Ford Lightweight Concept – a Fiesta-weight Fusion

ford lightweight 1

Ford has unveiled a Lightweight Concept based on a Fusion (Mondeo) platform, the weight of which has been stripped down by around 25% to nearly that of a Fiesta. No specific mention of numbers, but a Fiesta 1.5 Sport tips the scales at about 1,125 kg.

The vehicle, powered by a 1.0 litre EcoBoost mill, is a research extension on future light-weighting and advanced materials applications, building on that learnt from the development of the new F-150, which shed up to 700 pounds through the use of high-strength steel and aluminium alloys.

The Lightweight Concept features a blend of materials such as aluminium, ultra-high strenght steel, chemically-toughened glass, magnesium, carbon-fibre and advanced lightweight plastics, incorporating these into the entire design of the vehicle, including powertrain, chassis, body, battery and interior features such as seats, which are made of carbon-fibre.

The mixed-materials study was developed with the US Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Program, together with Cosma International, a subsidiary of Magna International. The latter’s design and development of the multi-material body-in-white, closures and chassis components provided a significant contribution in light-weighting the concept vehicle.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • Aaron on Jun 05, 2014 at 2:59 pm

    Whoa. Ford is always innovative.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 1
    • Motorhead (Member) on Jun 06, 2014 at 7:27 am

      Yeah2. . Japs was doing it long time dy.. that’s why they come up the kei kar concept. .

      Light weight & fuel efficient.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 3
      • N compromise on safety as well. Well done japs.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
        • Motorhead (Member) on Jun 06, 2014 at 2:00 pm

          That’s why u don’t understand car market segmentation. . & what kei kar built for..

          The Japs ve performance cars.. BRZ, 86, WRX.. Evo.. etc.. no compromise in safety & handling. . Rally champs..

          Unfortunately. . Thx to NAP.. they are considered luxury cars here..

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • kangkung on Jun 05, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    Can not imagine what if 2.0 ecoboost + lightweight…..

    0-100 can be less than 7 sec

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
    • I think will be 5 sec.. since now 5 series 2.0 turbo already 6.2 sec to 100km/h

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
    • Petrol head on Jun 06, 2014 at 8:37 am

      High tensile steel and aluminium are the trend on chassis & body works.
      1 liters turbo+ plug in hybrid/full electric will be engine trend.
      We can foreseen most of the car on the road in future will be less than 5 secs in 0-100kmh in future. FC will be 40-50km/l. Torque 500nm

      When AP, taxes demolished? long waiting.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • krs189 on Jun 05, 2014 at 3:09 pm

    Good Concept.

    But now comes the durability part.
    This will take at least another 2 year to mass pro

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Holy moly. Ford is making a lot of advancement.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • Later some stupid will say this will affect the handling and is unsafe. Because heavy saloon car have better handling.

    But when it comes to Supercar, they will say LP570 have better handling comapred to LP560….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
    • Motorhead (Member) on Jun 06, 2014 at 7:24 am

      They ve thick skull bone.. no brains inside. . Or the brain too small..

      Another word.. retarded.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • QG16DE on Jun 05, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    I want to see how far can the Ecoboost engine surprise others. Expecting it to perform like a 1.5L engine with a fuel consumption of a 1.3L engine

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
  • Denaihati on Jun 05, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    hope other car manufacturer also develop same ide, in term of FC, should be much economical.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • kadajawi (Member) on Jun 05, 2014 at 5:48 pm

    Nice. And I quite like those stickers…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Motorhead (Member) on Jun 06, 2014 at 7:19 am

    Japs always light weight. . They say tin milo craps.. not safe bla bla…

    What do you know. . Ford is doing it also..

    Light weight = fuel efficiency. . More speed

    They are just too dumb to understand. .

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 3
 

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