Carbon fibre: Rediscovering the sixth element

Just before the Paris Motor Show in late September last year, Lamborghini – the Italian super sportscar maker – issued a manifesto for all its future cars.

The manifesto said, “We are redefining the future of our super sportscars around the two main reasons to buy: design and performance. Design has been and always will be reason number one, and we will make sure a Lamborghini will always be recognisable through its significant stylistic features. Regarding performance, until a few years ago the priorities were, in this order: top speed, acceleration and handling. In recent years this has been changing.

Together with design, handling and acceleration are becoming more important. Speed is not as important anymore, because all super sportscars are exceeding the 300kmph mark and this is a speed that you cannot reach even on a racetrack, let alone normal roads.” Lamborghini said that it thinks the time has come to make a shift and talk more about handling and acceleration.

The key factor that really determines the super sportscars' better handling and acceleration characteristics is the power-to-weight ratio. This is not so much about top speed and future sportscars will not be so focused on increasing the power, also because CO2 emissions will also have to be considered and will play a role for their performance. So the key lay in reducing the weight.

But, how do you reduce the weight? During the last three decades, the average weight of the current day automobile has gone up by 500 kgs because of active and passive safety, increased comfort and emissions reduction issues. Since there is little scope to reduce the safety or comfort in cars, the only option is to reduce the weight by using new materials.

The magic material is carbon-fibre. Lamborghini has had a long history and association with carbon-fibre. The recent culmination of that cumulative experience with this unique material is the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 – one of the first super sports cars to feature an entire monocoque in carbon-fibre. Even as we go into print, production of this fantastic replacement for the Murciélago will have commenced, and deliveries of the Aventador LP700-4 limited to about 4,000 units will start later this year.

At about the same time that this iconic Italian company was working on its brand new sportscar, an Indian brand, TI, was taking its first measured step at launching a similar carbon-fibre structured, sporty vehicle – albeit on two wheels. TI Cycles' Montra is the first indigenously produced bike featuring an entire frame made out of the magic material. Here is an exclusive preview of the tech that powers the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 and an exclusive test ride of the Montra.

Aventador LP700-4

Lamborghini started working with carbon-fibre and composite elements in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy over 30 years ago. In 1983, when many of us were still in our diapers, the first carbon-fibre based chassis prototype was built for the Countach. Series production parts first appeared in 1985. The outgoing Lamborghini Murciélago was built largely out of carbon fibre, with 93 kgs of structural carbon-fibre materials in its bodyshell.

Lambo believes that carbon composite materials are crucial to tomorrow's automotive engineering, especially for high-performance sports cars. These materials are made from carbon-fibre reinforced polymers and combine the lowest possible weight with excellent mechanical properties. Cars become lighter, thus improving fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. A super sportscar built using composite materials in carbon fibre has improved acceleration and braking as well as superior handling.

The current Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera is another example. Compared to the already lean Gallardo LP 560-4, the weight of the LP 570-4 has been reduced by a further 70 kgs. One major contributing factor is the use of exterior and interior components made from carbon-fibre.

Lambo took its obsession with carbon-fibre to a whole new level when it unveiled the Sesto Elemento in Paris last year. This unique technology demonstrator boasted an extremely lightweight construction thanks to advanced Carbon-fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) technology. The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento had an overall curb weight of just 999 kilograms (2,202 lb) – including the V10 power unit and its permanent all-wheel drive.

With its engine output of 570 hp, spectacular power-to-weight ratio of only 1.75 kilograms per hp and 0 to 100 kmph (0-62 mph) acceleration of only 2.5 seconds, the Sesto Elemento was one exciting showcase.

The basis was an extremely solid, stiff, safe and lightweight carbon-fibre monocoque cell of the Sesto Elemento. Even the propeller shaft is made of CFRP!

Lambo has applied the learnings from the Sesto Elemento into the Murcielago's successor. The cell of the new Lamborghini flagship – the Aventador – is made entirely from carbon-fibre and has been designed as a monocoque structure. The significant load-bearing structure of the vehicle is engineered as a ‘single shell' that functions physically as a single unit, taking full advantage of the extreme rigidity of CFRP and it only weighs 147.5 kgs. Formula 1 race cars are built using CFRP monocoques – and have proven their crash worthiness time and again. The same applies to road-going sports cars featuring monocoque technology – the carbon-fibre occupant cell functions like an extremely safe roll cage.

