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Volkswagen’s diesel Elise

I

iGav

macrumors G3
Original poster
Mar 9, 2002
9,025
1
Mid-engined, 1.5 litre, 136bhp, DSG, 850kg, 160bhp per tonne, 0-62 in 6.3, 143mph flat out and all whilst achieving... and wait for it... an average of 83mpg. :eek:

Not sure if I like the looks of it or not though, maybe it's the colour?

Rinky dink link

Thoughts?
 
iGav said:
Mid-engined, 1.5 litre, 136bhp, DSG, 850kg, 160bhp per tonne, 0-62 in 6.3, 143mph flat out and all whilst achieving... and wait for it... an average of 83mpg. :eek:

Not sure if I like the looks of it or not though, maybe it's the colour?

Rinky dink link

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

i dig the look.
is it just a prototype or will it be produced? price level?
 
iGav said:
Not sure if I like the looks of it or not though, maybe it's the colour?
Click to expand...


Agreed. It looks good on paper but the looks don't quite do it for me. Maybe they'll grow on me...

Is there really room for another one of these light-weight sports cars? Serious question because the Australian market certainly couldn't fit it but I wonder how the rest of the world fares, particularly the England.
 
Don't panic said:
is it just a prototype or will it be produced? price level?
Click to expand...

Concept/prototype at the moment.

Price tag... well a carbon fibre body, bespoke aluminium suspension and lot's of tech, I doubt it'll be all that cheap. Possibly in the Elise price range I'd expect, I doubt it'd be in Boxster price ranges though.
 
iGav said:
Concept/prototype at the moment.

Price tag... well a carbon fibre body, bespoke aluminium suspension and lot's of tech, I doubt it'll be all that cheap. Possibly in the Elise price range I'd expect, I doubt it'd be in Boxster price ranges though.
Click to expand...

If they produce it wil an all carbon fibre body it'll be really expensive. Way more than an Elise. If they go for a more conventional material then the weight will go up and the power will be way to low (my standard MX-5 produces more power than that).

Edit to add: also if the engine is behind the driver why is he sitting so far back in the car?
 
robbieduncan said:
If they produce it wil an all carbon fibre body it'll be really expensive.
Click to expand...

That's the key isn't it. Though I do know that BMW are working on processes to get the cost of carbon fibre panelling right down to use on mainstream cars, (think CSL roof but on a much larger scale) as although the material itself isn't especially expensive (relative of course) the process of producing complex panels from it is, and that's why it's such an expensive material to currently employ en masse.
 
It sounds pretty good to me, not sure about the looks though either - doesn't have the VW look does it..looks more like an independent kit car style vehicle.

A bit of tweaking though and I could see it being pretty good :)
 
one of the better looking VW prottypes but i guess they will "dull it down" enough to put elements of it in their real production cars ;)

tha taside the engie is pretty fantastic and according to the spiegel articel about it, actually a prospect for their next generation diesel engines

even with more weight i think it could be a pretty nice car ...
 
I don't care for it at all with the top in place but it takes on a different character as an open car. It has a bit of TVR, Jensen, Honda, and Lotus, as well as some unusual tiny Japanese cars.

Keeping the weight down should be an interesting project when using more practical materials. I'd hate to think how it would do in a crash test.
 
dansuz1 said:
Ditto that. It's a super-looking car. Probable can't fit two baby car seats and the dog in the back, but who cares..?
Click to expand...
My point exactly.. I have two kids, two dogs, two cats and one wife.. That thing would never fly in my house.. BTW I see you are from Indy.. Colts fan? I am in Louisville and a huge colts fan.
 
watcher2001 said:
People who can generally afford the "Sports Car" usually don't give a rats a$$ about gas..
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But what about those that can't?

What about those that want a more pure sports car, than the increasingly bloated products available from established sports car manufactuers?

Or those that would love a sports car, but whose eco-conscience pretty much rules out that choice.

I'm not a fan of VW, but it's refreshing to see their approach to making more eco friendly performance cars, such as this but also the new dual-charger Golf GT.
 
watcher2001 said:
People who can generally afford the "Sports Car" usually don't give a rats a$$ about gas..
Click to expand...

That's like saying that all poorer people are environmentally conscious. It just doesn't make any sense. There are going to be environmentally conscious rich guys, and the middle class guys who should be buying smaller cars to save on petrol, and yet do not because they want to fit in with the SUV crowd.

And by the way, I'm one of those people who would still continue driving my 2005 Hyundai Getz even after hitting the jackpot with the lottery. I'm not the most environmentally conscious person out there, but I do care about how much my car consumes.

dansuz1 said:
Probable can't fit two baby car seats and the dog in the back, but who cares..?
Click to expand...

They can walk. Biatch!
 
watcher2001 said:
My point exactly.. I have two kids, two dogs, two cats and one wife.. That thing would never fly in my house..
Click to expand...

Then neither would a gas-guzzling sports car.

136hp? That means somewhere around 200 ft-lbs of torque on that puppy. It may not outdrag an S2000 or outrun a Corvette, but there's no way it wouldn't be a blast to drive with that torquey little plug.

The other nice thing about a derv is the range. I drove to Pittsburgh and back (500 miles or so roundtrip, and nonstop each way) last weekend and still have 1/4 tank left over after commuting all week. It's typically a 4+ hour drive that I can do in less than three because I don't have to stop for gas.

There's more than one way to measure performance.
 
The styling looks a bit North American, and North American cars do not appeal to me.

The technology might make it into the other lines, however if that 83 mpg is a result of the carbon fiber body then expect that number to be lower.

Glad to see that diesel is still making headway in the auto industry. :)
 
iGav said:
Or those that would love a sports car, but whose eco-conscience pretty much rules out that choice.
[/URL].
Click to expand...

well, they always have the option of getting themselves the similarly named Eliica: 230mph of electric car.

of course it is a bit expensive, but who wouldn't splurge on this... ehm... jewel ?





:eek: :eek: :eek: hands down the fugliest car i've ever seen, bar none. please don't post any picture directly in the thread

edit: actually I would give a lock of hair to test drive it :D
editedit:and substituted a link with MORE pictures, see also this
 
I like it.

But its performance and economy depend heavily on very light weight, so this is not a concept car that can successfuly be "dumbed down" for production. Even doing an aluminum body would probably be too heavy.

If they build it it will be expensive and low-production. But I'd buy it if I could.

It's funny how less is more. Money, that is. An Elise is a little waif of a car yet costs as much as a 5-series or Corvette. it's worth it for the drive, but I can't help feeling that the Big Three would be able to make a really good, cheap, lightweight sportscar if they wanted to. If Noble can do it in a shed (very well, I might add) they certainly could with all their resources. Ingore feature content for once and concentrate on the machine.
 
if they produce this, i can tell you what my next car will be :p

robbieduncan said:
Edit to add: also if the engine is behind the driver why is he sitting so far back in the car?
Click to expand...

because a 1.5l engine is tiny as hell and has no trouble fitting in that seemingly small area behind the driver. hell, theres even enough room behind the engine for a second boot :eek:
 
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