Car Parts 2011

These carbon vents are pretty gaudy, aren't they? Why would we ever need vents made out of carbon fiber? If you really want to make your car lighter, might you consider completely removing air conditioning instead?

Okay no, maybe not. I’m sure I wouldn’t want my sweaty butt B.O. smell to bake inside my hypothetical $225k Italian sports car either.


It may not seem like it to you, but I do appreciate carbon fiber. The weaves are seriously cool. And especially from a technological standpoint, it’s almost magic. If I could travel back in time and show alchemists this miracle material, I wouldn’t be surprised if they forget all about turning lead into gold.

Unfortunately, the trend with carbon fiber is men believe they have to have it in order for their cars to be any better. The marketing folk understands that especially. That's why they show no shame when they vomit out unnecessary applications and accessories. There are plenty of people who take the bait.


Take this: Carbon fiber cup holder trim? Seriously?? Just how many grams will you take off of your car’s curb weight? Did you actually gain a lower center of gravity?

We have got a better idea for you. Don’t even bother with cup holders at all. Go on your own little diet. Lose some weight. Empty the change from you pockets, wear a thinner shirt, buzz your hair, shave your beard. Hell, manscape.

There are cars where carbon fiber should be the least of its concern-- the Bentley Continental Supersports, for example. The “base” Continental GT, if a hand built car can ever have a “base” model, costs around $180k.


A bump in horsepower and a two hundred pound weight saving raises the price by approximately another hundred grand, slotting itself into DB9/ 599 GTB territory.

Is it suddenly a weapon for the track? No. The spec numbers still mark it at 4939 lb., comparable to the weight of a million elephants. It tells me that no amount of carbon fiber will hide what it was always meant to be— a torque monster long distance GT car, a coachwork orgy of rich leathers, burled wood, aluminum switches, and the trademark Breitling analog clock on the center console.

I’ve always liked that about Bentleys, anyway.

Look, the fact of the matter is that we have to admit what's right and leave carbon fiber for the real hypercars and sports cars-- Pagani Zonda, Lamborghini Superleggera, Ferrari Challenge, etc.

Even then, few of us will ever drive these vehicles to limits where we truly cannot do without the car's carbon fiber weight and rigidity characteristics. I know I never will.

For the record, though, why yes, I would take the Aston over the Supersports and the GTB, thank you very much.


As a matter of fact, the DB9 is the prime example of why a car really does not have to throw carbon fiber around to shout about itself. Its cabin is just a gem to sit in and the true sense of occasion comes from… well, from the fact that it’s an Aston Martin.

It's possible I can be mistaken. Perhaps the DB9 does have some mechanical bits or panels that are carbon fiber. I can’t be positive and I haven’t a clue where the bits could be. Honestly, I don’t care and I can't be bothered to research it on Google. The point here is Aston Martin made sure not to make carbon fiber a hallmark in presenting the DB9. Such a suggestion actually distracts you from the real reason why the car is so desirable. The car is more than the sum of its parts.

Hm, “more than the sum of its parts.”

Think about that the next time you think your sports car needs to have that carbon fiber trim that includes carbon vanity mirror covers.

courtesy of Autoblog

Finally! I know, I really took my time here. On my defense, there were two attempts made to begin Pt. 4... unfortunately both ended abruptly with the computer freezing. Is my computer secretly a gear head? Is it trying to send me a message?

Nevertheless, deep apologies to whoever held their breath in anticipation. You’re probably already dead…

In my last post, readers may recall that I had little praise for the Chinese automakers (links here: pt.3, pt.2, pt.1).

In short, I signed the Chinese automakers off for being overambitious. I think we can all agree that a good way to judge whether a brand new automobile will be successful is by considering whether it has what it takes to be competitive in the segment it is entering in. It does not make any sense at this time for the Chinese to try and emulate German cars. For one reason or another, that is exactly what the Chinese has chosen to believe as the recipe for success. In the international market, however, consumers will not be fooled and no one is cross shopping between a BYD and a BMW. Period.

However, I ended the last post with a hopeful suggestion—“Can there be any emerging automaker that I do appreciate coming from Asia?”

Oliver Enojado, a friend and an early reader of our blog, messaged me with a very short answer. “No.”

But I have an answer. Ready? Tata! Does it sound familiar? No, it's not to be mistaken with tatas, you’ll have to get your fix of sleaze on some other website!

Tata is an Indian motor company famous for their purchase of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford. That’s for another time. In this post I want to talk about the Tata Nano. They made a car that made sense.

Photo: neharsworld.com

A particular issue Tata addressed, and this deserves a bit of discussion, is the global economy. The Tata Nano’s MSRP starts at an approximate $2500 USD, effectively honoring Nano as the least expensive car in the world.

photo: ashtanganews.com

The country of India did not receive as much media hype as China but there is no doubt that they are a major player in the current economic climate. Their cities are growing extremely rapidly and Tata sees the importance of not allowing the people become left behind by poor infrastructure. Cars are more expensive than what the average family would be able to afford so many families purchase a motorcycle instead. Fatalities from traffic accidents are notoriously high and with an ever growing population and the country in economic boom, safe mobility for the millions of families became Tata’s priority.

All in all, the result is incredible! Let’s be realistic people, going fast or being fun to drive is a luxury and there will be none of that in the $2500 Nano. Honestly, there won’t even be air conditioning. But life is most precious of all and luckily, that has been important to the engineers since the very beginning. The Nano offers ABS as an option and it passed both EURO III frontal and side impact crashes without a hiccup. A number of Chinese automakers cannot say the same.

Go ahead and call me a hypocrite for criticizing the Chinese for making cheap cars and then choosing the cheapest car of all as the car that I appreciate the most. But the fundamental difference of it all is that the Chinese cars were made in an attempt to fool buyers into believing that their cars are more premium than they really are. Tata created a car that was honest and built with more noble intentions.

Sometimes we get all caught up with numbers. Spec sheets and dynos cannot begin to describe the number of families the Nano improved the quality of life for.