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Mazda's tell all weight-loss tips

 
5 4,457 views Jul 19, 2007

Mazda's tell all weight-loss tips

Mazda's tell all weight-loss tips

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In the tradition of the Hollywood weight loss diet, Mazda has now revealed how it managed to chop 100kg from its new Mazda2 supermini. Considering the fact that cars have been getting heavier due to increased safety features and higher feature specs, only a few car companies have managed to reverse the trend in their own cars. According to Mazda, 60% of the savings were made due to engineering, 20% by adjusting the features and another 20% by shrinking its dimensions.

Some of the adjustments made include the use of high and ultra-high tensile steels for lighter (and stronger) body and joint reinforcements, eliminating the underfloor catalyst, and changing the door-mounted speaker magnets to neodymium types.

We just hope other car manufacturers take notice of these changes and implement them in new models. It’s getting a little bit ridiculous for “sports” coupes to be nudging 1500+ kilos.


Click ahead for the full list of Mazda's weight saving techniques.

Mazda2 engineers reduced weight by:

• use of high and ultra-high tensile steels for lighter (and stronger) body and joint reinforcements

• shortening the trailing arm of the rear suspension and giving the front lower arms an open-section design

• making the bonnet striker assembly smaller, the hinges thinner

• eliminating the underfloor catalyst (1.3-litre model)

• moving the fresh-air inlet to the top of the radiator shroud (doing away with the need for a resonator and baffle)

• making the wiring harness shorter

• changing the door-mounted speaker magnets to neodymium types and making the plastic moulding single-piece

• decreasing the length of the vehicle by 40 mm and height by 55 mm





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Comments (5)

  1. James Posted: 7/19/2007 5:26pm PDT

    I hope the next Mazda6, which looks to be bigger, follows through. It's about time an automaker recognized that "better" does not automatically mean "fatter".
     
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  2. Malay_3 Posted: 7/20/2007 1:19am PDT

    Out of all the mass market car companies, Mazda is the one I respect the most. Their products look great, are reliable, a little bit sporty, and have some character to them. This is just more proof of their genius.
     
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  3. biturbo Posted: 7/20/2007 12:17pm PDT

    1500 kg+ ?
    I say way, way more, the "sports" cars are now pig heavy :)

    Examples

    2007 Lexus SC430 : 1742 kg
    2007 Mercedes SL65 AMG : 2120 kg
     
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  4. Jack Posted: 7/31/2007 6:56am PDT

    Hi,
    The weight loss chart is very good as i have tried and I can say it is great. It is really effective. South beach Diet is also give a diet which can burn off extra calories. For more information visit here
    weight loss diet
     
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  5. ma_Nosey avatar Nosey Posted: 10/21/2008 8:03am PDT

    I think mazda has the best cars, the reduced weight makes it even sexier.
     
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