On Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:26:01 +0000 (UTC), Tegger >
wrote:

>> I was actually just going to post about the late unlamented Accord V6
>> hybrid from a couple years back, how about just keeping up with the
>> Jones's with an Accord hybrid I4 - AND KNOCK 500 POUNDS OFF IT.
>
>
>That's exactly the point. Modern "safety" regulations -- especially the
>newer side-impact regs -- make it difficult to impossible to build a light
>car of any size.
>
>Everything these days is 400-500 lbs heavier than the same size was 20
>years ago, and all of that has gone into the structure, airbags, ABS, etc.
>
>Take a look at the roof pillars, window sizes, and beltlines on a new car
>and compare them against a 1992 model. The new cars have tree-trunks for
>pillars, gun slits for windows, and beltlines up to your nose. Visibility
>sucks.
>
>You can have "safety", and you can have lightness, but you can't have both
>unless you start using materials and processes that would put the price out
>of reach of the average consumer.

Well, but that's where the challenge is now for Honda or anybody.

I guess the question is to what degree the new standards make sense?
I've never heard that the old, ligher Hondas had any reputation as
death traps.

I believe the air bags are a total waste of money and can really only
be counterproductive, I guess with all the side airbags and crap that
might be a hundred pounds - and more than a thousand dollars, right
there. So if that's a sign, then probably 95% of the new standards
are garbage.

J.