its not really new and only one step up from using loose fibre reinforced plastics.  Loose chopped carbon strands have been used as a reinforcement for plastic for a few years now and is seen in a few production car panels as well as else where.

Sure its not the same as a full woven laminate but for mass production its much simpler yet still offers a significant performance advantage over a non-reinforced plastic.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Enjoy  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPXN4SBrYtg

The engine block idea would have massive weight saving potential.  eg a OEM spec iron cosworth YB 2.0 block weights 47kg.  The alloy race replacement weighs 26kg and a carbon composite replacement of that would have another good few kilos off the weight too.

the key issue I would expect is performance under repeated heat expansion and contraction. You would need to formulate your resin system to have a similar expansion/contraction rate to the steel bore liners and other metal componantry.

The resin would also need to be 100% oil resistant as well as having a high resistance to the corrosive chemicals in combustion products and some antifreezes.  last thing youd want is the oilways and waterways in your block going soft and pourous in time!!!

Im not sure if a composite could be made to work on the rotating parts and even if it could, you would be making the engine rotational mass very low which would have drastic effect on engine running.  Would be fine on some race applications but would be horrible for a road engine unless you fitted a very heavy flywheel to dampen it down.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Hi, I found this topic now.
Are you sure that they use epoxy or other type thermoset resin?
I work in company that makes composite parts for airplanes (Airbus, Boeing and Dassault) as production engineer and we have development programs too. And for some application we can use forged carbon with thermoplastic resin. It is high tech thermoplastic polymer. It has better properties and performances in comparsion with epoxys... But it Is little bit heavier 

Yeh I've played around with thermoplastics, but all the ones I've used are a 200C melting point, which makes it an ali tool only sort of product. Not much use for it for me, but for any big companies doing mass production (like BMW, Boeing, etc) the very quick cycle times would make it pretty viable over thermosets. Being able to make a whole roof with outer and inner skins bonded together and perfectly trimmed all in one hit in less than 5 minutes - cant do that with a thermoset.

Ive worked with the smc /bmc material that is being floated around as forged carbon. Ive used a few different types from quantum hexcel and another company.
Its usually an epoxy resin system cured around 150 degrees.
The thermoplastic sheets also known as organo sheets are usually pei or pps and require a forming temp of around 350degrees celsius. We use steel tooling for this as ali tools move about to much due to the expansion.