Article: Want cars to eat less? Put 'em on a diet

[roflwaffle]

Originally Posted by metroschultz

Down the street from me is a 1981 Scirocco, 1.8L for sale, asking $800, i bet he would take $600.It weighs in @ 1940#
I already have too many cars, not enough money.
I like sleeping in my house, if I get another car I would sleep outside.
Any Takers?
S.

Wrong coast...

[Yaristock]

I I remember correctly didn't the Fiats sold her in the past come with insta rust paint??? I'd kill for the new 500 though awesome little car I think its shorter than the Mini but I don't remember

[NoCO2]

*check*

That's just yet another tick on the sheet of reasons why I want to move out of this country.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Yaristock

I I remember correctly didn't the Fiats sold her in the past come with insta rust paint??? I'd kill for the new 500 though awesome little car I think its shorter than the Mini but I don't remember

My folks had a 70's Fiat. The car ran great and had no issues at about 60000 miles the bottom of the body was rusting quickly (only the bottom edge was rusted) then shortly after being inspected by a Fiat dealer who said it looked fine the wheels fell off in my aunts gravel driveway.

[TELVM]

99% of today's cars are ridiculously heavy because they keep building them with XIX century materials (iron/steel) and complete disregard for weight reduction.

Look at the aircraft industry. Since the ~1930s they are built in aluminium, with a growing percentage of composite materials since the ~1980s.


It's perfectly possible to make lightweight cars without sacrifising safety/creature comfort. Examples:

'92 McLaren F1: 1132 kg (2493 lbs), in spite of its huge 6-litre V12 engine. All carbon fibre composite monocoque & body.




'96 Lotus Elise: 755 kg (1663 lbs). Extruded aluminium spaceframe bonded with epoxi + GRP body. The chassis weights just an incredible 65 kg (143 lbs).




'99 Honda Insight: 820 kg (1806 lbs). All aluminium monocoque & body.




But instead they keep brainwashing us with the 'safety' of the ridiculously huge, heavy, inefficient and dangerous Suddenly Upside-down Vehicles.

[Daox]

To be fair, steel and iron are a little cheaper than aluminum, carbon fiber, and many composits materials. Thats no excuse for poor design where some of these more expensive materials can be put to good use. But, there is some reasoning going on here.

[TELVM]

Even with traditional & cheap steel there could be a lot of room for improvement:

Ultra Light Steel Auto Body (ULSAB) Project



The real problem is the vast majority of automakers and consumers couldn't care less about car weight reduction. As a matter of fact lots of people is convinced 'light cars are coffins' and 'heavy cars are safer', poor devils.


In the inmortal words of Sir Colin Chapman: "Simplify, then add lightness" .

[Big Dave]

I used to have a 2300 lb Cosworth Vega. Got fine mileage when I pulled my foot out of it. It would never pass todays crash safety regs.

Before everybody gets wrapped around the axle, I said safety regs not safety. The regs are truly mindless and require a M1A2 to comply.

[bhazard]

Originally Posted by getnpsi

ford festiva...under 2000 pounds and every mazda engine is an easy swap. ditch the 53hp for a 128-108-90-88 hp engine. so many options.

word yo!

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

What do you folks know about the method of molding carbon fiber that Amory Lovins talks about in this video?

Amory Lovins on winning the oil endgame | Video on TED.com

It gets sprayed on (mixed with nylon) and then heated. The parts snap together, and each piece is easy for one person to lift.

The prototype Toyota 1/X has a curb weight of 926 pounds. The Aptera Typ-1 is ~1400 pounds, and the prototype VW 1 Liter car was just 330kg.