Quote:
Originally Posted by Scoobe
I don't disagree with past trends, but something has got to give somewhere. High Strength Steel, Carbon Fiber and Carbon Plastics will become mainstream materials sooner or later. They have the potential to shave 300-700lbs off of current cars. It has always been a cost issue.
You bring up a good point though. How long before the government, who's demands already account for significant weight in cars, adds even more requirements that weigh down cars. We may just see cars maintain their weight instead of lose weight as these materials are introduced.
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It's very frustrating what the US government has done to cars. I can't remember the quote or who said it, but I once heard that the US is the only government that is hell bent on protecting people from themselves. It's evidenced by all the rules that are designed to protect drivers and passengers that don't wear their seat belts. It's really frustrating here in Canada, because we basically get no say. Since we are a smaller market and live right next door, we basically get all the same safety equipment as the US. It would be really interesting to see a figure that shows how much weight is added by the various safety regulations. Even better if it also documented just how much safer it makes the cars, and the total cost of that safety improvement in extra manufacturing costs and extra energy expenditure. I think the results would be eye-popping.