[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by cfg83

autoteach -

I would compromise. Keep the safety in, which assumes(?) a ~29% gain in weight on average, but offer lower HP engines, aka engines that represent a ~29% gain instead of an ~86% gain (as the original article states).

But wouldn't a lighter car also have lighter safety equipment?
Take a 2000kg luxury car, pull out the electric/electronic gizmos and you save 200-400 kg. Another 100-200kg can be saved by replacing the 3.5 liter V6 with a turbocharged, aluminum block, 100hp 4-banger, and the auto trans with a manual. By now, the crumple zones have to handle 30% less momentum in a crash than in the original car, so they don't have to be so buffed up. And what about making the whole chassis out of aluminum (like the Audi A2)?

Of course, things like airbags still must be present, and I don't know whether their weight can be reduced.