Add your comments
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.
When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.
Please note that gratuitous links to your site are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments.
Paris Preview: Officially Official, Honda's new hybrid is the Insight!
Mazda Kiyora city car concept, MX-5 facelift head to Paris
Leaked: Official updated Mazda MX-5 image
Reader Spy: Chevy Volt caught on set of Transformers 2
Spy Shot: Production interior of Chevy Volt (maybe)
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Jaguar XF Supercharged
By the Numbers - August 2008: New Digs Edition
In the Autoblog Garage: KITT Shelby GT500 KR
First Drive: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Nissan Murano
Reader Comments for
Subscribe to this threadJapanese firms working to make carbon fiber mainstream
(Page 1 of 1)
vento97 @ May 12th 2008 6:36PM
I guess the Japanese are getting tired of importing recycled steel from the U.S. to manufacture their vehicles...
naggs @ May 12th 2008 7:47PM
pretty much everyone uses recycled steel, it is identical in quality and stregnth
knightuc1992 @ May 12th 2008 8:39PM
German automakers use galvanized steel (they have their own foundries), as well as some U.S. automakers. Japanese automakers use recycled steel imported from the U.S. (this is common knowledge in the auto body repair industry), since the island lacks the size and capacity to manufacture steel from mined iron ore, and it is cost-prohibitive to ship the raw iron ore from the U.S.
knightuc1992 @ May 12th 2008 8:47PM
Here's a link that provides some background on auto body construction. Take note of the paragraph describing the difference between the materials the Japanese use v.s. U.S. and Germany.
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=auto%20body
Travis @ May 12th 2008 11:56PM
Japan produces more steel than the United States does:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_steel_production
If the steel is harder, its because it was produced that way, probably so they have to use less of it (it is still an expensive commodity, esp. with prices going the way they are).
Steel is steel guys. "Recycled" steel is chemically, structurally, down to the atomic level, exactly the same as non-'recycled' steel.
Japan has less iron ore. But they produce more steel. That means they're importing...iron ore. The same stuff we use to make steel.
...how some of these 'facts' get disseminated is beyond me, really....
CMS @ May 16th 2008 6:22AM
Dont comment on what you dont know about. Japan imports its iron ore from Brazil/Austrailia (like most of the world). Scrap is used in ALL modern steel (20-30% in blast furnance and 80% in arc furnace applications). I could go on and on (I follow steel for a living) but needless to say there is NO difference between Japanese cars and domestic cars in this regard. These comments may be the most ignorant thing I have seen on the web today.
knightuc1992 @ May 13th 2008 12:55PM
Steel is steel guys. "Recycled" steel is chemically, structurally, down to the atomic level, exactly the same as non-'recycled' steel.
Tell that to some of the auto body shop technicians that I know. They told me from their experience that a fender bender which causes minor damage on a car with higher grade steel would result in thousands of dollars worth of damage on a Japanese car.
Case in point - my wife has a 2003 Passat. She was involved in two accidents - one was a chain reaction accident where she was hit from behind by an E-series Lexus and ran into another vehicle in front of her (an older Mercedes). When the State Trooper asked her if she was involved in the accident, she had to show him where the front and rear bumpers were pushed in. The bumpers were able to absorb the energy of the impact before it got to the body. The Lexus sustained heavy front end damaged like an accordion and had to be towed. The Mercedes sustained a dent in the bumper and was driveable. My wife was able to drive her car from the accident.
In the second accident, a clueless driver in a Malibu plowed into the back of my wife at a red light. The accident jarred her pretty good, but the only damaged sustained was her right side rear bumper was pushed in. Once again, the body was untouched - unlike the Malibu which sustained front -end damage including a big dent in the hood.
So you can pooh, pooh the 'facts' as you call them. The proof is in the pudding.
By the way, if this doesn't convice you, why don't you drive to a nearby auto recycling yard and observe the damage on some Japanese and German vehicles, and see for yourself. Or better yet, go to several auto body shops and ask their opinion on these cars. I have - because I prefer to see things firsthand for myself.
suburbicide @ May 14th 2008 1:17PM
knightuc1992: What do those anecdotes have to do with the strength of steel and what does that have to do with carbon fiber?
Many modern cars are designed to crumple in a collision instead of transmitting the force of a collision to the occupants. Other cars have bumpers (and underlying supports) that are better able to absorb and dissipate impacts than other cars.
Neither of these things are really related to either a) the "strength" of (German) steel or b) carbon fiber being used in more mainstream cars.
vento97 @ May 14th 2008 3:26PM
To satisfy the request of the "thread police", I offer this explanation:
It all started with a comment I made:
"I guess the Japanese are getting tired of importing recycled steel from the U.S. to manufacture their vehicles..."
Others responded, then I responded back.
It's part of the normal ebb and flow of discussion.
The end...
vento97 @ May 16th 2008 11:57AM
CMS:
"Dont comment on what you dont know about. Japan imports its iron ore from Brazil/Austrailia (like most of the world). Scrap is used in ALL modern steel (20-30% in blast furnance and 80% in arc furnace applications). I could go on and on (I follow steel for a living) but needless to say there is NO difference between Japanese cars and domestic cars in this regard."
Thank you, Doctor CMS for your expert opinion...
Please enlighten us on the difference between the steel used in Japanese cars and the galvanized steel used in German cars (I drive German cars, so I couldn't care less about domestic vehicles).