Hi Jim,
Well..... you can get a Ti subframe for the minis, but I wont be doing that! I've gone far enough and spent enough
.
It would defiantely be possible to make one out of carbon fibre though. I have seen some parts manufactured for BAE which were laid up like this to make a frame.
On a separate note, a fascinting subject I discussed recently was the use of blown Ti to make parts.
A new technique whereby, in the aerospace industry they make a die to suit a required shape, obtain a piece of Ti roughly the size of the shape (only smaller). Bombard the Ti material to make microscopic holes in it, then impregnate this with a gas so that the Ti material has gas inside the microscopic holes of the Ti material, then place it in the die and heat it up to a certain temperature that allows the Ti to flow whilst allowing the gas to expand further.
The result of this is that you 'grow' the Ti material to fit the die (if it goes to plan). Kind of like casting. However this method is more like making a sponge cake in a sponge tin to be honest.
End result is a product with incredible strength and even less weight.