The designer of Formula 1 cars and the McLaren F1 says cars have to diet

[thewayne]

He says the biggest opponent of fuel economy is weight, and it's the opposite of what car makers are feeding us.

I think I'm going to renew my AAA membership and take the spare out of my car and see if it makes a measurable diff.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7387432.stm

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/10/1426239


Continuing on that theme, BMW built a concept car without a rigid skin -- I kid you not, the body of this car, called GINA, is CLOTH. It can change its appearance, the way the head lights open up is great. I would love to know what the wind resistance is. Oh, be sure to watch the 2 minute video. And don't argue that it isn't safe: it's built around a space frame and is probably as safe, if not safer, than most of the cars on the road right now. I would also be interested to see how it would perform in crash testing, but there's only one and I'd rather see it in the museum.

THE CAR IS A TRANSFORMER!

Oh, and I also need to shout I WANT TO SEE THE BMW MUSEUM! You know, if I ever make it to Germany, I could probably spend a week or two just in car museums and I'd still be happy as a clam.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/bmw-builds-a-ca.html

Comments

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

I don't think the car makers are saying that more weight = better efficiency, I think it is more of a trend in manufacturing. This is America, bigger is better.

Regarding the Prius, it's amazing how much those batteries weigh.