Lightweight Fusion
Ford Just Unveiled A Fusion That Weighs As Little As A Fiesta
Ford Fusion with heaps of lightness added allowing no change in performance when downsizing to an Ecoboost 1.0L. Obviously costs are high and many methods are not ready for production cars, but still an interesting study. |
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What could they do with the Fiesta? :D |
1.0 Ecoboost 2DR 6 speed tall geared alloy everywhere, removeable back seat, flat floor, 2100 pounds, idle stop, 55 MPG, more when hypermiled.:thumbup:
Ya asked Mech |
"Developed with a Grant..." B.S.! :mad:
Ford made an aluminum Taurus decades ago. They know darn well how to do it and what the effects are. Ford Drops Plans For Aluminum Taurus-sable - Orlando Sentinel Ford's Super-Rare Taurus SHO-Powered Aluminum Super-Sable And all the N.A. automakers got a HUUUGGGGEEE Grant in the PNGV (Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles) Program: news: US DOE starts Freedom CAR, retires PNGV United States Council for Automotive Research - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Fusion space for Fiesta weight, or Accord space for Civic weight.
What might a compact car like a Civic, or a really petite car like the already-featherweight Metro, weigh at the scale when built to similar spec? |
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But keep in mind, this isn't just an aluminum Fusion. It's high strength steels, carbon fiber wheels and oil pan, composite and hollow-steel springs, plastic windows, etc. While I don't expect to see this Fusion in production, I would guess elements of it will show up in Ford's product line when they work out the bugs in manufacturing them. |
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The fans of the sport model Fiesta (ST?) would have gone equally bananas as the efficiency-minded. |
COMMENT about marketing & PR:
"Milking" a cow is NOT the same as "milking" the bull... |
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They did make a few major suspension packages that were the same as their WRC car (I think this is part of one: https://www.fordracingparts.com/part...KeyField=22427). |
I think Ford (or any other company for that matter) needs a platform like the Fusion to work out the kinks in before transitioning into an ultra light Fiesta. The average consumer would freak if they saw a Fiesta marketed for $50k (they start around $14k real world). The fusion on the other hand is a much more refined vehicle and a better starting platform (not to mention a tricked out Fusion runs around $38k to begin with).
If Car companies can make this technology work (and become profitable) then that technology will trickle down and become cheaper as it does with all advancements. What I dream about is a mid sized pickup that with these aluminum/carbon fiber technology with a small diesel. I know it wouldn't be any good for towing, because the tow vehicle would be so light relative to the pay load. But if it could haul 1,000 lbs in the box and tow 3,000 lbs and still get 50mpg unloaded... Anyway, what I'm saying is a mid priced sedan is the perfect place to start. That puts it in the price range of the average middle class family (just barely), and puts a bunch of them on the road. As they get better at producing/tweaking the production, it will scale down and up the entire fleet roster. Imagine what a Fiesta or Chevy Spark would end up weighing...a very light and inexpensive .5L turbo would be adequate and return amazing MPG. |
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