Originally Posted by
rednwhitecooper
The hood isn't structural. Pretty much every visible piece of the car (aside from the roof, pillars and quarter panels) is just for looks. The reason they are illegal in Australia is because of dumbass legislators who really aren't concerned with public safety.
I dont agree with that statement, the hood is absolutely structural. A simple implication of this is the use of metal to construct the hood rather than fiberglass (which is quite a bit cheaper) or some other material. Why would a manufacturer voluntarily increase their production cost for something as simple as aesthetics when there are much more viable alternatives in regard to budget?
On another note however, I would run CF/fiberglass on a daily without a second thought, there isn't enough benefit in having metal panels to offset my demand in weight reduction.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 45.8 mpg (US) ... 19.5 km/L ... 5.1 L/100 km ... 55.0 mpg (Imp)