Use of Fiberglass in Cars

Compared to the automobiles of yesterday, the newer models are made using much more lightweight materials. The early versions of car models were almost exclusively made from hard metals, but today’s auto manufacturers have started using fiberglass in cars both as a way to keep production costs down and to improve the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. This is a natural evolution of the car making process and represents an improvement in how the cars are made. The fiberglass resin is more resistant than most people imagine and provides an excellent covering for the frame of the vehicle.

While the frame of a new vehicle is still composed of steel or other hard metals, the door panel and body panels are almost always now made from the fiberglass resin. One strong advantage of the fiberglass body is that it is more resistant to light damage. Instead of a small accident causing a terrible dent to the metal panels, the fiberglass panels have more flexibility and can often simply pop back into shape. The main other advantage of fiberglass in cars is the fuel efficiency. Because the body panels weigh much less than their older counterparts, they create less of a resistance and the car is able to travel further on the same gallon of gasoline.

Experts in the car industry state that there are both advantages and disadvantages to using the fiberglass panels in place of traditional stronger metals. The main disadvantage of fiberglass in cars is that it offers less protection than the metals. However, the development of new safety technologies, such as airbags and anti-lock braking systems have actually made the newer cars safer from an overall perspective. With these advanced safety features, a person can rest assured that the fiberglass in cars is not a threat to their personal health.