The entire body-in-white of the Aventador weighs only 229.5 kilograms (505 lbs) and boasts phenomenal torsional rigidity of 35,000 Newton metres per degree of twist. This guarantees a superb feeling of solidity, but, more importantly, extremely exact wheel control with superb steering precision and sensitive feedback. This new Lambo is powered by a 6.5-litre V12 engine that puts out a whopping 700 bhp of peak power and 690 Nm of maximum torque at 5,500 rpm. The engine is mated to an ISR (independent shifting rods) transmission, said to feature the fastest shifting robotised gearbox.

The weight of the Aventador being only 1,575 kilograms, the weight-to-power ratio stands at only 2.25 kilograms per hp. The 0-100 kmph acceleration figure clocks in at just 2.9 seconds and the top speed is 350 kmph. And yet, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are down by around 20 per cent compared with its predecessor, despite the considerable increase in power (up 8 per cent).

The Aventador's first year production is said to been sold out. If you are lucky and get to book one, expect a price tag of about a million dollars.

Montra Techno

For more than six decades TI cycles has been in the business of making bikes for commuters. A few years ago, the company also took the leap into making bicycles for enthusiasts. Foreseeing the evolution of biking in the country and the fact that the bicycle is fast becoming a lifestyle accessory too, TI has launched many new initiatives. One of them is its Track & Trail stores which today stock high-end bikes of imported brands like Bianchi, Schwinn, Cannondale etc.

Importing them is one thing, but to be able to manufacture an entirely indigenous high-end sports bike and price it in the Rs 70,000 range needs some spunk. TI took that plunge with the new Montra range of sporty high-end bikes. We got to ride the Techno and it's connect with the Lambo Aventador is the fact that this Montra model features a diamond frame that is entirely made out of carbon-fibre. Even the handle bar and twin fork is made with CFRP. The significant point to note here is of course, that all of this is made by TI engineers here and this model is unique because even some of the imported brands do not feature a full frame (including dropouts) in carbon-fibre.

The moment you swing your leg over the Montra Techno, there is an immediate sense of lightness. At just 8.5 kgs weight, this bike can be lifted up with one hand easily. It is at least 12 kgs lighter than the average steel frame bike and about 35 per cent lighter than aluminium framed bikes of similar size.

As with the Aventador, weight reduction is a significant advantage that carbon-fibre offers to the Montra Techno too. That is not the only benefit though. Unlike steel, carbon-fibre has a lot of self-absorption properties, so it doesn't transmit shocks that would otherwise reach the rider's back from the undulations on the road. Of course, carbon-fibre's torsional rigidity is another well-known benefit that will impart sturdiness and longevity to the bike.

Though it would have contributed to a further reduction in weight, to ‘Indianise' the bike TI chose not to go with more carbon-fibre components in the Techno! Wheels and a few other parts also made with the magic material would have needed much better road surfaces than what we get here if the ride was to continue to be comfortable. The bike we tested wore performance road tyres from Kenda.

The Techno is also the first bike with ten-speed shifters that have been specially sourced from SRAM. Shift speeds are quite quick and the quality is amongst the best in the class. To validate the quality of the newly manufactured carbon-fibre frame, TI engineers sought to put it through the famous JIS – Japanese test for structural rigidity and both the frame and fork cleared it.

The Montra range also includes other models like the Jazz and Country that offer aluminium frames or part carbon-fibre frames. The bikes are offered with straight handle bars with bar-ends in the interest of making them easy to ride in all conditions. They can also be ordered with dropdown bars for people who want a sportier ride position. Two more models are coming soon as part of the Montra range.

Lamborghini names its models after prize-winning bulls and the Montra range on the other hand seems to have gotten its inspiration from various genres of music. The Aventador and the Montra Techno are vastly different products though seemingly joined at the hip.

One is an Italian super model, the other is an Indian upstart, both are attempting to be fast, yet green, and both are equally unique and fantastic showcases for the magic material – carbon-fibre.

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