Carbon Fiber - Which is the Best?

[bastantena]

Hey guys, I'm in the market for a CF hood and have choices between VIS, Fiber Images or Benen. Benen is the most expensive, is this the best? I've tried contacting Fiber Images to see what their products are made off but havn't gotten a response. I know that benen doesn't use any fiber glass on thier products, they use carbon fiber and kevlar. Any comments would be appreciated.

[liquid8]

i heard that benen used more carbon fiber strands so that it's stronger. and i also heard that fiberimages is one of the best. vis is supposed to be good also. but i think that benen or fiberimages would be the best. thus the high price. i'm gonna get a vis hood though cuz it's cheaper and they are still tight

[bastantena]

thanks! please update the board once you get your hood. yeah! VIS hoods on ebay are a bargain to what i'm looking at spending if i get one from benen.

[Gusto222]

i have a FI hood-- benen is goin to cost u some $$$ - VIS has a really nice weave.. & they are moderatly priced..

[hondacivic4drlx]

i would go with the fiber images. they are strong, will never break and dont have rolled edges.

[bastantena]

Thanks guys! I ended up getting FI. I was going with Benen but couldn't wait. They told me they were in the process of moving and won't be able to sell me the hood and front lip I wanted till August of this year. The FI prices were just as much as Benen's. Benen's hood was 699.00, FI was 660.00 for a full CF hood. I decided to get the cheaper one with fiber glass underneath which ended to be 500.00. The Spoon style lip was 425.00 and Benen's was only 399.00. What is disappointing and would like to share to those who are in the market for this lip is that FI's spoon lip although 100% CF does not have a mount. All that came with mine was double sided tape. I ended up drill 1 hole per side at the end to bolt up to my bumper so for those who are interested in the lip, beware! What sucks is that not only was it more expensive, it seems inferior. Even the cheaper VIS has mounts although it is just made out of fiber glass. The lip has take several scrapes and is fortunately holding up pretty well. My car is not too low so I don't think I'll be having problems with it.

Has anybody seen side by side hoods from different makes. The reason I'm asking is that I would like to buy a "duck bill" spoiler for my hatch and am going with VIS since FI wants 350.00 for it while VIS is around 250, I think. Now I'm concerned that the weave would be different.

A side note: Someone posted on hatchback.com that the main CF guru at Benen left and started his own company. I'm not sure if this is true or not but this might be the reason why they could not fill orders.

[bastantena]

Gusto222, did you drill your FI hood for hood pins? I havn't done that to mine, however I notice that my hood vibrates when I am on the freeway. Guy here a telling me to use some hood pins because of the hood bieng too light and the chance of it flying away.

[dgonzals]

You get what your pay for.....Most of the time....99.9% of the time

[PoisonFangs]

Put the hood pins on it, i have know way to many people that have had theirs fly off on the highway, its not a good thing.

[Gusto222]

Originally posted by bastantena
Gusto222, did you drill your FI hood for hood pins? I havn't done that to mine, however I notice that my hood vibrates when I am on the freeway. Guy here a telling me to use some hood pins because of the hood bieng too light and the chance of it flying away.

nahh no hood pins for me...

[Honda Man 808]

I got a VIS Xtreme GT Carbon fiber hood on my 94 hatch, its pretty tight.. good quality I bought it for $605.00

[CivicLx]

Hmm...I got my FI hood with Sparco hood pins for $570. Anyone think I paid too much? I kind of wish I had gone with a fiberglass hood now.

[bastantena]

Now I'm trying to figure out how to close the gap between the hood and the area above the headlights. I think that's where the air is going through. I'm trying to install the rubber seal that came with the original stock hood and am in search for those plastic protectors for the headlights. they clip on top of the lights and cover that much more space.

Does anyone here have those eyebrows? How do they attach to the car? May be I could use them instead rather than the headlight plastic guards.

[esp]

Originally posted by Gusto222



nahh no hood pins for me...

same here no pins


and i paid $300 cash for my reverse vented cf hood

also i have eyebrows some attach with double sided tape but i used silicon sealant so it says a lot better

[jamincivic]

Go FI