GM Lab Eco Initiative: investigating the "bare necessity" car & truck

[shovel]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

If my legs were flamingo-hinged, that just might work.

It's a little bigger than it looks, when I first saw it I was thinking samurai-size, but it's kinda more trooper-size. At 6'1" I'd confidently hop into one. But regardless of brand and model, that vehicle does illustrate how to shrink the front of a pickup without necessarily shrinking the bed. If they wanted to take a serious bite outta the pickup market it would have to be a serious pickup though... not an exercise in half-assery like the ridgeline.

[MetroMPG]

I wonder if this counts as a "bare necessity car": http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...nal-11841.html

[shovel]

Introducing the 2011 General Motors "Bare Necessity Car & Truck"




Comes with these fresh-for-2011 features! Runs on "Green" Biodiesel! Gets 40+ Mpg! Made from 90% recyclable material! (aka steel)

[TomO]

Originally Posted by shovel

Introducing the 2011 General Motors "Bare Necessity Car & Truck"




Comes with these fresh-for-2011 features! Runs on "Green" Biodiesel! Gets 40+ Mpg! Made from 90% recyclable material! (aka steel)

They still make them too!
Edit: found a Wikipedia link to them HERE

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by shovel

It's a little bigger than it looks, when I first saw it I was thinking samurai-size, but it's kinda more trooper-size. At 6'1" I'd confidently hop into one. But regardless of brand and model, that vehicle does illustrate how to shrink the front of a pickup without necessarily shrinking the bed. If they wanted to take a serious bite outta the pickup market it would have to be a serious pickup though... not an exercise in half-assery like the ridgeline.

If it's that big, then what purpose does grafting an old van nose onto it serve?

Like taking a few inches of wheelbase and hood out if it does anything to improve efficiency?

Speaking of efficiency, I wanted to reach through the computer and strangle those punks on that video. They said "efficiency" about 87 times but didn't back it up with ANYTHING.

[shovel]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

If it's that big, then what purpose does grafting an old van nose onto it serve?

Like taking a few inches of wheelbase and hood out if it does anything to improve efficiency?

Less materials, less mass? I don't think making the first 5 feet of a vehicle serve no purpose beyond housing the prime mover, is a particularly efficient idea - especially given that it's fairly well established that a blunt nose can be about as aero-efficient as a sloping one.

[Frank Lee]

Were I to dig long enough I could probably find a pic of a '70s Chevy van chopped into a single cab with a pickup box on the back. There ya have it. Instant reduced driver ergos and engine access with no functional improvements.

[shovel]

I saw this in Jerome...

[Frank Lee]

HA! I saw one in MN too!

Actually the one I saw looked pretty nice- I wanted to chase it down and talk to the guy but didn't.

[rmay635703]

Thinking of trucks, the easiest way to increase a trucks FE is to decrease its frontal area AKA skinny, best examples are kei trucks, there is one Daihatsu in CA legally licensed has a turbo 660cc 2 cycle with a dual range 6sp transmission and 4wd. He bought it from the parks service, small as it is rated at 3/4 ton and he pulls an 20ft enclosed trailer with it. And it is dimensionally very small, without a load it gets in the 30's for FE

Perhaps time to reconsider how trucks are rated and built, there are many who use a truck but need a full size because of weight and strength limitations & reliability not because they need the full dimensions of the bed.

Just a thought, I love kei trucks but wish they were longer with a diesel