The improved lap time at Central Circuit can't be entirely credited to the weight reduction. Advans 048s with Advan RGII (yes, Jonny, they're five-spoke) and black Endless mini six-pot calipers are there to make sure the S2000 grips, turns and stops for all 87 seconds of its best lap.
Since its inception, C-West has used data extracted from its racing experiences to develop, test and produce its aero parts. Unlike other aero parts that are all show and no go, C-West's kits were designed using actual race data and are not just dress-up parts. 280 metric horsepower isn't much more than stock from the F22. Most of what separates the Prototype II from a road-going S2000 is the chassis work done through both weight-reduction and suspension tuning.
The new Evo and GT-R are just around the corner. We don't think it's at all too premature to assume the C-Westers are already frothing at the mouth to make GT-R and Evo X Prototype racecars.
Lighten Up
You may know that carbon fiber can be up to 75-percent lighter than a piece of steel relatively the same size. That same carbon fiber can also be up to 10 times stronger than steel and far more resistant to the elements. What you may not know is that the origins of the metal weave date back as far as the late 1800s. The first major documented use of carbon fiber was in 1878 when Joseph Swan used carbon fiber created from cotton to develop the electric light bulb. It was almost 100 years later before scientists would develop what we know as carbon fiber.
In the early '60s, Japan and the UK almost simultaneously beat out the United States in producing a carbon fiber from polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The UK's Royal Aircraft Establishment is regularly credited with the invention of a composite material that would revolutionize not only the aircraft industry, but everything from medicine and music to motorsports. Carbon fiber is quite simply thousands of thin threads of carbon, typically weaved into a cross-hatch pattern.
Carbon fiber may have been invented in the '60s, but it took another 10 to 20 years before it would come into widespread commercial use, appearing in golf clubs, fishing poles and, of course airplanes. But it's in Formula One that carbon fiber-particularly dry carbon-made its biggest public splash. Today it's one of the leading materials used to develop monocoque racecars like those seen in F1, Indy and, yes, even NASCAR. Some companies such as Toho market carbon fiber under trademarked names, such as the company's own Tenax.
Like any market, prices are driven by supply and demand. There's a huge demand for carbon fiber and little supply. Recently the price of carbon fiber has seen a huge spike, reflected in the cost of many aftermarket products and even cars. Use for the stuff hasn't been limited to multi-million dollar racecars; Saleen reported that the costs of the carbon fiber used in the S7 supercar have more than doubled. The Irvine-based supercar maker had to hike up the price of the S7 by $25,000 this year. Other cars that use carbon fiber (and are potentially affected by the increased cost) include the Koenigsegg CCR, Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Zonda and even the Chevy Corvette Z06.