Weight needed for car

[chornedsnorkack]

How much does a car actually need to weigh?

Citroen 2CV is 560 kg curb weight. With 4 doors and 4 seats.

Could you name any cars now in production that have curb weight under 600 kg, and 4 doors?

[eno]

A quick correction ..... its Kerb weight.  ;D

Have you ridden in a 2CV ........ ?

[Ivan]

for western road legal stuff dont think you can get much below 650kg anyway... certainly not new models.
tata nano is lighter but not road legal in europe

[chornedsnorkack]

What about Daihatsu Esse - brand new, 4 doors and 720 kg weight?

[Ivan]

Lightest modern one is the MCC Smart... 730 kg and no crumple zone... probably the same with the keicars (as that daihatsu is)

Lightest safe car is about 800kg...

My brother had a peugeot 207 for a few weeks... now that was the utmost in overweightness... 1200kg with the worst power-to-weight ratio you can imagine

[expat]

Lightest modern one is the MCC Smart... 730 kg and no crumple zone... probably the same with the keicars (as that daihatsu is)

I witnessed a head on at about 30 mph by a Smart and a Golf. Plastic was ejected for miles , but the drive cabin was intact. I was quite impressed................Now if we want a real car below 600kgs, then it has to be a Lotus 7


Matt

[chornedsnorkack]

What about Aixam Crossline?

380 kg unladen weight. 4 seats, though just 2 doors. Its 305 cm length matches the length of the real Mini (which is much heavier) and with 1474 mm width it is a kei car, too.

(It is a pity that Tata Nano is 150 cm wide. It is just 2 cm too wide for a kei car...)

[Ivan]

Lightest modern one is the MCC Smart... 730 kg and no crumple zone... probably the same with the keicars (as that daihatsu is)

I witnessed a head on at about 30 mph by a Smart and a Golf. Plastic was ejected for miles , but the drive cabin was intact. I was quite impressed................Now if we want a real car below 600kgs, then it has to be a Lotus 7


Matt

Smart kills by g-forces, not by crushing

[expat]

Lightest modern one is the MCC Smart... 730 kg and no crumple zone... probably the same with the keicars (as that daihatsu is)

I witnessed a head on at about 30 mph by a Smart and a Golf. Plastic was ejected for miles , but the drive cabin was intact. I was quite impressed................Now if we want a real car below 600kgs, then it has to be a Lotus 7


Matt

Smart kills by g-forces, not by crushing

Yes and an interesting video here. 70mph into concrete (a test crash). The cabin survived, but as it is pointed out at the end, the driver probably would not have.

Matt