SIGN ME UP! Question: do the panels need to be painted over or can they be left as they are? Is there UV protection? --Dan
Well, some of the interior pieces will be in clearcoat, and also the venturi wings on the rear bumper of the GTC version. You can also choose to have the side mirrors done in clearcoat (ala Stradale). We use the best UV protection you can get, but this can't prevent everything over years and years. The rest of the body panels will have to be painted over - although it looks awesome, like the Zonda in clearcoat, to get it looking smooth it practically triples the amount of work because the weaves have to line up on the outside and follow straight lines and this makes molding it very difficult. Even Horacio Pagani said he'd never do another one after his experience with that Zonda.
The UK company doing a similar project claims a weight loss of 594 pounds on their carbon fiber-bodied Maranello. I looked at their claims and figured that for the body, 400 was a reasonable goal for the CF pieces alone, with even more from lightweight seats and an aftermarket exhaust.
From my own investigations I believe seats save 100lbs, exhaust 50-60lbs depending on muffler configuration used. Based on the EVO article, I think 300lbs is a more realistic claim. I'll post the details of the claimed weight savings per componant fromthe article this evening
Listed from October issue of EVO. Weight savings; front bumper 24kg (52lbs), rear bumper 30kg (66lbs), bonnet 17kg (37lbs). The total listed savings is just over 150lbs, not including the boot, front guards and door skins. If these save as much as the front and rear bumpers along with bonnt, you are looking at a 300lb weight saving. The balance comes from seats, almost 100lbs, exhaust and stripping the interior.
Thank you for posting those numbers Stephen. BTW, the prospectus is also in convenient HTML here: www.ryalexdesign.com/products/550prospectus.html
I'm a member but didn't register yet for the conference - it's conference month it seems (I'm going to be at a huge Asia biz conference this weekend). I'll PM you.
