Nissan to cut vehicle weight by 15% to lift fuel efficiency

[Smellhound]

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Nissan Motor Co. will cut the weight of its vehicles by an average of 15% over the next seven years as it seeks to improve fuel efficiency, according to reports.

short article here: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...&dist=hplatest

[big swede]

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully everyone else will follow or at least put it on the menu.

[impala02]

I'd like to see how this pans out. I'm all for lighter cars. A lighter car translates into a quicker, better handling, more efficient car. But at the same time, the market demands more and more comfort features and safety innovations that all add weight. Sure, they can trim away some fat with vehicle design, but IMHO, the only way to get significant weight reductions is to make the car smaller, or use aluminum or alloys instead of steel. The problem with that is the cost. I wish the article giave a little more insight.

Any way to calculate how much a 15% weight reduction will increase fuel efficiency? I mean a 4000 lb car that loses 15% now becomes a 3400 lb car. I know that drag coefficient, engine efficiency, and gearing all come into play, but is there any crude calculation to see what the gains would be?

[Xenon]

Originally Posted by big swede

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully everyone else will follow or at least put it on the menu.

Land Rover, believe it or not, intends th lop off that much , if not more in the next Range Rover.


Finally a manufacturer that has seen the light.

[Xenon]

Originally Posted by impala02

I'd like to see how this pans out. I'm all for lighter cars. A lighter car translates into a quicker, better handling, more efficient car. But at the same time, the market demands more and more comfort features and safety innovations that all add weight. Sure, they can trim away some fat with vehicle design, but IMHO, the only way to get significant weight reductions is to make the car smaller, or use aluminum or alloys instead of steel. The problem with that is the cost. I wish the article giave a little more insight.

Any way to calculate how much a 15% weight reduction will increase fuel efficiency? I mean a 4000 lb car that loses 15% now becomes a 3400 lb car. I know that drag coefficient, engine efficiency, and gearing all come into play, but is there any crude calculation to see what the gains would be?

For every 100 lbs you lose you lose .1 seconds on the quarter mile(In general speak). Unless you are a really good driver, or the car itself tends to give consistent times, the difference wont be too noticeable. 0-60 is a bit tougher to say though.

[1931Chevy]

Im 100% behind this but the only way I see this happening is by

1. decontent the car " make A/C option pw pl " Renault has been doing this for quite sometime so I think that Nissan will go this way
2. using aluminum frames "LR will do it because they are a luxury SUV maker but I dont see Nissan been able to make and Altima it would make the car too expensive
3.making the cars smaller like in the past

but IMO its not and easy task to get fuel efficiency out of todays cars because all of the electronics and safety features cars are mandated to have

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by 1931Chevy

Im 100% behind this but the only way I see this happening is by

1. decontent the car " make A/C option pw pl " Renault has been doing this for quite sometime so I think that Nissan will go this way
2. using aluminum frames "LR will do it because they are a luxury SUV maker but I dont see Nissan been able to make and Altima it would make the car too expensive
3.making the cars smaller like in the past

Well it's a good thing your not an engineer, because there are plenty more ways to reduce weight:

1. Use a turbo 4 cylinder engine instead of a V-6.
2. Use non-steel material for hoods, trunk lids and roofs.
3. Don't use a full-sized spare tire.
4. Make alloy rims standard. Use magnesium instead of aluminum.
5. Use thinner gauge steel on non-safety critical parts.
6. Improve design. For example, use a single piece interior door molding instead of screwing together several pieces. In the seats, use memory foam instead of metal coil springs. Or use a single HID headlamp unit instead of multiple halogen bulbs.
7. Use fiber optics instead of copper wires.
8. Improve the CAD of the frame to eliminate material where it does not add to the strength of the frame.
9. Offer manual transmissions in all models.
10 Switch to a single, larger diameter exhaust rather than dual exhaust pipes.

[Xenon]

Originally Posted by HoosierRon

Well it's a good thing your not an engineer, because there are plenty more ways to reduce weight:

1. Use a turbo 4 cylinder engine instead of a V-6.
2. Use non-steel material for hoods, trunk lids and roofs.
3. Don't use a full-sized spare tire.
4. Make alloy rims standard. Use magnesium instead of aluminum.
5. Use thinner gauge steel on non-safety critical parts.
6. Improve design. For example, use a single piece interior door molding instead of screwing together several pieces. In the seats, use memory foam instead of metal coil springs. Or use a single HID headlamp unit instead of multiple halogen bulbs.
7. Use fiber optics instead of copper wires.
8. Improve the CAD of the frame to eliminate material where it does not add to the strength of the frame.
9. Offer manual transmissions in all models.
10 Switch to a single, larger diameter exhaust rather than dual exhaust pipes.

