Is carbon fiber really that much more expensive than than graphite?
I can buy a brand new offroad MF2 elec. truck for around 250.This includes a body,, a set of tires,, and all the aluminum,, titanium,ubtanium,graphite,goodies one could ask for and, I know I'm leaving more stuff out.Plus a set of instructions that a ten year old could follow.
The TC4 Factory edition is about to be realesed.I guess the graphite tub chassis wasn't good enough so they are now using a carbon fiber upper and lower deck.So now the price has gone up almost 100 bucks.Oval pan cars seem to be high priced to ME< too.Just standing looking at my pan car compared to my offroad truck it looks to me like I get a lot more for the buck with the offroad truck.
Not bashing anything here its just that other non racers that see my stuff seem to agree.
Is carbon fiber more expensive to cut n shape than graphite?

carban fiber is not only more rigid and durable, but it is more expensive to make... molded parts start out as a liquid.. they are mass produced... carbon fiber is laid out in layered sheets.. then each individual part has to be cut...more time, and more material..

carbon parts are also more precise and acuurate.. molded parts can be tweaked, even if they are new...

The reason pan cars are so expensive is that there just isn't nearly as many of them sold. You can buy a 4wd sedan that has been cut out of carbon fiber plate for about the same price as a pan car and the sedan has three times the parts of the pan car for about the same price.

Now I must digress: Actually the Carbon Fiber and Graphite terms are really the same thing (I use to work in the composite industry).

The stuff pan cars is made out of is typically refered to as woven plate carbon fiber and the fibers in it are made from graphite. The molded stuff that offroad chassis are made out of starts out as some resin and some unidirectional fiber exactly like the woven cloth.