Ford Focus Carbon Fibre Bonnet

< Back To All Ford Focus Reviews Fascinating! A Ford Focus has been fitted with a prototype carbon fibre bonnet. This is fifty per-cent lighter than its steel equivalent and far stronger. It is also – most likely – the future of motoring. Why? Because consumers, environmentalists, and manufacturers all want vehicles that burn less fuel. There are two ways to achieve this. The first is to improve the conversion efficiency of fuel to motion. In English, that means making engines, transmissions, and supplementary systems that consume less power. The second is to minimise workload and that requires cars to be lighter. Imagine, then, a family hold-all with a carbon fibre body. It could be hundreds of kilos less than its steel equivalent. That could cut fuel consumption and emissions dramatically. Now, I know what you are thinking... carbon fibre has been with us for years. True, but its use has been restricted to expensive super cars. Ford is now designing low cost components that can be mass produced quickly.

Inga Wehmeyer, Advanced Materials and Processes Research Engineer at the Ford European Research Centre, said. “Reducing a vehicle’s weight can deliver major benefits for fuel consumption, but a process for fast and affordable production of carbon fibre automotive parts in large numbers has never been available.” She continued: “Ford is working to develop a solution that supports cost efficient manufacturing of carbon fibre components.”

So, what is the benchmark? The Ford Focus 1.6 Duratorq TDCi manages 83.1mpg/88g/km. These figures are remarkable compared to even its recent predecessors. Trump that, then.

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