And you haven't even looked into using lighter drivetrain parts, lighter interior materials, and engine components.

And depending on the output, turbo 4 cylinders don't save much weight.

[supraracer]

Originally Posted by Xenon

For every 100 lbs you lose you lose .1 seconds on the quarter mile(In general speak). Unless you are a really good driver, or the car itself tends to give consistent times, the difference wont be too noticeable. 0-60 is a bit tougher to say though.

Dropping 400-600lbs would be very noticeable. I also would like to know how Land Rover or anyone else is planning to drop %15 weight from their vehicles. I would be easier for Land Rover because they can pass on the costs with less market consequences than say what Chevy can do with the Malibu. My 2¢.

[BrickTamland]

Sounds good to me. Losing weight is good for cars in many ways.

[1931Chevy]

Originally Posted by HoosierRon

Well it's a good thing your not an engineer, because there are plenty more ways to reduce weight:

1. Use a turbo 4 cylinder engine instead of a V-6.
2. Use non-steel material for hoods, trunk lids and roofs.
3. Don't use a full-sized spare tire.
4. Make alloy rims standard. Use magnesium instead of aluminum.
5. Use thinner gauge steel on non-safety critical parts.
6. Improve design. For example, use a single piece interior door molding instead of screwing together several pieces. In the seats, use memory foam instead of metal coil springs. Or use a single HID headlamp unit instead of multiple halogen bulbs.
7. Use fiber optics instead of copper wires.
8. Improve the CAD of the frame to eliminate material where it does not add to the strength of the frame.
9. Offer manual transmissions in all models.
10 Switch to a single, larger diameter exhaust rather than dual exhaust pipes.

Im and Engineer a Civil Engineerbut at the time I wrote the quote I was not even thinking from last night Happy 08, but yes yours are good ideas, all this could be done right now but the thing here is the price, how much is the consumer willing to pay and how much will the manufacturers make

[AMERICA 123]

Originally Posted by impala02

I'd like to see how this pans out. I'm all for lighter cars. A lighter car translates into a quicker, better handling, more efficient car.

Yep - can also be a whole lot more enjoyable as a result .

But at the same time, the market demands more and more comfort features and safety innovations that all add weight.< and 'room' sometimes> Sure, they can trim away some fat with vehicle design, but IMHO, the only way to get significant weight reductions is to make the car smaller, or use aluminum or alloys instead of steel. The problem with that is the cost. I wish the article gave a little more insight.

Don't forget 'better' or 'more efficient' design as well .

Any way to calculate how much a 15% weight reduction will increase fuel efficiency? I mean a 4000 lb car that loses 15% now becomes a 3400 lb car. I know that drag coefficient, engine efficiency, and gearing all come into play, but is there any crude calculation to see what the gains would be?

Yes there are several . Here is one from a slightly more detailed article covering the same announcement .

Report: Nissan Targeting 15% Reduction in Vehicle Weight for 10% Improvement in Fuel Consumption

.http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007...an-t.html#more

According to the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, a 100kg reduction in the weight of a 1- to 1.5-ton car improves mileage by 1 km per liter.

[Butz]

cutting weight means? less safety? less features?

just because they can cut weight by making them out of cotton candy, doesn't mean they should

[ctaylorzl1]

Originally Posted by Butz

cutting weight means? less safety? less features?

just because they can cut weight by making them out of cotton candy, doesn't mean they should

Totally agree, there was a thread a while back that was about reducing weight in cars for fuel efficiency and related it to severe injury and fatality statistics, but I cant find it. I am for better efficiency, but not at the cost of saftey, all the "green" people who are for massive fuel economy usually dont think about this weight and efficiency as related to saftey, and if they do their only argument is to use carbon fiber and magneseum instead of steel and aluminum! And if you are cutting your weight by 15%, that is a huge amount, it would be a huge feat to cut that much weight and keep it safe. This just dosent seem like a safe way to do things!

[minnfang]

I think dropping the weight of vehicles should be a major goal of all automakers - there are so many benefits.

While I agree that dropping weight usually costs more, I don't agree that it has to negatively impact safety. One good example would be to use forged aluminum wheels instead of cast aluminum. Forged parts are usually both lighter and stronger. Lighter wheel assemblies have so many advantages - better handling, ride, braking, and MPG.