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 ...
The first car that I owned was a 67 Olds F-85.
For those in rio linde
In a Yugo
As the snow flies
At a used car lot on the edge of town
A liberal guy and a liberal gal
Buy a Yugo
And they drive with pride
Cause if there’s one thing that this world needs
It’s environmental friends who’ll take the lead
In a Yugo
They say, “people don’t you understand
Those suburbans are ruining the land”
But they’ll wish they had a full size van one day
They point fingers at you and me
They say we’re too blind to see
But do we simply use our heads
And choose another way?
As those small wheels turn
Fifty miles to the gallon
And their knees on their chest
They’re gonna save enough gas
For all of the rest
In a Yugo
Then one day on the interstate
They suddenly lose control
They swerve to miss a baby duck
They’re squashed beneath a produce truck
But they drove with pride...
And as the crowds drive past a little flat car
You know they saved a lot of gas
But they didnt get far
In a Yugo
And as they’re trapped inside
At a used car lot on the other side of town
A liberal guy and a liberal gal
Buy a Yugo....
And they drive with pride...
“I had one to it had a street sign for a floor board.”
I had a bug with a street sign floor board which had to be held up by a chain fastened to the clothes hanger clip over the door. You could see right down to the street and big puddles were no fun.
I want as much metal around me as I can get. The bigger the vehicle, the better.
Me too.
i’ll be driving older cars then.
My current car is a 98. I don’t plan on getting rid of it anytime soon.
I think that mine is an ‘02 or ‘03, with about 16,000 miles on it. I’d like to replace it with something that has more leg room. At one time, I commuted an hour each way to work, but now I am usually at home during the week.
These videos show how much safer an old car is vs. a new one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g&feature=kp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-WYKYrq5FI
Check out www.eliomotors.com
$6,800 84 MPG 100 MPH AC and radio. Supposed to be getting a 5 star crash rating. Pep Boys will be doing the servicing and repairs. Production starts 2015. They are taking orders now. We are seriously thinking about getting one. It would be a great commuter car.
Some years ago, early 80’s maybe, my Dad was in a highway accident. He had a mint, 1960’s, no rust, Chrysler Imperial. The other people had a newer car. Dad walked away.
And in a car like that, he didn’t have much chance of avoiding the collision.
A few years back, I had a guy in a full-size pickup pull out in front of me, about 30 feet ahead of me.
If I had been driving a barge like the Imperial, I might have walked away. But I also would have t-boned the pickup and I doubt the driver would have been walking for a while, if ever.
But because I had an unsafe modern car, with excellent suspension and brakes, I missed his rear bumper by a foot, and we BOTH got to drive home that night.
That's an assumption on your part, especially since I didn't describe any details.
Tiny death boxes aren't my idea of safe. Apparently they are yours so we disagree.
Ford is coming out with the 2015 F series that is going to have aluminum in it. They are risking the best selling vehicles, but they want to meet the CAFE standards.
Here’s a crash test video of a 2001 Ford F-150:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB0araA0T_k
By your standards, that vehicle should be pretty safe in a crash, but it’s actually a death trap.
Because of this, Ford redesigned the F-150 to modern standards, and they are now much, much better.
Oh, and the “tiny death box” that I drive is only a couple of hundred pounds lighter than the ‘59 Chevy that folded up like an aluminum beer can.
I go by facts, not mythology.
This one’s painful to watch for several reasons, not the least of which is a nice looking ‘59 Chevy Bel Aire being demolished. It does demonstrate, however, the advances in vehicle crashworthiness from then until now. It’s crashed into a 2009 Chevy Malibu, which fares well by comparison.
That blur you just saw was my Shelby GT500 blowing the doors off of your Scion FR-S.
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