interesting
But I wouldn't want to drive it anywhere outside. Not only because I somehow doubt that it would be a safe car, but also because wood bends with humidity, and allthough that can be lessened, it can never be stopped...
Would be great to take that car up in the countryside to a hotel, only to wake up the next morning to the sound of woodpeckers poking holes everywhere in your car :doh:
The entire car, which is made from a combination of maple, plywood and MDF
ehm...excuse me? Plywood and MDF that does 240 mph with a human inside?
they could have at least made it look like this to save the trouble after the crash
Well, at least we're advancing in the environmental front! Now instead of creating 500 tons of carbon fiber that'll end up in a landfill, we're cutting down 500 trees!
It seems wooden cars are quite in fashion, but it just doesn't make sense at all OK it's a good fun to have a wooden car, but what the hell do people do with them...Do not tell me they really drive these cars.. Waste of money and time
Why is it a waste of time? What is so bad about wood? Looked after prior to manufacture the wood isn't going to warp all the time. It's strong and light. Less prone to splintering that most composites. It won't rust.
Sure, if you use the same techniques as to make a steel/composite car it'd be rubbish, but I'd put money on them using techniques that lend themselves to the material. As every 10+ year old would.
I completely agree. There have been very few wooden cars, the original Marcos is a rare example, for its time it was lighter and stronger than conventional sports cars and they generally seem to have stood the time with most problems occurring from people using engines with far more power than the chassis was designed to cope with and some rot issues, although nothing compared to the rust its contemporaries have suffered.
I think wood could still be a sensible material choice, manufactured boards are now considered stronger than steel girders for a lot of large scale building constructions so there's no reason why it shouldn't be considered. I doubt a wooden car would be likely to be a true rival to composite racing cars any time soon and I think you'd struggle to race any car without a steel rollcage or composite roll hoop so wood probably doesn't make a lot of sense for racing atm. For road cars though it could be perfect, with modern manufacturing techniques wooden cars could be mass produced rather than hand crafted and they could be lighter and stronger than steel or aluminum cars with similar costs. Given that reducing excess weight will help make modern cars safer, faster and better for the environment I think car companies should be seriously looking at the feasibility of a mass produced wooden car rather than silly hybrid and bio-fuel nonsense.
The bodywork of TVRs is made from glass fibre. It will not bend all that much before shattering. Then energy absorbtion is considerable though, and in less extreme cases can save the chassis from taking any damage in an accident. Although not mass produced enough to need to pass crash testing (in the UK at least), I've heard (from a reliable source) that TVR has tried crash testing its models and, although I don't know which model in particular this was referring to, once the car was crashed, the bodywork was replaced, it was deemed in fit condition, and suitably crashed again.
Ugly but fast...I can't choose
OK it's a good fun to have a wooden car, but what the hell do people do with them...Do not tell me they really drive these cars..
