Published: Jul 21, 2012

5 Ultra-Light Carbon Fiber Supercars

Carbon fiber is used primarily to cut weight, but it also adds a fierce edge to supercars of all shapes and sizes.

It's an unfortunate fact of life that supercars are often big and bulky machines. After all, you don't get to 500-plus horsepower without packing on a few pounds. Thankfully, there's carbon fiber. The lightweight material can be used to create almost any component of a car, from body panels to seat levers. Complete carbon fiber conversions allow even the heaviest of supercars to drop some much needed pounds while still looking good. If your automotive motto is "No Fatties," then you're going to love all of these ultra-light carbon fiber supercars.

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The Carbonado Aventador from Mansory features a new carbon fiber front fascia with optimized air intakes, a carbon fiber hood, side sills, rear bumper with integrated diffuser and larger rear wing. All of this lightweight goodness, plus an ECU remap, helps the Carbonado reach a top speed of 220mph and achieve a 0-62 time of 2.8 seconds. Does it even need to be said that the Carbonado looks absolutely stunning?

The Pagani Huayra Carbon Edition pictured here very nearly stole the show at the 2012 Genenva Motor Show. The Italian supercar ditched regular paint in favor of a carbon fiber coating (anything helps). Carbon fiber was also used extensively throughout the interior, starting with the dashboard and ending with the accents on the leather seats.

German tuners Anderson have given the Ferrari 458 Italia a complete carbon fiber makeover. The aptly named 458 Carbon Edition has a lightweight aerodynamic package featuring a new front and rear spoiler, wider side sills, intake grilles and ventilation grid. Carbon fiber was also put onto the hood, roof, door handles, trunk-lid, taillights and diffuser.

The PPI Design Audi R8 Razor GTR (made for Swedish skier Jon Olsson) has a complete carbon body kit, with every panel of the supercar replaced with 600 gram carbon mesh and protected by ten layers of lacquer. In addition to its lightweight body, the rooftop ski box is also made out of carbon fiber. Olsson's R8 may face some competition from R8s of the future as Audi has announced that the 2014 version of the supercar will be made out of carbon fiber and aluminum.

There isn't much of a difference between Anderson's 458 Carbon Edition (pictured above) and the 458 Black Carbon Edition pictured here. Carbon fiber has been used on the air intakes, center console, door handles and sills, shift paddles and seat levers. The Black Carbon Edition is undeniably sexy, but the black on white 458 Carbon Edition still has a slight edge in the looks department.

by Michael Hines
5 Ultra-Light Carbon Fiber Supercars

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5 Ultra-Light Carbon Fiber Supercars

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