With all these group buys going under group buy forum and those attractive prices, I'm thinking about buying a CF hood for my car.

The OEM style is sort of plain so I am thinking of something air vented (Amuse/Mugen/J's..etc.)
All those JDM hoods are over $1000-2000 and the wait is at least 2-3 weeks from Japan.
The alternative way is to buy the replica hoods from sponsors that is made oversea or made
by VIS or FiberImage. These hoods go for about $500.

The main purpose of a CF hood is light weight. But because of the OEM material is alunimum so
our OEM S2000 hood is already amazing light weight from the factory.

I've seen two hoods personally. And one is about the same weight as OEM and the other is
heavier than OEM!

The hood that's about the same weight as OEM hood is the OEM-style Fiber Image hood. They
run about $500 new and a few things I notice that I do not like: 1. the hood do not have rolled edges. This makes the hood look cheaply made and the edge is sharp enough to cut your hands.
2. the hood does not come drilled for those water squilters for the windshield. 3. on my friend's car, it looks like the gap is larger on one side than the other. fitment is not perfect like oem but only acceptable.

The hood that is heavier than the OEM hood is the VIS Amuse-style CF hood. I saw it today at
my friend's body shop and boy this hood looks nice as hell but after I lift the hood up (when the hood is already installed in the car), the hood is heavy, real heavy. I can instantly tell the hood
is heavier than the OEM hood. My friend told me VIS charged $600-ish (after shipping and all)
for this hood. It looks nice but I think it kills the whole purpose of a CF hood: lightweight.

Fashion over function? What do you think?

So far, I haven't seen any real JDM CF hood like Mugen/J's/Amuse...etc. So I do not know about
their quality/weight/fitment and all but are they really worth buying? Anyone here actually
owns one and weighs them? How's the quality? Fitment?

 

Hey Quick, I have a real J's hood if you wanna look at it. I just got my JDM engine installed so I can actually drive the car again and meet you up. Regarding CF hoods, I have seen the Seibon Amuse-style hood and it is one of the worse hoods I have ever seen. The weaves are too large, there are mis-weaves galore, and the underside has a foam feel to it. I have talked to numerous people about the Seibon hoods and they all tell me the same thing that I have mentioned. My J's hood has extremely tight weaves (small), rolled edges, and a black fiberglass underside. Regardless, my J's hood is only a pound or two lighter than stock. PM me if you wanna look at it.

 

I am glad to hear your car is back on the street again I'll PM you if I decide to check out your hood, maybe the next bay area meet??

 

Your car looks great, by the way. Gotta love them Volks.

 

Thanks Quick!

 

s2sav- nice ride!!!!!!!!!!!

btw: i would recommend getting hood pins if you're gonna get a CF hood...better safe than sorry....

(my friend had his hood fly up on him and had to replace his hood, fenders and windshield)......

 

I am going to be getting a Real J's hood eventually. Remember, you get what you pay for. The J's is only $400 more than the fake one. So, why not just go for the real one.

 

I, as well as many others, can attest to going over 100mph with a J's hood. Amazingly the hood does not move at all (you can't say that for other CF hoods)! I know that the hood pins are cheap insurance, but . . . hood pins . . . . . . not in my lifetime.

 

you need to see those hoods in person to make a decision, there is a big difference in quality

 

Vented CF hood is the thing for the S2000