CS Carbon Fiber steering wheel & rear diffuser

I'll let you know about the carbon mirrors as I have just bought a set!

Trev

 

The wheel is of course great and we fully stand behind our parts. I have one with a red ring in stock.

The diffusers are pretty nice for the price (I've seen them in person) but are for the CS and will not fit a regular 360. A customer of ours found that out the hard way. Let me know if you are interested and I'll see if he still has them.

John

 

Does anyone know a source for a Carbon Rear Diffuser that will fit a 360 Spider?

 

The blurb on their site actually says 'Suitable for: F360 all model'.

Also the spacing to fit the full carbon diffuser fit doesnt look different between the subtle modified 360CS rear bumper and the regular 360! Is it? Surely its just a case of drilling new mounting holes in your regular 360 bumper?

Even if it really is as you state I am sure an appropriate hardware store bracket could be fashioned quite easily in order to mount these diffusers.

I'll buy a set and report back!

 

Spoke directly to the supplier, Project Cars Co. Ltd, regarding fitment on stock 360's. Here is what they had to say on the subject;

'Regarding the carbon rear diffuser we have sold around 20 sets until now we have not receive any complaint about the fitment. It is a very easy job for fitting simply just screw it onto your existing stock rear bumper. '

So the answer is definately yes, they do fit regular 360's not just Challenge Stradales, they also look excellent in pure Carbon Fibre (far nicer than the cheaper Plastic that came with the 360CS!).

The diffuser is the main component responsible for all that extra downforce that the CS has over the stock 360. It properly flows the airflow behind the car and also looks excellent doing it.

 

Not trying to discourage you from ordering as we have no intention of making them. As I mentioned, I may have a customer (if he has not since attempted to mount them) that may have a set he wants to move. If his are no longer availbable, and you are really loooking to get a set, let me know - we can source them from the original manufacturer as well.

John

 

John, I am interested in a set of Carbon Rear Diffusers. If you get a chance, could you check with the customer who had trouble installing them and get some specifics. I do want a set, but I want a set that will be a direct "bolt-on" part to my spider, and not require further modification or parts.

Thanks.

 

The pics on the link are of a stradale with factory CS diffusers that will not fit a standard 360. The pic of the black 360 is stolen from the Ferrari parts exchange website and of our customers car. Carbon diffusers will get destroyed from normal road abuse, they must be made in the same fashion as a OEM diffuser from injection molded plastic.

Ours sell for $1,600 shipped and bolt onto a standard 360 bumper. Please contact 516-935-2758 to order.
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I am most certainly not doubting your vast and considerable experience, I am just curious about why carbon fiber cannot be used instead of boring to look at plastic which surely must be considerably cheaper to manufacture than Carbon Fiber?

I was always under the impression that Carbon Fiber would actually be more durable than the said plastic. When I used to own a R34 GT-R Skyline V-Spec it had a gorgeous downforce Carbon fiber diffuser, Nissan certainly didnt make it from plastic and it never once had problems or failed from road or track use! In fact isnt the entire undertray on the CS made from Carbon Fiber? Also all the real supercars I know of are entirely made of carbon fiber such as the Porsche GT, Enzo, Zonda, etc. Are you questioning the 'type' of carbon, i.e. the way its produced that is the problem or is it something else?

Obviously Carbon Fiber looks a million times better than plastic. Also these Carbon diffusers we are talking about are only $970 too which makes them incredible value if they are genuine bonafide carbon fiber. Have you actually bought a pair and can confirm your quote that they will indeed be 'destroyed from normal road abuse'?

I'm all for fair competition, the reason I ask is that the Official Ferrari product, Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, R.H. EXTRACTOR Part No 67361400 & L.H. EXTRACTOR Part No. 67361500 cost £474.16 each BRAND NEW from Ferrari as an offical part. This means the real Ferrari parts for the pair (in Plastic) cost approx $1,847.21 USD. See 'www.eurospares.co.uk' for more info. I actually think this is quite expensive considering the carbon version is $970 !

If you can convince me otherwise I am most certainly prepared to be educated.

Trev
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We originally made them from carbon fiber, it just did not work well. To keep that OEM look and make it from solid real carbon fiber it was just not possible. Im sure the part shown on the Ebay link is actually plastic laminated in carbon fiber sticker. The same way most OEM carbon fiber trim is made.

Although carbon is very strong and light it also very rigid. Over time from speed bumps, driveways, etc it will crack and start to fall apart.

 

Trev, did you end up ordering a pair? I will be very interested in your impressions upon receipt. How long should they take to get here? I understand Harmony's points, but even if the parts end up being plastic with a carbon fiber sticker, I would prefer that to just plain plastic. My main concern is overall structural quality and fit.

Harmony, could you PM or email me ([email protected]) some info about your ram intake system, i.e. does it just push air into the engine compartment or is there modification to the airboxes as well? On a total side note, as a marketer I'm a little overly meticulous when it comes to business copy - Your website's opening line should read "Harmony IS fueled by a passion..." Using was puts your business into the past tense, as if it no longer exists. Sorry, had to bring it up.

