Abstract: A fiber reinforced composite product produced in accordance with a process in which yieldable, high strength carbon or graphite fibrous materials are formed into a substrate that has been optimized for final product application through the accurate control of its shape, cross-sectional configuration, density, fiber volume and internal fiber orientation. While constrained to the desired configuration, the optimized substrate is infiltrated with a pyrolytic material in a manner as to structurally bond together the fibrous materials which make up the substrate. The article thus formed is then densified in a controlled manner by further infiltration with pyrolytic material to the degree necessary to achieve the desired final product density.