ullerw

thats true, but it is still possible to build a light safe car, the elise is the perfect example, granted this is a very expensive car and the crx on the other hand should be sub 20,000? that is if they want to keep the namesake of cheap speed.

TheOtherDave™

A simple change in road tax (registration fee) would work wonders.

Lighter, smaller displacement cars have always been favored by the European nations road tax rates. It's time we institute the same policy.

Make it hurt for Suzie Soccer Mom to keep her Escalade ESV on 26s.
And by hurt, I mean a $2500 bi-annual consumption tax.
Raise CAFE standards by 50% for 2008, and another 75% more by 2012.

Then the market will take over, more or less. We'll see a resurgence in lighter coupes and sedans, with lean-burn petrol & direct injection diesel engines. 55 mpg will be the norm.. and if we keep weight down under a ton, there's no reason why we can't continue to have rewarding cars to drive.

TheOtherDave™

Sub 20K for an aluminium-chassis coupe will be hard to pull off financially, unless that platform is directly shared with a very high-volume model like the Civic.

Despite appearances, the Insight is not built on a Civic-based platform. It is a one-off design that is sold in multiple markets, built out of aluminium - not steel as with the Civic.

That said, you're right... aluminum is the future for an economical sporty coupe.

DakarM

I also doubt we will never see a sub 2000lb FWD sporty hatch. ITR was damn close but was over $20K.

One of the reason why the Elise S2 is so light is because they currently do not have to meet Federal bumper requirements. They got a waiver for 2 (possibly 3 years). Which is why the S2 is going get a new nose/rear end. As safe as the car is, a 5mph fender bender can cost $10K to repair (happened to a friend of mine in his S2). Such is the price you pay for light weight and race car like chassis.