Kognition Carbon Fiber Hood Review

[mmdb]

I finally picked up my hood from Mike over at Kognition Design over in El Cajon, CA :D. Upon initial inspection I was very pleased. Build quality looked excellent, and i could see that Mike put a lot of detail into what he was building. Mike stated the hood weighed in at ~14lbs. Compared to the stock hood, I could pick up this one with one hand, and it definitely put a big smile to my face. The underbody skeleton of the hood itself looked to be very good quality, and again looked to be developed using a lot of time and detail. It was pleasing to see to say the least. Upon feel, the hood feels feather light, and using a single hand to raise it feels almost weightless. Mike later showed me the mold to develop the top and bottom skeleton, and I was amazed at the amount of reinforcement the OEM hood had... I could understand WHY the OEM hood was so damn heavy in the first place. Again, mold looked great and it reflected in the product.

When it came time to install I was anticipating the hood to be off a bit. But to my surprise the thing just bolted right up and aligned similar to my OEM hood (keep in mind my fenders have problems of their own aligning to the car :)). I felt that this is where my purchase with Mike at Kognition paid off. After aligning the hood we installed Aerocatch hood pins without much effort. The whole install took about 3-4 hours with occasional tours around his facility.

Now the hood does not have a OEM hood latch. It could be good, or bad for some. But in my opinion the OEM hood latch implemented and sold by other companies has a terrible fit, or could break (according to online reviews). I highly recommend using hood pins whenever upgrading to a composite type of hood. So in my case it was not an issue. The OEM hood latch was removed so it maybe saved an extra 1lbs? :o

In conclusion I'm glad I waited for the hood (it's been 2-3 years!.. don't expect to wait that long for the hood btw... Mike was busy living his life :)). You do get what you pay for. As for driving impressions, I'm guessing it's more of a placebo effect, but the car feels lighter on its feet. Regardless, lighter is better!


Mike installing the hood while I zone out.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/mmdb/kognition%20hood/photo24.jpg

A not-so-great picture of the underbody. I'll take more pictures of it later. But check out the hood stand. Pretty nice eh?

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/mmdb/kognition%20hood/photo34.jpg

Picture of the hood outside...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/mmdb/kognition%20hood/photo.jpg

Top view...

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/mmdb/kognition%20hood/photo1.jpg

[illvialuver]

So it is just an oem replacement hood? I was expecting vents or some shit somewhere, it looks good though.

[PhantomK]

how much was the hood?

[unreal-]

looks great!

What kind of wing are you using?

[GSXRJJordan]

Looks fantastic. Way to go :)

Wing looks like a JDM kouki wing with a gurney flap?

[Enna]

Fuck yeah. Now I just can't wait to see the final pics of the vented version. I want this so fucking bad....

[TurboFC3C]

what kind of projectors are you using?

[ManoNegra]

Very nice, your car is a source of inspiration
it's refreshing to see a car built right and not to appeal to the 'it's-all-about-looks' crowd

[RPSil13]

looks good, i like the new wheels too
hows the g-meter working for you?
can you pm me the shops # that did your swap
thanks
Art

[mmdb]

So it is just an oem replacement hood? I was expecting vents or some shit somewhere, it looks good though.

I requested an OEM style hood. I'm sure mike could work with you if you wanted a hood vent.

how much was the hood?

I paid ~1.1k. Mike mentioned the price to drop as he was going to hold a group buy. Expect a lower price.

looks great!

What kind of wing are you using?

Looks fantastic. Way to go :)

Wing looks like a JDM kouki wing with a gurney flap?

Thanks! The wing is an OEM JDM Kouki wing with a BMW E30 gurney flap. It's difficult to know if it produces any sort of additional down force. I'll be transitioning to a kognition wing later on.

Fuck yeah. Now I just can't wait to see the final pics of the vented version. I want this so fucking bad....

Hmm maybe i should've gotten a vented version... 0.o haha. I'm sure it'll be of good build quality as well.

what kind of projectors are you using?

They E46 single xenon projectors. If i could do it again I'd probably go s2k or tsx, but it's been a while.

Very nice, your car is a source of inspiration
it's refreshing to see a car built right and not to appeal to the 'it's-all-about-looks' crowd

Thanks for the complement! I think, when approaching to build a car to be fast and handle well, will look great. I like a simple look without much flare. I stick all of my stickers/autographs on my gurney flap or under the hood.

looks good, i like the new wheels too
hows the g-meter working for you?
can you pm me the shops # that did your swap
thanks
Art

I think the G meter is good for general direction (ie if you want to see if a brake pad adjustment is working well). At the race track you really need to memorize how many G's you hit in a certain corner, what racing line you were taking, how fast you were going, what gear you were in, what your braking and acceleration points you were using, etc... and it becomes a hassle. I use it more of a fun tool to see how hard I took a certain corner and how much more I can push it. I'd recommend using something more hardcore, but for 100 bucks you can't go wrong!

