Will manufacturers make lower weight cars anytime soon?

The graphene meme needs to happen and/Or CF needs to get cheaper. Or they could use fibreglass and have a metal inner skeleton but NOOOO PLASTIK BAD METAL STRONK

>>17441225
light weight at a low cost usually means low durability. that ford concept was running on super thin tires and still was estimated to cost far more than the car it was based on

>>17441233
I'd happily have a plastic shelled car over steel. Would it be safe?

>>17441225
Cheap, reliable, safe - pick two

>>17441274
Cheap and cheap
>T. China

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>>17441331
your order has arrived

I don't get this either. Surely all you need is a strong box to contain the occupants. Why can't the panels be fibreglass and bolt on? Has to be a scam

>>17441225
They tried this, no one in America buys them. Look at the MX5/S2K/FRS sales numbers. Now look at Mustang and Camaro sales numbers. More Mustangs are sold in America alone than all of those cars do worldwide combined. The fact is that people only care about safety and muh HP and to get a light weight car to be fast, a manufacturer needs to use more expensive materials to build it, raising the cost of production significantly to keep the car viable. Then you run into a problem where no one is going to pay $50000 for a 300hp car from any mass manufacturer when you can get a car with 400+ hp for 10k less, even if it is less capable because it's pigfat. So the only people who can get away with this type of thing are luxury/sport manufacturers like Porsche and Lotus who will throw in a 20k premium for the name and you get a car like the Evora 400 or the 718 Cayman.

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>>17441225
Not if people keep wanting heated and cooled seats with 100 levels of adjustment, 90000 speakers, 400lbs of BOSE bullshit, 90 airbags, giant tablets, etc. Then on top of that you have safety cuckism forced onto cars like airbags, massive brake rotors, massive wheels and tires ...on econoboxes.

If something like this came out people would sperg out because NO BLUTOOTHZOMGNOHANDSFREE. Even /o/ is guilty of this. They want light weight cars then make retarded memes when the cars have flexy plastic bumpers or "horrible interiors".

>>17441338
Is it possible to poo in that car while driving?

>>17441688
only when it detects you're on a designated shitting street.

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>>17441225
Not in america, no. They're pretty much illegal here.

>>17441233
Fibreglass isn't plastic dipshit

>>17441338
Suprisingly good panel gaps

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>>17441680
>drive Abarth
>incredibly cheap feeling interior
>no touch screens
>manually adjusted seats
>not even central locking
>still weighs 2,500 pounds despite being the size of a shoe

>>17441747
I have to question the worth of capitalism when I see a car like this.

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>was researching miatas with the intent of buying one
>there is a specific way to jack up a miata so you don't crumple what is effectively the FRAME RAILS
>I can jack up my big american cars anywhere I fucking want and apply two tons of pressure to a 1cm square area without damaging anything

I ended up not buying for other reasons but jesus what the fuck. I'll take heavy and durable any day.

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>>17441782
>barebones vehicles like these will never come back
Just end me senpai

>>17441782
>I have to question capitalism when I see literally the only half-decent thing soviets ever produced besides the AK-47
Get out pinko

>>17441225
So long as nanny state level safety regulations exist, people are allowed to get licenses for little or no effort, and car accident deaths aren't considered acceptable, then odds are slim that they ever will.

Side impact airbags and rollover protection will most likely prevent really light cars from being a thing until better materials get way cheaper like graphene and CF. As for all the extra shit some of it makes sense, but still having a CD player in North American cars seems really dumb on top of the usually dumb infotainment system. It is cool to see manual windows on the Fiesta S I guess.

Here's a question, I know they're seriously under-powered but are new Japanese Kei cars pretty light? I think kit car culture will start courting more people if costs come down and you don't literally have to be a mechanic to build one.

>>17441782
These cars are terrible. All communist cars are.

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>>17441225

Car manufacturers have figured out that a lot of people will buy a car if it's a bit too big for them, but pretty much no one will buy a car if it's a bit too small.

Unless gas is expensive and the economy is in the shithole.

Wait for the next oil shock for small light cars to become a thing again.

>>17441225
Every single manufacturer outside the US has been doing this for decades.

>>17441680
This. Also, there will be an adjustment in the market involving a cheap way to refine titanium. Eventually you will see titanium block engines and possibly frames.

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>>17441225

Except from the S660 that you probably can't buy, there is always the Volkswagen XL1.
Which you probably can't buy either, since they forgot that this wasn't the Bugatti division and unfortunately priced it accordingly.

>>17445751
>refining titanium being the biggest cost factor of a titanium engine block

yeah right breh. ever try to machine something in titanium?

>>17441818
>is a rebadged fiat

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>>17441225
I thought that it was already happening. >965kg/2127lb

>>17441816
VW tried to bring it back, and they got shat on for it. mostly because people found out that the base car is actually still relatively expensive and they overprice options to make better margin.

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>>17441225

2700 pounds
>7
0
>0
p
>o
u
>n
d
>s

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>>17441562
Aluminum isnt much heavier than a plastic, or composite outer pannel. The material used also has to perform in very varied environments, some plastics/composites are very brittle below freezing, or sag/develop weakness in very high temps(over 100). This can cost the manufacturer alot in warranty work if soccer mom Sandy loses a pannel of the side of her car in winter(In say the exotic far off place of Quebec). RnD also adds costs, and changing your entire manufacturing plant from casting metal, to using injection molding. What do you do for older cars? So now you have to have two production facilities, or commission another when you could just use one. Why?

Some cars do use plastics though, the i3 has plastic panels that clip on to the cabon fiber frame, with some metal inside the doors. The weight savings are minimal, at the cost of longevity, aesthetic appeal, and many cars now use body panels as part of the frame, ie cast one piece from the tail light around the door frame, to the head light. Doing one piece saves more weight than using plastic, or composites and all the clips, screws, assembly cost, cost of machinery to build said component(only need one now) ect. Also car manufacturers are not stupid(mostly) and are for profit companies. If something could make them money, or save them money they are already doing it, or paying someone to find a new/better way. For example some manufacturers just supply the wiper inserts to dealers to save what ever amount of pennies to not just send a new assembly.

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>>17441673
This. Lightweight cars are typically sporty/performance. Soccer moms do not buy these cars, they by the biggest car they can so they can not feel inferior. Due to the higher than average cost most teens, and tweens can not afford the extra cost for a superior car. Younger people also do not enjoy driving, and look for somthing that gets them from A to B saving money for fidget spinners, booze, snapchat filters, ipads, $400 beats by dre headphones, ect. Much of US car culture is about drag racing for some retarded reason, and care about big engines to go the quater mile almost as fast as they are in bed. Few find enjoyment on twisty country roads that favor light, nimble cars. Handling is what brings a smile to an aut/o/. Going stupid fast from red light to red light is good(I guess), going fast around the blind 80 degree corner braking at the last second, and heavy throttle out of the apex while going down a hill is automotive heaven.

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>>17441225
>lower weight

> weight at 895 kilograms (1,973 lb) and 1,050 kilograms (2,315 lb) in the United States.

>>17447033
>I thought that it was already happening.

also this, french were making plastic panels in their cars since early 2000s

>>17447543
why is it heavier in the US, wtf?

>>17447543
Fucking hell, I knew it was light but I didn't remember it being that light. Suddenly I'm obsessed with this car again.

>>17447612
if only it came with a manual it would be perfect