Can someone explain to me the purpose of carbon fiber?
I know it looks hot on the car and stuff, and i think it's supposed to be light in weight,
but is it just for looks or does it actually have a purpose

 

Lightweight.
Very strong.

As for what most people do with it? It's mostly for looks. In racing, it's mostly used for it's weight and strength, they don't care what it looks like - they want a car that doesn't weigh 2 tons.

That's why you'd swap your hood for a CF one, weight reduction. But that often becomes just cosmetic b/c the reduction isn't incredibly significant if you're just doing the hood.

 

We use carbon fiber composites to make fan blades, fan cases and high-temp applications. I design jet engine components for General Electric. Carbon fiber is light and stronger than most metals. It's also easy to shape into complex shapes. Race cars use it more for structural parts than body parts although it is being used more for that as well these days. There is currently a world shortage on carbon fiber material. We're probably using it up.