Any more performance cars under 3000lbs?
 

I was looking at the press release today for the Lexus LF-A and even with all that carbon fiber and aluminum, it still weighs in at about 3250lbs. It got me thinking that with current day crash standards, I doubt we'll ever see a performance vehicle from a major company weigh in at less than about 3000lbs. I'm not talking about a Lotus or a Ultima GTR or a Mosler, but more like a Vette/Viper/Ferrari/Porsche, etc. What do you guys think?

Curb weights as evidence:
Lexus LF-A: 3,263 pounds (Per Lexus)
Ferrari Enzo: 3,262 pounds (per Car and Driver)
Porsche Carrera GT: 3,530 pounds (per Road and Track)
Bugatti Veyron: 4,470 pounds (per Road and Track)
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1: 3,325 pounds (per Road and Track)

With 400hp base models and factory 325 tires and 33mm sway bars, don't think we need to worry.

Moreover, older cars weren't even that light. Only old old cars.

I took a few hundred lbs off Cambria and she's still over 3K I'm sure.

I can't believe the Veyron is that heavy, stupid.

I agree with Adam. With the advent of variable valve timing, new cars today have such a wide torque curve that the added weight isn't really affecting their performance. Just take a look at turbo diesel trucks now-a-days. They can go almost as fast from 0-60 with 1000lbs in the bed as they can empty.

Stupid maybe, but it's also one of the most incredible vehicles ever built in my opinion. A 1001hp car you could easily drive daily.

Power can overcome weight for acceleration. Torsional rigidity, dialed in suspensions, great tires can TO A DEGREE compensate for some, even most of the weight penalties under normal or even sporting driving conditions.

You can never overcome weight penalties for peak handling performance. It's just a loss. Moreover, removing weight is the ONE thing that benfits every category of performance.

The Evora, a perfectly lovely 2+2 GT is 2,900 something.


But the thing we're sort of forgetting here is the simply unbelieviable advances that are being made in material science. Decades off from being seen in production vehicles, but things like Bucky Paper and other nano-structured materials offer strength VASTLY greater than steel by volume and orders of magnitude less weight.

"Buckypaper is one tenth the weight yet potentially 500 times stronger than steel when its sheets are stacked to form a composite."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckypaper

The Evora performance wise really isn't in the same league as the cars I'm talking about. I'm talking true exotics/supercars. Obviously we will see advances in material science as time goes by, but I think carbon fiber will be the material of choice for at least 10 years or so. If that is the case, I don't see too many cars in this class dropping below 3000lbs.

"You can never overcome weight penalties for peak handling performance. It's just a loss. Moreover, removing weight is the ONE thing that benfits every category of performance".

Correct Ben.:)