Quote:
Originally Posted by renault_megane_dci
About the weight, we need to remember that 21st century cars are inherently heavier than those three decades older because there is much more mandatory things in them, not to mention crash performance.
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Yup. In the 80s the CRX was lighter than a 2ZZ Lotus Exige. Nowadays, the VW XL1 manages that curb weight but has to use carbon fiber and hollowed out parts everywhere to do it.
The Alfa 4C was supposed to be an ultralight with its carbon fiber chassis, but even that one ballooned by several hundred pounds when it was adapted for US standards.
That said they did manage to get the ND Miata below 2300lb with very little aluminum used, but that's probably as good as it gets. I think in the next decade to come the best we'll see is maybe a bit more aluminum usage in the industry for slightly lighter cars than what we have now.