/ ) build with my brothers now. I've met people racing in that series who've owned every supercar imaginable. But when it's a be…

Why Spec Miata is America's most popular club series

http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/features/a25615/why-...

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