Cheers.
Mike.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I will go away and ask all the relevant questions. The only reason for my hesitation is that I just would have expected plastic to be half the price of carbon fiber, Fibre Glass is normally half the cost for bumpers, spoilers, etc.

I do however truely appreciate the bespoke nature of the development and R&D required to produce products for a Ferrari. Obviously with such small numbers of order costs need to be recovered and shared between sales, etc, its not as if millions of the said items will be sold!

Project Cars Co. Ltd state in their blurb 'All components are manufactured of 3k plain pattern carbon fiber fabric.'.

I can only assume their costs are cheaper because they manufacture them in Hong Kong, China but I would still like to know all the facts before I sink my own money into them. I have no connection to them other than having just ordered a set of CF mirrors from them. I'll let everyone know of the quality when I get them and post pictures.

The gentlemen I spoke to is Kevin, he emailed me his contact details as;

F360 Carbon Parts;
http://www.myprojectcars.com/index.php?cPath=46_56&osCsid=c9d89a28d7c70f19dc349ff531cea75f

Project Cars Co. Ltd
Cell: 852- 98114331
Fax: 852- 26316166
MSN: [email protected]
Website: www.myprojectcars.com

Out of curiousity and I am going to buy a set and post pics then test them to destruction on the road/track

Regards,

Trev

 

The diffusers in question are most likely one surface layer of carbon fiber, with the balance made up of fiberglass. I doubt the seller of the product has any real idea of their composition, as they call the twill weave pattern shown in their pictures "3k plain pattern carbon fiber fabric". Any competent fabricator would know the difference. These chinese products share little with "real" carbon fiber components except the look from a distance.

The diffuser panels shown in the pictures are not actual CS diffusers - the fastener recesses have been deleted. You'd need a real CS rear bumper to use real CS diffuser panels. These would need to be drilled along with the underside of your bumper.

For what it's worth, the OEM CS diffusers are fiberglass, as are the diffuser and vanes on the F430.

 

To clarify, the fact that these are not actual CS diffusers makes it more likely that they will fit on a regular 360.

 

Thanks for the info, I am really confused about the fitment problems with Factory fit CS diffusers on stock 360 Modena bumpers.

Apart from the obvious drilling holes what stops someone retro fitting one on an non CS bumper? Surely a bracket could be easily made? Anyone got any pictures to properly to illustrate the 'wont fit' problem?

Trev

 

The CS diffusers are sort of recessed into the CS bumper in the mounting areas. It's subtle, and hard to notice when the diffusers are installed. I'll post a pic a little later of a CS diffuser up against a regular bumper, which is smooth and will make a stock CS Diffuser stick out (down). The aftermarket diffusers are modified to compensate for the lack of recessed area on standard bumpers.

 

Exactly.

 

The reason I know all this is we're slowly developing our own version of these diffusers.

 

The diffusers are one layer of CF with a fiberglass backing. As Valence points out, they are done in twill which is not really appropriate for Ferraris. They do look pretty good when looking at them but how long they will last remains to be seen.

 

So weight savings would be negligible?! Its only for aesthetics....it still looks cool.

 

When standing behind the car and looking at the diffuser it would be very hard to tell if its black or carbon fiber. You would have to lay on your back and look up at the diffuser to see that.

 

Ok, I have had communication with the aforementioned supplier in HK, Project Cars Co. Ltd, this is what Kevin had to say;

'Regarding the rear diffuser it is made in wet laid up in at least 2 layers of carbon fiber and fiberglass reinforced. Should any customer request Dry Vacuumed formed carbon, we can also make it but on special order only(with extra cost). And the layout of this diffuser is same as the one from stradale. So I would say this is the one most suitable for F360. They will last as long as the other ordinary body kits since now a days lot of body parts are made by fiber glass. It is the most common material for making body parts.'

So there you go, the guys in HK can pretty much do anything you want, if you want it Vacuum formed they can even do that but at extra cost, so its worth asking them what the differences are. Personally I am going to buy the carbon diffuser and fit 3M anti-stone chip film to it!!!!!

Trev

 

Based on his answer, it's almost certainly a very poor quality product.

 

With Hong Kong carbon fiber coming in at a less than 1/4 of the price of elsewhere in the world its very tempting but I can fully understand that quality could be worse.

Regarding China and its imports, hmmm I am sure they'll get their quality issues sorted out soon and probably still be less than 1/2 price of other countries (labor costs). I am not just talking about CF products here!

We should all be very worried! US economy is worth 13 trillion, already Chinese economy is now at 9 trillion but its growing MUCH faster! Perhaps the issue should be about buying home grown items vs imports. I can see this becoming a very hot topic in the next few years! Its already shocking how low the US dollar has become, almost 2 of them for a single british pound now !