# Metal and carbon fiber car hoods **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 11, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metal-and-carbon-fiber-car-hoods/595959 "2011-09-11T18:15:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metal-and-carbon-fiber-car-hoods/595959/1 "2011-09-11T18:15:41Z")
True or False?: The hood of a car in the US comes out of the car factory made of some kind of metal. If a car in the US has a carbon fiber hood, that hood was custom made for that car. ---
**Author:** ![andyleonard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19b73/32.png) [@andyleonard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andyleonard)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metal-and-carbon-fiber-car-hoods/595959/2 "2011-09-11T18:22:20Z")
Unless the car itself is some kind of high-zoot performance car. ---
**Author:** ![RearEchelon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RearEchelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RearEchelon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metal-and-carbon-fiber-car-hoods/595959/3 "2011-09-11T18:31:19Z")
I don’t know about custom-made for that car, but AFAIK no US manufacturers use carbon fiber body components on their stock models. I would think the cost would be too prohibitive for what amounts to just a little bit of weight reduction for anyone who wasn’t going to be racing competitively. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metal-and-carbon-fiber-car-hoods/595959/4 "2011-09-11T18:49:46Z")
When I wrote the OP I thought fiberglass and carbon fiber were the same thing, but I guess they’re not after some poking around. So to be sure, does the same go for fiberglass? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metal-and-carbon-fiber-car-hoods/595959/5 "2011-09-11T21:30:30Z")
What we call fiber glass and carbon fiber are both plastics reinforced with one or the other fiber. Your OP was about car hoods, so I’ll say that the Chevrolet Corvette’s hood is made of fiber glass reinforced plastic. There may be some low-volume US cars with carbon fiber reinforced body parts, but I’ll leave that to somebody who knows more about it than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metal-and-carbon-fiber-car-hoods/595959/6 "2011-09-11T21:48:17Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > the Chevrolet Corvette’s hood is made of fiber glass reinforced plastic. The [ZR-1 and some Z06’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_C6) have carbon fiber hoods straight out of the factory. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metal-and-carbon-fiber-car-hoods/595959/7 "2011-09-11T22:46:17Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > If a car in the US has a carbon fiber hood, that hood was custom made for that car. Maybe some corvettes have carbon fiber hoods from the factory. But if you get a carbon fiber hood aftermarket, it is “for that car” in the sense of, for that year of car, not as if they are custom made for each customer, though.