I Have Seen The Next Generation Prius

[Tadashi]

Nice but does not seem very practical other than a commute car. It would be a PIA getting the little one in the car seat. Not to mention I woud probably get blown off the road with 60 MPH crosswinds (something I never experienced in Japan).

[richard schumacher]

Aluminum isn't cheap.

...and carbon fibre composites even less so. I made the comparison only for relative cost. But that's fine: we weren't talkin' about cheap in an absolute sense, we were talkin' about light.

[richard schumacher]

Titanium will never happen in high volume. Racers nicknamed Titanium "unobtainium" because of the expenses for raw material and machining. It's relatively brittle compared to Aluminum or Steel. Some small parts are made of Titanium now (like A arms on the corvette, I think).

Titanium ores are extremely common. There is a new process for direct electrolytic reduction from the oxide dissolved in a molten salt, which was previously thought impossible. True, it's more difficult to work and thus probably would be more expensive than aluminum, but I'd pay more to have a titanium car than an aluminum one. Kinda like the way many of us paid more to have a Prius instead of something else.

[ltu1542hvy]

I think there already was a vehicle with body made of carbon fibre once: It was East German vehicle called Trabant.

It was three cylinder, two-cycle stinky bastard. Quite popular back then because it was so darn cheap.

The fact that it never rusts is today considered a curse in countries of former Soviet bloc, because these smelly monsters are still running there.

The Trabbi was the epitome of a cheap, crappy East Block car, but I am almost positive that it was not made of carbon fiber. I may be mistaken, but I believe the body was made of plastic. I spent a year as an exchange student in West Berlin in the 80's and went to the East fairly frequently and saw plenty of Trabbis with body damage where parts of the fender was broken off. We used to joke that the body was made of paper mache.

We used to joke that the body was made of paper mache.

That wasn't a joke! The outer bodywork of Trabants really was made from something very like paper mache! (Although the manufacturer refered to it as "synthetic resin bonded paper - SRBP" ; similar to the stuff found on very early electrical circuit boards). 8)

One of our manufacturers over here still makes sports-car chassis out of wood too.... :wink:

[TonyPSchaefer]

That looks like a cross between a Prius and an Insight.

I was thinking Prius/DeLorean

[ltu1542hvy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(clett\";p=\"77619)</div>

That wasn't a joke! The outer bodywork of Trabants really was made from something very like paper mache! (Although the manufacturer refered to it as \"synthetic resin bonded paper - SRBP\" ; similar to the stuff found on very early electrical circuit boards).  8)  

One of our manufacturers over here still makes sports-car chassis out of wood too....  :wink:
[/b]

Back in '88 I actually got "treated" to a ride in a '71 Trabant sedan for about 10 minutes in East-Berlin. The body had so much flex in it that it took another 10 minutes of throwing your shoulder against the door to get it to open once we got there. And those things do sound like popcorn poppers while stopped at a traffic light.

[DaveinOlyWA]

that car would be worth while if it got say 100 mpg... imho, the insight is not worth the sacrifices especially to gain less than 10 mpg on it.

but double the Prius mileage and it would be ok. most commuters travel alone anyway.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA\";p=\"77794)</div>

that car would be worth while if it got say 100 mpg...[/b]

It doesn't get 100 mpg.... it gets over 140 mpg! It's a Daihatsu UFE-II, and has a 660cc Atkinson cycle petrol engine mated to Toyota’s HSD system.

Aerodynamic coefficient in an incredible 0.19!





[Note to moderators: please remove picture if inappropriate :wink: ].

[DaveinOlyWA]

if it gets that much, then it will have a market here. obviously it will have a market no doubt. this would be a dream come true in china and no doubt where they will concentrate marketing on.