carbon fibre bonnets

[statement]

hi guys, just wondering wat is the go with laws about fibreglass / carbon fibre bonnets cause while my car is in the shop i thought it would be a good time to get a new bonnet as my is damage.

so really i want to know is
1- are they legal
2- wat do i need to hold it down (rally clips or factory clips)
an finally any idea on the cost?

cheers guys

 

[ElDubya]

One word for you buddy ...... ILLEGAL!

In QLD anyway.

 

[Bax]

And if they're illegal in QLD they're illegal everywhere.

 

[statement]

i'm from wa, but i see cars in mags with them an i did see advertise in street commodoes mag a while ago, but why would they be illegal, i even seen a company that sold fibreglass parts for fenders ( mainly toyota 4wd the old types) an hows it any different from aftermarket bodykits?

 

[walesy]

if i ever get a decent car with a detailed engine bay i wanna get a clear bonnet... is a perspex type hood illegal?

 

[Bax]

They're changing the structrual integrity of the car.

Clear bonnet.. I'm fairly sure that'd be illegal too.. Unfortunately I don't think it'd be too practical too. Heat/ Fumes/ Dirt would get too it. Well at least thats what I figure.

 

[walesy]

yeh i spose i diddnt think of that... it would end up stained and filthy

 

[Evman]

It's not really the structural integrity, that would imply that if you took the bonnet off, the body wouldn't be as strong, which is false because there is no load bearing on the bonnet. The reason they're illegal is because they change the crash rating of the car. Where a metal bonnet would bend and buckly, a carbon fibre bonnet wouldn't. For example, if you hit a pedestrian, a carbon fibre bonnet would be more likelly to cut into the person rather than bend. Here's some trivia - one of the reasons the cost blew out on the Monaro 427 was because of it's carbon bonnet. The problem was, in a frontal impact, the bonnet would be pushed through the windscreen, into the driver and passenger. Scary really.

 

[walesy]

hmm yeh i dont really feel like being decapitated by my bonnet

 

[Bax]

Thanks evman, thats what I was thinking- just couldn't word it.