Posted on 06/09/2014 1:10:56 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Roofs made of carbon fiber. Plastic windshields. Bumpers fashioned out of aluminum foam.
What sounds like a science experiment could be your next car.
While hybrids and electrics may grab the headlines, the real frontier in fuel economy is the switch to lighter materials.
Automakers have been experimenting for decades with lightweighting, as the practice is known, but the effort is gaining urgency with the adoption of tougher gas mileage standards. To meet the government's goal of nearly doubling average fuel economy to 45 mpg by 2025, cars need to lose some serious pounds.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
Are you certain that he knows what entropy is? ;-)
I had a chevette. We called it the Shove-it.
Ford Fiesta
LOL!!!!!
It's amazing we survived in the old days. All metal dash, no seatbelts, what could go wrong? Every time in the 1950s when my dad had to hit the brakes, his arm would instinctively go out in front of my chest to stop me from hitting the dash. That's how it was. The cars survived better than people, no damage at slow speeds up to 15mph. Not so much for your head.
It was interesting to ride in in winter. Cold air blew in on your legs. Nasty. I pushed it off the road quite a few times hence the name “Shove it”
Back in 1984 I worked for a company that made high end kayaks. The Kevlar boat was twice the price of the fiberglass model. They took the same amount of time to lay up in the exact same mold. The Kevlar was lighter and stronger. The Kevlar boat sold to people who were world class competitors.
There is a reason why a Bell helicopter costs $2 million. Kevlar is very expensive.
Nice picture of a 1928 or 1929 Ford Model A Sport Coupe. Not a model T though...
I remember seating 3 adults and 5 kids in a car. We took road trips. You couldn’t get that many in a car now. It was a 61 Olds 98. Beautiful car.
Ford gave a glimpse of the future last week with a lightweight Fusion car. The prototype, developed with the U.S. Department of Energy
And thanks for telling me what it is. :-)
One of the things that made America grow is energy and transportation were cheap. Now they’re both expensive. In 1955 my dad paid $2,500 for a V8 Dodge Royal with rubber mats, three on the tree, a 270 cube V8, standard brakes and no air. In 1970 he bought a Dodge Polara, all the parts for which were interchangeable with the 1955. It had a 318 V8, automatic transmission, Air conditioning and a luxurious carpeted interior. It cost $3,400. Considering how superior the car was it hadn’t increased in price much if at all over the 1955 model. But now a typical car runs $30,000. It’s tiny and yes it gets 30 mpg but it costs .15 a mile just for gas.
Incidentally, a huge part of the cost increase is due to deficit spending and printing money. But wages have not kept pace and people on fixed incomes are really screwed.
I didn’t notice you’re in England ,, you have much more to choose from there. In the USA we call that an Elantra GT and it is gas 2 liter ,, excellent car.
A lot of people called it the shove-it ‘cause if you had a stick that was the only way to get it running sometimes. Some guys in high school called it the birth control car because if a girl saw you driving it your chance of getting laid fell alarmingly fast.
CC
I would be a cynic for thinking the test standards have changed, right?
Triumph TR5
VW Karmann Ghia
BMW 318
and I currently drive a Honda S2000.
Never felt in the least unsafe in 20+ years of driving.
And I let the kids (now grandkids) ride with me too, without crash helmets. Wooooo, scaaaarrryyy, innit??
All part of the grand plan to make more people rely on public transit and make it necessary to relocate to urban centers.
Similar story. I had a 1976 green Volvo 240 4 door. I called it the tank. These were the Volvos with the 2.4 liter four cylinder engine that would go 400,000 miles. I slid into my driveway one winters night and bounced it off of 3 maple trees. I had to replace the 1/2” chrome strip that ran horizontally down one of the doors. No other damage to it.
Another story. My parents had an International Harvester Travelall. It was the original SUV. The bought it back in the early 1970’s to pull a travel trailer. My oldest brother rolled it(360 degrees)with two of his buddies in it.
He drove it home. It had superficial minor damage. None of them got hurt other than a couple bruises.
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