[blackwidow99]

So why don't they make carbon fiber driveshafts for us? any clue guys?

[pittyinSC]

Cause we don't need it and these cars aren't performance oriented enough...I guess.

[mike-y]

while carbon fiber is very light and strong, it is also very brittle compared to steel. I'm not sure I'd want to replace a major drive train component (like the driveshaft) with CF on a daily driven vehicle. Parts like that will need to be checked (and even replaced) much more often than an oem steel part.

I've seen pictures of a failed CF driveshaft, and it had literally splintered and exploded into thousands of pieces. didn't look pretty.

[bavarian19]

Even the 599 GTB uses a steel driveshaft. I don't see why you would want one.

Lose weight yourself.

[blackwidow99]

^ You're right, but losing my weight, wouldn't that be considered static weight opposed to the driveshaft's unsprung weight. Which overall should be more effective. I'm guessing the drive shaft is considered unsprung in this case, am i right?

[mike-y]

no, the drive shaft is considered sprung weight because all the parts it attaches to are fixed to the chassis, which is suspended by the suspension (hence, sprung). only things that are not supported by the suspension are unsprung (wheels, tires, brakes, hubs, etc).

what you are probably thinking about is a CF driveshaft will have less rotational inertia than a steel one, so it *may* allow for quicker acceleration (sort of like a lightened flywheel effect). but how much is hard to say, since the driveshaft has a very small diameter compared to something like a flywheel, so inertia is going to be a lot less than something like a large wheel and tire.

and realistically, when you weigh in the cost and risk of failure, it's probably not worth it.

[Turkishexpress]

+1 Very good explanation...

Just get lighter wheels. Its cheaper and easier to do

[blackwidow99]

Thanks mike-y for the explanation. I get it now. Your probably right about risk of failure.

[ZBMW]

The 350Z came with a light gauge aluminum tube wrapped with CF to make a very strong and light drive shaft. So they are available.