57 mpg? That's so 20 years ago

cars need to be lighter

 

absolutely, the great Colin Chapman who founded Lotus cars was asked what he did to make his cars so fast, he said "add lightness"

The Lotus Elise and the Tesla which is based on the Elise are excellent examples

The next gen Ferraris will probably be a lot more Lotus like

as for the CRX, I bought a CRX HF 2nd gen right around when the 1st Gulf war started and I could go 2 weeks on a tank

 

The CRX certainly got much better mileage. It also certainly polluted a hell of a lot more than today's cars. Comparing the CRX to today's cars (with safety and pollution improvements - not to mention size - is similar to comparing the Prius to the Corolla.)

I do absolutely agree that the fleet average can very easily be significantly higher than it is today with no tech breakthroughs needed. Heck, I'm driving a car that was designed in the early 80's that gets about 200 mpg equivalent.

 

to make it more fair... they should compare to Prius' old EPA

 

They mention the CRX's updated EPA numbers later on, and article does go on a little on how a little 20yr old two seater wouldn't be sellable today(no AC or safety features).

 

My primary vehicle got 80mpg in 1981. My mileage has been steadily improving since then. After the motorcycle, I took (less than) rapid transit, then rode my bicycle, then mostly walked, and now most of my work comes to me.

 

The question is how to do it and still get people to buy it. The model bloat doesn't help, but I believe most of the weight gains are from safety features. At least it is something people won't be willing to give up.

 

cars do need to be lighter, smaller, more options... there are a MILLION people out there that would drive an upgraded eco-box today if they could afford one.

a lot of people (i know a whole bunch of them) are stuck with the vehicle they have because they can not afford to change. they are the people who are making just enough to live... cant see going into debt for a car that will not give them a return for 10-15 years...

and lets face it... if you finance a car, you will NEVER get your return...

and there are many many more of them then there are of us... we who had the means to be able to invest a sizable chunk of change knowing we would not really see any savings for years...

so until the government realizes that...or someone does... we are screwed...

 

The CRX HF is the direct ancestor to the Honda Insight. My 88 CRX HF got 50mpg - 60 when I was trying, once got 76mpg+ hypermiling. It's amazing the Insight is the same weight but is both safer and cleaner...of course they did that by replacing the steel with aluminum.

 

Aluminum is the poor mans carbin fiber But cf prices have dropped a lot since 1970 and at 1st it was only used by manufacturers like Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini

but today my relatively economical Corvette Z06 has a cf hood and fenders

maybe in another 10 or 20 years cf will be cheaper than aluminum and we will see cf econoboxes

That would drastically reduce weight & increase mpg

 

One thing the lightweight Honda Insight and soon to be on the market Aptera proves - low weight can give very high fuel economy. Whoever finds a way to make carbon fibre, super strength steel, aluminum, or other material cheap will have a technology that improves fuel economy about as much as current hybrids.

 

What about using hemp fibre as a strong, lightweight material?

 

In 1987 I bought a new Chevy Sprint (made by Suzuki) that had a one litre, three cylinder gas engine for about $7,500.00.

I consistenly got 46 mpg in city driving. I once did a highway mileage test and recorderd 62 mpg.

Nice car, eventually gave it to my mother because I needed something bigger for the growing family.

 

is it stronger than fiberglass ? stronger than thermoplastics used on car bodies ? stronger than aluminum ? stronger than steel ?

 

Yes, I think it is. Here's a old video that shows how strong it is. It can also be manufactured with much less energy, resources, and environmental damage than metals.

 

Thanks for this link... #1 (by the same poster) was just as interesting, and lead to a number of other interesting vids on hemp.