Carbon fibre as trim

[f1eng]

I have used carbon fibre as a structural material in my designs for over 40 years now but have never thought of it as decorative.
Making it look nice usually means excess surface resin and a cosmetic layer (as opposed to structurally oriented) so it is usually heavier than painting the structural part, so I have very rarely left the carbon fibre surfaces visible as such.

I have to admit that personally I would no more choose carbon fibre trim panels than make the chassis out of burr walnut but what is the general opinion? Do non-engineers like the look and pay lots extra to have it? Or is ir rarely selected?

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[satchurator]

I have used carbon fibre as a structural material in my designs for over 40 years now but have never thought of it as decorative.
Making it look nice usually means excess surface resin and a cosmetic layer (as opposed to structurally oriented) so it is usually heavier than painting the structural part, so I have very rarely left the carbon fibre surfaces visible as such.

I have to admit that personally I would no more choose carbon fibre trim panels than make the chassis out of burr walnut but what is the general opinion? Do non-engineers like the look and pay lots extra to have it? Or is ir rarely selected?

I assume that most people are attracted to CF because of its association with racing.

I’m not an automotive or industrial engineer but I think that fully decked out CF interior trim panels look out of place in a daily driver Porsche. If the car is tracked often, that seems more in keeping.

Setting aside the association with racecraft, glossy resin topped CF aesthetically does have some nice qualities - the weave is like a houndstooth fabric or tight-knit plaid.
In a blacked-out look, it can add some nice gray contrast - take a look at the posts from @ciaranob who’s doing custom CF plates on his darth vader Turismo.

 

[XLR82XS]

I do like the carbon option in these cars but for it's aluminum rhombus all the way. I love the look plus the contrast it provides. Nice touch for the center console as well.

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/attachments/img_1272-jpg.9045/

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/attachments/img_3052-jpeg.9042/

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