SOCKS_old

just watch.

very cool idea.

G I N A

DTN

I like it. It sounds like a great idea.

tanc

Maybe I'm just an ass but a knife would f*** up that car in a heart beat.

DTN

^^ You could frack up any car with a knife, this is just like a rag top over the entire car. It's just a new thing. People always come up with a way to criticize new stuff. I think it's a great idea and with a bit of R&D, some strategically placed sensors and a camera could solve any problems with vandals. Technology is cheap these days. Knowing you're going to get your picture taken if you cut the fabric or bump the car would be enough to keep most people from messing with it.

StrikeEagle

I love the idea (although I'm always a sucker for new technologies like this...) However, a number of points:
Cons:
1. Wind - if you went too fast, would it mess up, peel back, or start flapping?
2. Durability - could a rock or bird hit it and not mess anything up? (same thing with knife comment)
3. Long lasting - can this material last more than a few years?
4. Sound - This probably doesn't keep out road and wind noises nearly as well as an aluminum body or something similar.
5. Color - I assume you couldn't repaint your car?
6. Safety/sturdy - can this or the frame hold up to a crash?

Pros:
1. Georgeous. I love the idea of redefining how a car looks, especially in terms like this. Plus it's so customizeable, hopefully even with just a few buttons and levers. And. It can wink. SOLD!
2. Price/replacability - it sounded as though you could easily have it replaced, and hopefully for a low cost. Probably get a different color if you wanted. Also makes fixing up a 'knifing' a lot easier.
3.Did I mention how good it looked?

So it's a genius technology, but I assume it has a few years of development before hitting the markets, mainly to cover all the cons I mentioned, but I hope it will be a big seller!

01steve

saw this on floridatibs the other day-...

i think it's stupid-...

apparently i was the only one who thought it was stupid (01steve)

SOCKS_old

lol. some of you guys need to think a little more into this.

they obviously aren't going to develop a technology and use regular fabric.. there are some fabrics that can hold up to pretty much anything.

it obviously has a great stretch factor.

to go into some of the cons of this idea.
1. Wind - its stretched on material, probably some advanced fabric that wont move during higher speeds
2. Durability - it obviously has great stretch capabilities and im sure its durable.. and about the knife thing, as stated a knife could mess up any paint/body
3. Long lasting - look at the fabrics on convertable tops. they last a long time, specially on higher end cars, this fabric would probably be much more durable.
4. Sound - not sure, but they could address this issue by using foam of some sort. convertables dont have terrible road noise and they are pretty much fabric, a little foam wrapped around a frame.
5. Color -they said it only takes about 2 hours to install it, so all you would need is a different color fabric and voila new color in 4 hours.
6. Safety/sturdy - the frame is probably, and i think it was touched on, a tubular frame style which could be stronger than typical frames.. most cars body panels these days dont really protect you at all, and this would just be replacing body panels.

and unless the technolody caught on, it would probably be a pretty penny to replace some things, but if the technology caught on, this would be a pretty cost effective techonology i would think.

couple things i really liked..

the seemless looks..
the 'nonexistent' lights
the instant body line changes
completely new idea that could use less steel and potentially cost less for consumers and weigh less and im sure there could be other benefits.

tanc

I'd rather have a scratch on my fender than a rip. What would I do than, tarp tape it or replace the skin? Could be very expensive vehicle to maintain.

'treezy

a car like that would be my "status" car. i would never drive a car like that to the grocery store or to run my errands. When I'm going for a night out on the town I'd take this car and it'd go straight from the garage to the valet parking lot and then back to my garage. At busy intersections I would wink at hot women and they would join me on my night out ('course). and it would be totally baller'. LOL

I don't see that becoming a standard skin on your Civics, and Camrys..

radu_rd2

^ at least not until you can find some chinese knockoff on ebay lol