Best Lightweight 4-cylinder Car

[sixteen_valve]

i don't consider 3000+ lb cars lightweight. lightweight cars are crxs, civics, mkI and mkII vw gtis.

[buymeabmwm3]

You're all wrong. The bmw m3 is the best. I drove one over the summer and have yet to drive a car that was half as much fun.

[drunken monkey]

4 cylinder?
that'd be the E30 then.
hmm, but then again, since when was 1300kgs considered lightweight?

lotus elise S1: 755kgs
lotus elan sprint: 640kgs
lotus europa twin cam: 712 kgs

oops.
did i just mention even more contenders for best lightweight four cylinders cars?
why would ya look at that;
they're all lotus.

hmm, think that might be saying something?

[buymeabmwm3]

Yeah mostly i just wanted something on this list other than the completely obvious answer - lotus elise. You know though, that really is a shame that there aren't more cars under 1000 kgs. Isn't the miata even heavier than that?

[kfoote]

The Miatas are just under 1000 kg. Mine is 2465 lbs with the car + 1/2 tank fuel + roll cage + me, (about 970 kg empty)

[nbw]

I was starting to wonder when someone was going to say MIATA!!!!!

miata miata miata miata miata. them Mk1/mk3 mr2, crx and civic hatches, gti, older Sentra SE-R and maybe dodge neon ACR although I dont know how much they weigh at the top of my head...

[Kurtdg19]

Does anybody know if the Lotus Elise uses a backbone chassis (invented by Colin Chapman i.e. Lotus)? This would explain why the Elise is such a lightweight, and has a very rigid chassis.

So after getting that off my chest, anybody up for a side impact test? Ill test out the Hydroform, one of you get in the backbone.

[drunken monkey]

nope.
the elise's chassis is best described a an aluminium tub constructed from custom extrusions.
i.e it not anything like the cruciform backbone of earlier colin chapman era lotus.
if you take off the body panels, you get what looks like a go-kart (almost not surprisingly).
much of it is bonded (yes, that means glued....)
and the S1's bare chassis weighed 65 kgs.
that's lighter than me.....

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

that's lighter than me.....

And one hell of a lot stronger!

Iv seen several that have been hit by other cars, in both cases the other car was written off, while the Elise was driven away with only superficial damage to the fiberglass body work.

[SuperHighOutput]

The Miata is your best option and a 1.6L (89-93) is the lightest and can be had for very cheap.

[finally_retired]

Ok, I have just seen this on topgear. Check out this beast:

http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/

Its got a 275 bhp honda engine (taken from the civic R and then supercharged!) and with no body panels to cut weight, it has over 600bhp per tonne. It can also reach 62 mph in 2.8 secs, providing you can change gear fast enough.

Its also faster than a morotbike, and a Porsche Carrera GT. And all this for less than £30k...