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 ...
It usually started. A friend got the clutch cable on backwards. Being a small woman it made it hard to drive. I finally sold it and the kid that bought told me why it hurt to use the clutch. lol
I think you’d were making a sound and honest judgment.
On highways with a lot of semis we get blown around in lighter cars. And, yes, that is scary. Especially when you’ve driven cars built in the 50’s and 60’s. A land barge isn’t blown around.
“All part of the grand plan to make more people rely on public transit and make it necessary to relocate to urban centers.”
I bought a cheap piece of property 20 miles from the edge of town. It’s gorgeous. But it cost .12 a mile to run my diesel car, which is way too small. (That’s $4.80 to drive to the gym.) I have an awesome 2003 Marauder but it cost .20 a mile or $10-15 to drive to the middle of town. At a town meeting they discussed ways to “force” people to use the bus. They were going to choke off the two main east/west roads. They did do it to one, but the outcry stopped them on the other. So, yes, our political leaders really do want to end the car and personal freedom. Incidentally, I’ll bet they all drive Mercedes and Volvos. They commute in from the fancy section in the north and probably never have to go east/west except to cross the choke points which would be no problem.
How about 5 kids and 4 adults in a 64 Bonneville (when grandparents visited)?
The toll takers at Nat Park entrances and ferry boats took a double take.
Fun getting to ride next to Grandma or Grandpa.
That blur you just saw was my Shelby GT500 blowing the doors off of your Scion FR-S.
You had one adult more than us. Those trips were fun.
428 Baby!!!!!
On the other hand, a lot of young women bought Chevettes because they were affordable. Which gave lots of young men opportunites to repair those cars or otherwise rescue stranded damsels.
I remember. :-)
So you are the one tailgating me and getting a free ride using my slipstream!
Really doesn’t matter to me, my cars are 14, 21 and 51 years old and with the financial prospects I have endured and foresee in the future, one of these new fangled crap wagons are about as likely to find me behind the wheel as the next entry on the periodic table being unobtanium.
If in a car crash the fire would burn the hemp fiber and the wreckage would smell of marijuana.....
I had one to it had a street sign for a floor board.
p.s. Went to eat supper.
Street signs work. ;-)
Hey, I want a vehicle I can drive, not a danged tumbleweed. The wind here messes with you enough without making the vehicle so light you have to haul ballast.
It was great if you locked your key in the car. :-)
Absolutely. 50lb bags of anything over the rear wheels is ridiculous. But we have to meet those government regulations!
It would be. Somehow I never managed to lock my keys in.
And your average parking lot bump becomes horrendously priced.
After the small car I graduated to 78 T-Bird.
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