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

Quote :

"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. Low weight only gets you so far in the quest for ultimate fuel economy; aerodynamics plays a big role. The One-Liter is long and low, coming in at 11.4 feet long, 4.1 feet wide and 3.3 feet tall. It features an aircraft-like canopy, flat wheel covers and a belly pan to smooth the airflow under the car. The engine cooling vents open only when needed, and video cameras take the place of mirrors. The passenger sits behind the driver to keep the car narrow. The car has a coefficient of drag of 0.16; the average car comes in around 0.30 and the Honda Insight had a Cd of 0.25. As for the engine, the concept had a one-cylinder diesel engine producing 8.5 horsepower and 13.5 foot-pounds of torque. Car says the production model will use a two-cylinder turbodiesel for a little more oomph. Doubling the number of cylinders is sure to cut fuel economy, so VW may install a diesel-hybrid drivetrain. The engine turns off at stop lights to save fuel, then automatically restarts when the driver depresses the accelerator pedal. (Update: The car reportedly has anti-lock brakes, stability control and airbags. According to Canadian Driver, "Volkswagen says the One-Liter Car is as safe as a GT sports car registered for racing. With the aid of computer crash simulations, the car was designed with built-in crash tubes, pressure sensors for airbag control and front crumple zones.") What's it gonna cost? Car quotes "one well-placed insider" who says the One-Liter could have a sticker price of anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 Euros (about $31,750 to $47,622). That's a lot of money. But then, the One-Liter, despite its diminutive size, is a lot of car. Note/Update: Turns out the 282 mpg figure refers to Imperial gallons; the proper figure when converted to U.S. gallons is 235 mpg. "

7/3/2008 9:05:53 PM

Obligatory OEP "282 MPG " post

7/3/2008 9:12:08 PM

:eek:

k, now that those are out of the way for him

7/3/2008 9:26:47 PM

want

7/3/2008 10:01:07 PM

that looks hard to get out of.

how long until someone burns inside that bubble (it is a vw)

7/3/2008 10:35:17 PM

it's fun till you get demolished by a soccer mom in a suburban

7/3/2008 10:37:21 PM

very nice r&D, great for marketing, some of the tech involved might make it into production vehicles, but in it's present form it wil never sell to masses

7/3/2008 10:52:53 PM

it's slightly less heinous than I expected, but I really don't dig the headlights.

7/3/2008 11:40:58 PM

That would probably be a europe-only sort of vehicle, I doubt they'd ever sell that here. :/

Nifty idea though. Perhaps they should treat it as a guideline for the design of their future cars. That is, they could find a way to make it tolerable to drive a low-power car in highway traffic, and find a way to shave off a lot of weight economically.

It is a terribly neat idea though. A single-person commuter car that costs $15,000 US and gets 100+ mpg wouldn't be a bad target for a car company to go for, I think.

7/4/2008 12:22:02 AM

^^^winnAr.

[/thread]

7/4/2008 12:55:10 AM

this is awesome, but did anyone notice the headlights are on in the daylight pic but not the raining one

7/4/2008 7:57:49 AM

shit, if they had that here in the US and used a regular motorcycle engine and still obtained 50+mpg below $15-20k, I'd get one.

7/4/2008 8:10:31 AM

i dont see it being possible right now to build a car with all the required safety features and bullshit that could be light enough even if it was made of balsa wood. and even then it wouldnt be do-able under 20k bucks.

7/4/2008 9:01:56 AM

^^ it has a 300cc diesel engine

^ it is a magnesium frame wrapped in carbon fiber

7/4/2008 9:17:13 AM

I'd want something more than just 8.5 HP per cylinder...

Will 8.5 HP or 17HP be enough to propel a 600lb car to highway speeds with say 200lb driver and other items in the car? I know it has a much lower drag than regular cars.

[Edited on July 4, 2008 at 9:59 AM. Reason : ?]

7/4/2008 9:57:10 AM

I can tell you that 70hp is barely enough to drive with the morons on raleigh roads. 1900-2000lb car*

[Edited on July 4, 2008 at 10:22 AM. Reason : car weight]

7/4/2008 10:21:45 AM

I think the whole point here is that, while this is still R&D, technology is out there to make cars more efficient. Maybe once it goes into production it will not be 282mpg, but 90mpg. It is still an achievement. gg VW.

7/4/2008 10:24:30 AM

I'd rather spend $10/gallon than drive that ugly fucking thing

7/4/2008 11:53:32 AM

i dont think its ugly at all!

7/4/2008 12:35:01 PM

Quote :

"I'd rather spend $10/gallon than drive that ugly fucking thing"

you will probably get your wish

7/4/2008 5:32:12 PM

Quote :

"it's fun till you get demolished by a soccer mom in a suburban"

lol, yeah i'd wanna have something like a flag on top of it so people in higher cars can actually see that something is there

7/4/2008 6:57:47 PM

Quote :

"Obligatory OEP "282 MPG " post"

You are about 5-6 years too late... this car came out in 2002 (2003?) and I made a thread about it at that time entitled 235 mpg.

[]

7/4/2008 8:35:04 PM

i think i would actually drive that little peen mobile

7/4/2008 9:15:21 PM

Quote :

"you will probably get your wish"

hahahahah

7/5/2008 8:00:46 AM

This car is a step in the right direction. If they could produce something like this by 2010, make it a little less penis looking and keep it under 30k, I would buy one.

7/5/2008 10:29:00 AM

Deathtrap.

7/5/2008 11:59:25 AM

Quote :

"Will 8.5 HP or 17HP be enough to propel a 600lb car to highway speeds with say 200lb driver and other items in the car?"

it's a diesel engine so torque will be much higher amidst low HP numbers.. not sure if i saw a torque rating in there though

hell just slap a motorcycle motor in there and call it a day

[Edited on July 5, 2008 at 12:05 PM. Reason : nvn, 13.5ft lb torque.. yea, def use motorcycle engine]

7/5/2008 12:04:53 PM

motorcycles don't get that kind of gas mileage. hell, MOPEDS don't get that kind of gas mileage.

7/5/2008 1:17:02 PM

true i suppose

7/5/2008 1:28:05 PM

messerschmidt did it

7/5/2008 2:09:29 PM

Quote :

"motorcycles don't get that kind of gas mileage. hell, MOPEDS don't get that kind of gas mileage."

True, but I'd rather have the power and use it when needed and would still be happy with 50mpg from say a 600cc sport bike engine. At least that's more realistic. And btw, Europe is already at $11 a gallon so $10 a gallon isn't that far fetched anymore.

7/5/2008 3:25:48 PM

Quote :

"it's a diesel engine so torque will be much higher amidst low HP numbers.. not sure if i saw a torque rating in there though "

torque doesn't have anything to do with it.

7/5/2008 9:37:29 PM

i'd rock one out

7/5/2008 9:41:36 PM