[Chad4061]

looks good man...i got a seibon hood and gonna be installing some aerocatch hood pins.just curious...is there a particular reason why you have your latches turned horizontal instead of the usual vertical position?

[ILoveMyRHS13]

I don't think I've ever seen your car. It looks badass! The hood looks great, too. Kognition is awesome.

[CamryOnBronze]

That looks great, props to Mike!

[dan240]

Hood looks great.

Thread for build/motor swap?

[Quail]

I don't think I've ever seen your car. It looks badass! The hood looks great, too. Kognition is awesome.

^ My thoughts exactly. Have you got a build thread/more pics anywhere? :)

[510-SR20DET]

holy shit 1.1 K and waited for years? I don't know if i still have my car by the time the hood is made. lol

[TravisSW]

I'm very impressed!

How much was it? My Zenki CF hood is faded to hell and not so much back. I'd like to get a new one.

Any possible CF trunks?

[kognition]

lol, not exactly. I made half of the mold last Oct. Wife had baby, and i closed for about 6 months. Then recently finished bottom half mold. It wasn't really a priority part for me, because the market is saturated with carbon hoods. I will probably only make ten more this year. Too busy with my track wings these days.

holy shit 1.1 K and waited for years? I don't know if i still have my car by the time the hood is made. lol

[Danco29]

how long will it take to make a wing? also wat price range am i looking at?

[kognition]

Wings are $1,200 + Shipping
The new wing production begins in one week. Backlogged with orders, so about three weeks from 1st day of production.


how long will it take to make a wing? also wat price range am i looking at?

[S14-vietusmc]

Plan on doing 5 kouki and 5 zenki?

[kognition]

No sorry guys. Just Kouki.

Plan on doing 5 kouki and 5 zenki?

[randyjordan]

so did not know kognition was in el cajon

i live really close :D

that hood looks amazing

good choice of hoodpins as well

[dynamicck]

Car is looking good Jimmy!

I love that LS1!

[mmdb]

looks good man...i got a seibon hood and gonna be installing some aerocatch hood pins.just curious...is there a particular reason why you have your latches turned horizontal instead of the usual vertical position?

Thanks! The hood latches were installed that way to minimize cutting the CF structure underneath, not to say you can't do it all at.

Hood looks great.

Thread for build/motor swap?

It's scattered all over the places (LS1tech.com and silviav8forums.com). There's countless examples of the swap on either site, but I'd start at silviav8forums.

^ My thoughts exactly. Have you got a build thread/more pics anywhere? :)

Thanks! Ls1tech and silvia8forums for the motorswap and nissanroadracing.com for my suspension tweaks 'n other suspension stuff.

Car is looking good Jimmy!

I love that LS1!

Thanks! Let's hit SOW some time!

[kenshinS14sks]

car looks mean! saw you on the 405 the other day and when i told you my name you had this :eek3: look on your face. good thing your sn's easier than mine. but man, didn't know you had an ls1 in there, siiiiiiiick car and hyper sexy. :rawk:

[mmdb]

Oh lol! Awesome! Yeah when you told me your name there was no way i was going to remember it! You're car was really clean and looks like we're running the same OEM aero cept yours is a zenki i think. I thought I saw that car somewhere before, maybe it was someone else's car though. I guess you work around there? I bet we'll run into each other again. ARG 405!!!!

[J.GENO]

i know this irrelevant but is that navan sideskirts?

[kandyflip445]

You NEED to put a numbered plate on these. Like 1 of 20. Watch it be worth a fortune later due to build quality and rarity.....



or it would just be cool. lol

[Ceepo]

i wish you made zenki hoods lol... i love koukis but its over played...

[S14-vietusmc]

No sorry guys. Just Kouki.

This is terrible news.

[kognition]

They are alot of work to make. It's like making a house house really.. they are so big. I don't really expect to sell many of them. I made the mold for my track car to be honest. I know the market is saturated with them.

You NEED to put a numbered plate on these. Like 1 of 20. Watch it be worth a fortune later due to build quality and rarity.....



or it would just be cool. lol

Overplayed to some, not to everyone. It's a body style, nothing more. Less drag on the track than the Zenki though.

i wish you made zenki hoods lol... i love koukis but its over played...

I havent even sold three hoods out of the overplayed Kouki mold, so you can imagine how many i would sell of the Zenki.

This is terrible news.

[kognition]

Here is a little better pic of the hood. I am doing a duct vent design for it. Which pushes radiator heat straight up and out. Again, for my track car, so it might be a little extreme looking for most street cars. :bow:
http://kognitiondesign.com/s14-hood-1.jpg
http://kognitiondesign.com/s14-hood-1.jpg

[sncs14]

This is terrible news.

Not really:keke:

Mike, How much would shipping to the east coast be?