Weight Reduction

The philosophy of Lotus founder Colin Chapman was always to make his cars as light as possible. He is reported to have said at various times "to add speed, add lightness" and "simplicate, than add lightness." Over the years, Lotus cars have often been among the lightest of their kind and innovations in weight reduction continue to this day. The work that Lotus has done in developing low mass vehicle structures for cars like the Lotus Elise and the Tesla Roadster is set to expan

The current GMT920 full-size SUVs from General Motors are very likely to be the last of their kind from the Detroit automaker. Even though new fuel economy standards give the big trucks a break based on their footprint, radical changes are likely for the next-generation models. A fully-equipped Tahoe is well over 5,500lbs and a big part of reducing fuel consumption in the next few years will be weight reduction. One step in that direction will be a shift from the body on frame designs these vehi

Since the debut of the original BMW M3 in the mid-eighties, the high-performance editions of most of BMW models have garnered plenty of praise for their dynamic abilities. Unfortunately, over several generations, the M3, M5, and M6 have grown progressively porkier as they have grown more powerful. The engines have grown from the original four and six cylinder units to six, eight and then ten cylinder units.

As enthusiasts, it's easy to get caught up in horsepower and torque figures, but weight remains the ultimate buzz kill for performance. The last twenty years has brought huge advances in technological and safety features, but the downside is that we've been tacking on the pounds in the process. Nissan has recognized this and is setting a course to rectify matters by attempting to lower the average weight of its vehicles by 15-percent in the next seven years when compared to its 2005 lineup.

The Mondragon Unibersitatea (University of Mondragon, Spain) is currently leading a development project focusing on reducing car weight. It's estimated that reducing by 10 percent the weight of a car saves 7 percent of fuel at the pump. This project, called Automotive Lightweighting Materials is currently financed by 17 development centres and companies from different European countries. It's not news that reducing weight reduces pollution but what are the means MU will use to achieve this?