protokultur

Eh, wish it were lighter, I'm still open minded to see how it turns out. Why we cannot make a <2300 lb car in 2009 is a great mystery to me.

FT-86 Concept
L 4,160 mm
W 1,760 mm
H 1,260 mm
whlbase 2,570 mm
wt. 2700?

AE86
L 4200
W 1625
H 1330
Wheel base (mm) 2,400
wt 2300 (people are getting them down to 1900 routinely)

Kremlin

Try crashing both cars into a brick wall at 30mph and I'm sure the reason for the weight will become very apparent.

budgy

probably a substantial difference in engine/drivetrain weight as well brakes, wheels/tires, etc.

TommyDeVito

Have you even seen the interior of the latest Subarus? Plastic on the interior is nice, seats are immensely comfortable (best seats I've had in any car including Honda/Acura), stock radio isn't bad (yes they all come with one) and Nav is optional. Your stereotype = the fail

DanZilla

jwocky whats ur name on ft86club?

Steponme

Welcome to the 21st century, when safety regulations and more amenities contribute to the weight increase. Mystery solved!

TheDonEffect

Lots of reasons, but the main one being that there was a time where econo boxes were entry level appliances that were light making them tossable... then the reputation of them being smashed to pieces when a shopping cart hit them started going around. All the extremely light weight cars that all the sport compact folk loved (eg, crx, hachis, etc) were all based on econo cars, which served as a great foundation to make a more fun car. But also note that these cars never came in with a powerful, specifically torquier, engine. The contemporary sportscars/sportier cars all weighed more, like the DC2s (>2600), 240sx (about the same), DSMs, mr2s, etc etc etc. Then you had the Z32, 3si, Supras, with the lightest being the FD. Really only the miata was teh exception, but again no torque in the engine and it was a dedicated 2 seat roadster.
So as crash stardards started going up and manufacturers trying to beat inflation with their pricing, weight inevitably started to go up.
Weight for sportscars really haven't gone up, we just lost all the outliers. A lot of people knock the 350z for being heavy, but the z32 was a lot heavier (granted it did come with a twin turbo motor). And even in the Honda camp in these boards, a 2600lb+ sub 200hp fwd car is perfectly acceptable if not desireable, so a 2800lb ish rwd 200hp+ car should be absolutely heavenly right? Especially when you figure that the s2000 weighs in at 2864, porsche cayman 2943, 335i 3500, etc.

ZDan

Progress should be about doing more with less, not more with MORE! With advanced design/analysis tools and a ton more knowledge, we *should* be able to make safer cars that weigh no more than their predecessors.

The real reason the FT86 will weigh significantly more than the AE86 is that it's much more of a new version of the rwd '80s Celica than it is a new version of the AE86.

Sinji

i like the subaru version better but RWD sure is fun!

TheDonEffect

We can do just that, problem is it'll cost too much. You see manufacturers introducing better alloys, more advanced techniques, etc etc, but it's gradual because they need to figure out ways to make it cost effective. And in the case with sportscars that ultimately need more power, more power=more weight, it's plain and simple. You couple all that with all the R&D necessary to meet every increasing emission requirements and it becomes quite a cost game.