Carbon Fiber

America's team BMW Oracle Racing (BOR) has taken full advantage of a "wide open" set of design rules for this year's America's Cup to produce one of the most staggering and ambitious vessels ever seen on the water. Throwing out the cloth main sail, team BOR have fitted the BOR 90 with a gargantuan, motorized, solid carbon-fiber wing, nearly twice the size of a Boeing 747 wing at 190ft, or 57 metres tall. The engineering and logistics surrounding this incredible boat are mind-boggling - imagine trying to work out where to store the giant wing structure, how to transport it and how to fix it vertically onto a boat - let alone how to sail the thing - but the benefits of a non-deforming main sail include the potential for the multimillion-dollar trimaran to travel at up to 2.5 times wind speed. It's a crazy, massively expensive and hugely risky experiment that's never even been prototyped, and will only get a few weeks' worth of testing before it races in February. Read More

Not even the recession can slow this supercar. The Revenge Verde is an American-made supercar that its designer believes has great export potential. The car is the result of Revenge's search for American-made supercar components, assembled in America, built for supercar enthusiasts – not just in America. Sourcing the “best from the best” parts helps keeps the price of this beast within reach of many muscle car owners – around US$200,000. Among the mid-engined Verde’s supercar features are three drive chain and power train options, including the Ford 605hp motor, the GM 638hp motor, or an HP2g V8 engine that runs on E-85 ethanol fuel and yet still impresses with its figures: 400hp, 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds, a top speed of 200mph+ while achieving an amazing 100mpg! Read More

UK car manufacturer Axon Automotive has used the Milton Keynes Science Festival to preview its plug-in hybrid lightweight passenger car. The car combines carbon fiber composite construction with a full electric mode for short-run local travel and a petrol or bioethanol-powered engine for longer distances or highway travel. Read More

It’s been a long time coming. The Lexus LFA that first appeared as a concept car at the 2005 Detroit Auto Show is finally production ready. Lexus made the announcement at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show where a prototype of the production car was on display along with a full-scale see through model in the company's “art gallery” - and the stunning 202mph V10 supercar is indeed worthy of a place in an art gallery, although keen collectors will still have to endure a bit more of a wait since the car isn’t expected to reach garages until early 2011, with only 500 units being produced. Read More

Designed totally inside Lexus by Lexus designers, this sleek electric pedal assist bicycle is among the many hidden gems to be unearthed at the 41st Tokyo motor show. Sporting carbon fiber everything – including the battery cover – the Lexus HB Concept has a 2WD system that uses a smaller electric motor on the front wheel and a larger pedal assist motor at the crank. Head on through to the video to learn more. Read More

Carbon fiber composite materials (CFRP’s – or carbon fiber reinforced plastics) permeate society in many objects we now take for granted. Vehicles, airplanes and protective equipment all benefit from the material’s light weight and strength. Recently, bicycles have been taking advantage of CFRP technology where reducing weight can mean the difference between winning and losing – even a tiny reduction can be a big deal when Olympic gold medals are at stake. Fraunhofer researchers in Germany will present a spring-loaded bicycle seat post made of CFRP’s at the Composites Europe trade show in Stuttgart on October 27-29. However, for some cyclists, winning isn't everything. It's comfort that comes in at number one. Read More

For many, the words “recumbent bicycle” conjure the image of a strange-looking vehicle with the rider set low to the ground achieving less than remarkable speeds. That perception could well become a thing of the past with the Cruzbike Silvio, the world’s only recumbent racing bike that is not only fully compatible with road bike components, but aims to eliminate many health problems associated with standard cycling. Read More

With a very sturdy folded steel frame and elegant simple design, the Mosquito or Mücke electric bike is one good-looking machine. Its 48V lithium batteries only cost a few (European) cents to charge up and will give a range of about 60km (37 miles). The 0.8kW motor produces a top speed of around 50km/h (31mph) and the bike also has a removable center pole for instant accessibility. Read More

German performance vehicle manufacturer Brabus has done it again with the “world’s most powerful high-performance sedan”. Brabus has a history of churning out high performance sedans, but the new Brabus E V12 'one of ten' unveiled at IAA 2009 outdoes all previous efforts. Dubbed the 'Black Baron', the car features a newly-developed SV12 R Biturbo 800 12-cylinder displacement engine boasting a rated power output of 800hp (788bhp), which is able to propel the car to a ridiculous top speed of more than 370kmh (230mph). Read More