U.S. Auto Makers (German, hybrid, best, sports car)

[BudinAk]

Do you think the U.S. auto makers are ever going to get their act together and think outside the box by making cars out of new, light-weight materials? Seems like they are forever and ever stuck on using steel, for whatever reason. Sure, steel is strong, but it's also really heavy, causing poor mileage. And...it rusts.
Why can't they use more aluminum-alloy? I remember when I was a kid my uncle had a Land Rover jeep that had an aluminum body...seemed to last forever. Fiberglass seems to be an on-and-off proposition (mainly for sports cars) And what's wrong with using light-weight carbon fiber material? Is it the cost? Just curious...

Bud

[Cosmic]

Originally Posted by BudinAk

Do you think the U.S. auto makers are ever going to get their act together and think outside the box by making cars out of new, light-weight materials? Seems like they are forever and ever stuck on using steel, for whatever reason. Sure, steel is strong, but it's also really heavy, causing poor mileage. And...it rusts.
Why can't they use more aluminum-alloy? I remember when I was a kid my uncle had a Land Rover jeep that had an aluminum body...seemed to last forever. Fiberglass seems to be an on-and-off proposition (mainly for sports cars) And what's wrong with using light-weight carbon fiber material? Is it the cost? Just curious...

Bud

Aluminum is far too costly to mass produce. Henry Ford way back when looked at using a type of plastic made from soybeans. The East Germans did it but they were horrible to dispose of in a junk yard.

Some type of syntactic foam might be a solution. It can have the properties of a metal in certain engineered applications. With the nano technologies some type of foam is probably the best solution. Very strong, very light weight, hopefully able to be recycled and painted.

The high strength steels are the safe solution. Cost is ok, you can repair it, fits in the engineering scheme of things, lots of experience. Lot more to using a new material that thought. The use of the moly steels totally changed how the car repair business had to work. They did solve the rusting problems.

Some future type cars designed with foam today, one or two built. It could happen at some point, other products are using foams like in boats, consumer products, etc.

[CortlandGirl79]

Well, i not sure all American car bodies are made completely of steel. If i remember correctly didn't saturn used to have plastic side panels? that weren't supposed to dent? What about the Corvette? That's a very light weight vehicle. In fact, i think i remember reading something about how much time and energy GM engineers were spending trying to find the lightest materials for the most recent corvette. Although, i don't think the corvette will save you much on gas $$$. As for aluminum.........i can't really go into detail, but i used to work at a test facility where we did testing for the automotive industry. Anyway, i know for a fact that when exposed to salt, aluminum will most definitely corrode and sometimes will completely errode! Guess that's not a good thing when you live up north and they dump salt on the roads all winter. Also bad if you live by the ocean! Anyone else ever see that happen? I sure have!

BTW, what are forgein automakers using for there cars? Last time i checked they were using steel too!

[CortlandGirl79]

OH yeah, beside bodies being heavy, another thing that ways down all cars is their wiring harnesses. You would not believe how much wiring is running through your car! As a former employee of the world's largest auto supplier i know that the supplier industry is working hard everyday to find the most lightweight components avaliable. My former employer, along w/GE came up with a light weight cable which i know many companies w/in the industry are interested in. I believe Toyota is one of the companies starting to use it, among others.

http://www.delphi.com/manufacturers/...s/halogenfree/

BTW, it's also better for the environment.

[CortlandGirl79]

Here are some interesting articles on the subject.

http://www.assemblymag.com/CDA/Artic...00f932a8c0____

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3165/is_2001_Jan/ai_71359153 (broken link)

http://www.geplastics.com/gep/en/New...eakingnew.html

[Twinkle Toes]

My Lexus is made of steel. It's a foreign car, right?

[Purps]

I love the idea of using foam. There have been homes made with foam, is that the same kind they are using as an alternative for our automobiles?

[Purps]

Saturn uses plastic and when a deer ran into the front side panel of my car it did a number on it. It was going about 40 mph and it took out the side panel, and part of the driver door got it as well. The deer killed on impact and my brother had his first deer meat!! I am still driving my Saturn but I do worry about what would happen in a real accident!! Knock on wood!!!

[Angel Bear]

I have a Saturn that has polymer side panels...So, even though my car is a 1995, I have very little rust

I think the U.S. auto makers need to rethink how they do everything from the materials, manufacturing, marketing, products, as well as how they manage their human resources.

I also think they should work more on alternative fuels and hybrids

And, well, they're going to have to change how they do business...Maybe form alliances...It's amazing how much things are changing here in Metro Detroit

[cold_eh_ND]

Originally Posted by Purps

Saturn uses plastic and when a deer ran into the front side panel of my car it did a number on it. It was going about 40 mph and it took out the side panel, and part of the driver door got it as well. The deer killed on impact and my brother had his first deer meat!! I am still driving my Saturn but I do worry about what would happen in a real accident!! Knock on wood!!!

I had to laugh when I read this.....not because of the accident, but it jarred my memory of a friends Saturn. I remember when she first got it she was showing us how it doesn't dent. She took a baseball bat to the driver side door and voila...no dent. The second time she did it though was a big mistake, not taking into consideration the 40 degree below zero temp and wound up with a huge hole in the side panel. It broke like glass! We all laughed so hard!! For the next 3 years she drove around with this baseball sized hole in her car...but....it never rusted!! LOL!! We liked to hide stuff in there for her to find later...like garbage etc.. Too funny!