Let’s get physical

It’s no secret that as modern cars get “better” they get heavier. Airbags, ESP systems, pyrotechnic seatbelts and the like are all wonderful things, but, for all their life saving abilities they are counter productive to maintaining efficiency and reducing fuel consumption. Of course, today’s market demands mean you can’t simply drop such essential items. Forget about the engineering reasons, the marketing department simply wouldn’t allow it.

So, if a manufacturer decides that reducing weight is an outcome they would like to achieve they need to start thinking a bit harder. This brief video from Audi tv shows some of the techniques and methodologies they are employing to help produce lighter cars.

Obviously, weight is the enemy of cars developed for motorsport and the A3 24h Street (shown above), over 200kg lighter than its production counterpart, is spoken about towards the end of the film. Featuring a 2.0 TFSI engine, this car is based on the package prepared by Audi for the Nürburgring 24 hour race.

Enjoy the clip after the jump.

[Thanks to Chris for the tip]