Slashing weight from many production cars is easier than it might seem at first glance, especially once materials are selected with an eye toward weight. For example, Mazda's revamped U.S.-market Mazda6 grew longer and wider but dropped 77lbs (35kg) in the process, mostly due to lighter materials. The standard bearer for the new lighter design regime will be the upcoming Volkswagen up! minicar, reports the German site Automobil Woche.
The up!, shown at Frankfurt in September of last year, has been displayed in a number of configurations, from three-door mini hatch to five-door micro-van. Volkswagen wants to keep the weight of the car down so that it can reach a fuel consumption target of 3.0L/100km (78mpg). The up! is expected to be powered by a rear-mounted small-displacement engine. Hybrid or electric variants could also follow after the 2010 debut of the standard car. VW revealed a plug-in hybrid variant of the car called the space up! blue in November of last year.
That car carried a curb weight of 1,090kg (2,400lb) despite an overall length of 144.9 inches, height of 61.8 inches and width of 64.2 inches - all larger than the weight would lead one to believe, so it appears VW has a handle on its lightweight design task already.
An even further range of up! variants is possible, including a cabrio and a mini-softroader, though we won't know exactly how far VW is planning to take the lineup until closer to its 2010 production debut.
Volkswagen up! Variants
VW Space up! concept
Reader Comments
Tue Jun 17 2008 2:06 PM
Michael D. says
Lightening the weight scares me in ways: would it mean reducing size, which disappoints especially in the upper-eschelon range (even though the part about the new-generation Mazda 6 seems to discredit this), and would lightening up mean cheapening up, resulting in chintzier materials and less insulation meaning a noisier and harsher ride quality?
I would hope not, unless lighter weight steel and more aluminum is placed into the equasion and maybe more carbon fiber in the higher-end models.
In general, size reduction would result in the feeling of being shortchanged, humbling and moving down-market as well as sacrificing passenger and cargo/luggage real-estate.
Wed Jun 18 2008 6:39 AM
burke says
MD: carbon fiber makes cars lighter but more expensive as well. No worries about material resistance: Plastics materials stronger than steel exist since the '50s; but again, do not expect cheaper prices. Aluminum is more abundant than iron in nature and it's lighter than steel too but it requires a costly chemical process to obtain it from the rock. That's why cars with aluminum structures are more expensive. As far as sizes are concerned, expect smaller cars. Fuel consumption efficiency varies with the reciprocal of the sizes of cars; in other words: bigger cars are likely to be heavier; therefore they will use use more fuel; and bigger cars will confront stronger air resistance as well (they will also use more fuel as a result)
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