No subject

associated with front airbag support structures and
side impact structures (including side/curtain airbags).

As for window winders weighing significantly more than
cranks, I dunno. The motors I've removed don't seem to
weigh THAT much more than crank mechanisms. It's just
that there are SOOOO many motors now.

On 8/1/06, Louis-Alain Richard <laraa at sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
> > Hell, the new Rabbit (positioned as cute, nimble, young, whatever)
> weighs
> > darn near 3,000 pounds!  It's insane.
> > John
> >
> >
>
> I guess that weight increase is directly related to the relative low
> cost of manufacturing of some formerly "luxury" components. Take the
> window lifts or the electrical seat adjusters, they are now quite
> inexpensive but they weight a lot more than their mechanical
> counterparts. And how many airbags we find in a new car ? 4? 6? More ?
> Some Renaults have 10 airbags and 6 seat belts pre-tensionners !!! That
> means we need to include 16 reinforced areas to attach all these
> exploding devices...
>
> The second culprit is related to the actual wave of "powerful" engines.
> Now, after 100 years of refining the same design, we can extract huge HP
> from a small and simple mechanical assembly like the modern multivalve
> engines. And since they are built in huge quantities, they are not so
> expensive for the mainstream cars. But then, if you have HP, you need
> big tires for traction, then big wheels to keep the low aspect ratio,
> then big suspension components (because of the high grip these tires can
> produce), then big brakes to stop all that mass in motion. More, the
> structure of the car needs to be beefed up just because you want to keep
> an acceptable ratio between the mass of the car and the unsprung weight
> components (darn vibrations...). It all adds up very fast...
>
> You can also blame the twin mufflered exhausts that we see on every car
> now, from a lowly Altima to the new Outback. Check this one to the
> designers that put these big coffee cans on each new concept.
>
> And then, just because there are so many SUVs and minivans on the road
> now, the newer cars are taller and bigger than their predecessors just
> to follow the new trend. Look at a Matrix or a Corolla or even a Ford
> 500, they are so tall and voluminous, this also means weight (more
> window area need more structure).
>
> But the final question is : is all that weight a real demand from the
> customer ? Or this is a consequence of the -formerly- low fuel prices?
>
> Louis-Alain
>
>
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