[Kosh]

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/07/laugh-at-high-g.html

With gas prices going through the roof and regulators requiring cars to be ever more miserly, Volkswagen is bringing new meaning to the term "fuel efficiency" with a bullet-shaped microcar that gets a stunning 282 235 mpg.

Volkswagen's had its super-thrifty One-Liter Car concept vehicle -- so named because that's how much fuel it needs to go 100 kilometers -- stashed away for six years. The body's made of carbon fiber to minimize weight (the entire car weighs just 660 pounds) and company execs didn't expect the material to become cheap enough to produce the car until 2012.

But VW's decided to build the car two years ahead of schedule.

According to Britain's Car magazine, VW has approved a plan to build a limited number of One-Liters in 2010. They'll probably be built in the company's prototype shop, which has the capacity to build as many as 1,000 per year. That's not a lot, but it's enough to help VW get a lot of attention while showing how much light weight and an efficient engine can achieve.

VW unveiled the slick two-seater concept six years ago at a stockholder's meeting in Hamburg. To prove it was a real car, Chairman Ferdinand Piech personally drove it from Wolfsburg to Hamburg. At the time, he said the car could see production when the cost of its carbon monocoque dropped from 35,000 Euros (about $55,000) to 5,000 Euros (about $8,000) -- something he figured would happen in 2012. With carbon fiber being used in everything from airliners to laptops these days, VW's apparently decided the cost is competitive enough to build at least a few hundred One-Liters.

VW's engineers -- who spent three years developing the car -- made extensive use of magnesium, titanium and aluminum to bring it in at less than one-third the weight of a Toyota Echo. According to Canadian Driver, the front suspension assembly weighs just 18 pounds. The six-speed transmission features a magnesium case, titanium bolts and hollow gears; it weighs a tad more than 50 pounds. The 16-inch wheels are carbon fiber. The magnesium steering wheel weighs a little more than a pound. How much of the concept car's exotic hardware makes it to the production model remains to be seen.

Whoa.

[Nuke]

isnt that exactly what i said they should do in that other car thread and everyone thought i was crazy

[Nuclear1]

Me wants.

Not just because of the 235, but I've always wanted one of those cars from Tron, and this looks like almost the exact same.

[Fenrir]

Holy crap, you`re right! I want it, too.

[Mongoose]

Good luck if you get into an accident in that thing.  And I feel like trying to cram anything bigger than a gallon of milk into it would max out its storage space.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I bet even the Carver is larger than that...

[Stormkeeper]

I uberly hate those races in Tron.

[WMCoolmon]

Makes me wonder about hooking up a vertically-oriented series of colored luminous fog dispensers. Probably wouldn't be street-legal to use them while driving, though.

[Stormkeeper]

Makes me wonder about hooking up a vertically-oriented series of colored luminous fog dispensers. Probably wouldn't be street-legal to use them while driving, though.

Would also make for one absolute fail of a get-away vehicle.

[Nuke]

this thing has a drag coefficient of 0.16, holy ****!

Good luck if you get into an accident in that thing.  And I feel like trying to cram anything bigger than a gallon of milk into it would max out its storage space.

you'd probably bounce off.

[IceFire]

Good luck if you get into an accident in that thing.  And I feel like trying to cram anything bigger than a gallon of milk into it would max out its storage space.

Shouldn't be a huge problem...its designed like a race car basically.  Similar materials.  The biggest problem will be mass and how much it gets tossed around.  Structurally it should be reasonably tough based on how they say they constructed it.

[vyper]

Bring back the EcoRacer. It looked far more fun. Sure it only got 62MPG Imp. but come on.

Also, any prices?

[colecampbell666]

Good luck if you get into an accident in that thing.  And I feel like trying to cram anything bigger than a gallon of milk into it would max out its storage space.

Shouldn't be a huge problem...its designed like a race car basically.  Similar materials.  The biggest problem will be mass and how much it gets tossed around.  Structurally it should be reasonably tough based on how they say they constructed it.

Yeah, that's the main reason my mom refuses to use our fuel efficient Saturn 300, instead a bulky Grand Caravan which is less fuel efficient than my dad's 1994 1-ton Chev. She says that she gets tossed around by the draft from big trucks, she does a lot of nighttime driving.

[vyper]

Size doesn't equal strength.

[Herra Tohtori]

Size doesn't equal strength.

Yeah. Size just equals reduced accelerations in case of collision, more buffer area to absorb the accelerations, and in overall reduced shock to the occupants of the vehicle.

It's relatively easy (albeit more expensive than normal car building) to make the chassis strong enough not to cave in on highway speed collisions (example here). It's a lot more difficult to make sure that the occupants of the car survive. Helmet, HANS and four point safety belts might make it possible, air cushions might help, but with normal safety belts and no neck/head protection, it would be... unlikely to survive, say, crashing to a concrete wall at 110 km/h... and if you get your car under a 12-wheeler you're gonna go splat no matter what kind of carbon-fiber-unobtainium hull with shield projection your car has.

[Titan]

i wonder if theres any hidden message in the license plate of the car pictured a number of posts up...

[Mongoose]

Good luck if you get into an accident in that thing.  And I feel like trying to cram anything bigger than a gallon of milk into it would max out its storage space.

Shouldn't be a huge problem...its designed like a race car basically.  Similar materials.  The biggest problem will be mass and how much it gets tossed around.  Structurally it should be reasonably tough based on how they say they constructed it.

I'm just envisioning running into anything bigger than a sedan in it.  And the mental picture I'm getting is something like Frogger meets monster truck.  Not pretty.

[vyper]

Size doesn't equal strength.

Yeah. Size just equals reduced accelerations in case of collision, more buffer area to absorb the accelerations, and in overall reduced shock to the occupants of the vehicle.

It's relatively easy (albeit more expensive than normal car building) to make the chassis strong enough not to cave in on highway speed collisions (example here). It's a lot more difficult to make sure that the occupants of the car survive. Helmet, HANS and four point safety belts might make it possible, air cushions might help, but with normal safety belts and no neck/head protection, it would be... unlikely to survive, say, crashing to a concrete wall at 110 km/h... and if you get your car under a 12-wheeler you're gonna go splat no matter what kind of carbon-fiber-unobtainium hull with shield projection your car has.

You're over simplifying. Take the crash test Fifth Gear did with a Renault Modus vs. a mid 90s Volvo estate. The estate was larger and heavier than the Modus by a mile, but came off worse due to the structural strength of the Modus which essentially used the Volvo as a crumple zone. Make a car with material that can absorb more of that energy, and you reduce chance of death.

Of course certain deceleration forces ensure death regardless of the dissipation of impact energy. But that car has the potential to be just as safe as a modern city car.

Good luck if you get into an accident in that thing.  And I feel like trying to cram anything bigger than a gallon of milk into it would max out its storage space.

Shouldn't be a huge problem...its designed like a race car basically.  Similar materials.  The biggest problem will be mass and how much it gets tossed around.  Structurally it should be reasonably tough based on how they say they constructed it.

I'm just envisioning running into anything bigger than a sedan in it.  And the mental picture I'm getting is something like Frogger meets monster truck.  Not pretty.

Try hitting an SUV in a modern saloon car. Same effect. Height difference is the killer.

[WeatherOp]

As for the engine, the concept had a one-cylinder diesel engine producing 8.5 horsepower and 13.5 foot-pounds of torque

Wow, 2 more HP than my old go-cart.

Nice though, if they can get the price to around $8k like they said, it will sell like hotcakes.

[Stealth]

haha

235 miles per gallon.

i'm lucky if i get 235 miles per TANK, and i have a 17 gallon tank