I've been thinking over this topic for a while. It's a niche interest on my part, but others might share similar sentiments on other automotive subjects. So what are your thoughts on cars as a whole today?
Every so often I look through the new car market in case I need to replace my car. I'm going through another cycle now but I feel a bit disappointed. Were I to buy a car I'd want an efficient one, which thankfully do exist. I see so many pickups on the road that I feel like someone has to try to offset them. However I'd like some performance too if possible. Typically efficiency and performance are seen as opposing needs but there is a very simple way to satisfy both, which is to reduce mass. So my ideal car would come in at a very low weight, but this is proving hard to find. The Honda Civic comes in at under 3000 pounds which is great, though if I do buy one I'll probably get a hybrid since the efficiency from the powertrain more than compensates for the weight gain.
Still, I feel like lightweighting is underappreciated. It's not viable for cars on the low end of pricing to incorporate low weight materials, though I would absolutely be willing to pay if the weight was brought down by a decent amount. Instead higher price seems to bring with it more weight in the form of extra stuff that I don't really want or need. As a last resort I could try lightening the car myself, but it's not going to be as effective as a car designed for reduced weight and will probably void my warranty while also taking a lot more effort. Ford's lightweight concept is over a decade old at this point, but it's almost exactly what I want now. Unfortunately, nothing came of it.