2009 Chevrolet Corvette Z06

[culver]

Originally Posted by Turbo.Jenkens

In its defense, the balsa wood is sandwiched between layers of carbon fiber.

The balsa is actually a very cleaver, outside the box solution for a major auto maker. The balsa is used as a honeycomb core in the floor panels (aluminum-balsa in standard Vettes, Carbon Fiber-balsa in the Z06 and ZR1). The balsa core happens to be a great natural honeycomb element. Honestly I can’t think of any other volume (even low volume) road car which uses honeycomb panels. Anyway, the panels are very light for their stiffness and have inherent nose damping. This solution was first developed for the C5 and was one of many ideas the engineers considered. Based on the book All Corvettes are Red, the engineers where quite pleased with their unusual solution. I think Morgans are the only other car made today which use wood as something other than a cosmetic feature.

[Cyco]

Most of the 'supercars' use Aluminium (or Nomex) honeycomb with CF faces.

[Lotec_Sirius]

Nice, but I definitely prefer the previous Z06's rims