6 ms·
So many reasons, but the two big ones are: 1. Cost vs Reward. 2. Regulations. 1) Many concept cars are non-functional or only partially functional. Making th
by csours 9y ago
So many reasons, but the two big ones are:
1. Cost vs Reward.
2. Regulations.
1) Many concept cars are non-functional or only partially functional. Making them fully functional and production ready, even at prototype levels would be extremely costly.
2) Many features in concept cars are not evaluated against FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) and other standards, they are not crash tested, they may not meet EPA regulations.
There are a lot of other reasons, but they all basically boil down to cost vs reward.
---
There is also the backwards case, where many modern "concept cars" are actually just pre-production teasers with fancy cosmetics.
Disclaimer: I work for GM, but not on concept cars, sadly =(
- cm2187 9y agoAre Ferrari models crash tested?
- trymas 9y agoYes. Even super rare koenigseggs, and paganis are crash tested. If I recall right, koenigsegg uses one or two monocoque carbon frames to pass the tests.
- csours 9y agohttp://blog.dupontregistry.com/news/crash-test-2-million-hypercar/ http://blog.dupontregistry.com/news/crash-test-2-million-hyp... https://www.carkeys.co.uk/news/do-you-have-to-crash-test-supercars-and-how-safe-are-they https://www.carkeys.co.uk/news/do-you-have-to-crash-test-sup... Yes, usually at least once. Part of the reason supercars are so expensive is that the engineering costs are only amortized over a small number of vehicles. The crash test can be considered part of that cost. The actual incremental cost to produce a supercar is a fraction of the price tag. In addition to official government crash tests, non-governmental groups such as IIHS also crash test mass market vehicles, but they actually have to purchase the vehicles they test - hoping to make money by selling back the information they collect. It's pretty much never cost effective for IIHS to buy supercars for crash testing. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings
- cm2187 9y agoInteresting. The other thing I was curious about: aren't there regulations in term of maximum noise emitted by new cars? If that's the case I wonder how these supercars are roadworthy.
- gambiting 9y agoTests apply in "default" configuration. So I drive a Mercedes AMG which has a button to open the exhaust which makes it way louder. But the test is conducted in the state in which the car starts in by default - so with the exhaust closed and quiet. Same with emissions - if the car starts by default with Start/Stop system on, it's tested with it on. But obviously you can switch the system off which increases the emissions.
- exDM69 9y agoYes there are and that's why e.g. Ferrari have been going towards turbo charged cars with conservative exhaust pipes recently. At least where I'm from, most regulations don't apply retroactively. You can still drive around in an old V12 with short tailpipes but a new one wouldn't be allowed.
- briandear 9y agoI love the sound of a Ferrari. I wish in France there were more Ferraris and less of those obnoxiously loud motor scooters. Scooters are louder than most cars.
- exDM69 9y agoAmen. Where I live, the biggest traffic noise is mopeds with tuned exhausts driven by obnoxious 15-year olds late at night. They're louder than most racing cars I've heard. Certainly much much louder than the V8 cars at the muscle car garage not far from where I live. You can drive a moped at 15 yo, limited to 50cc engine and 45 km/h. The latter is often circumvented by boring the exhaust and it makes them super loud (and illegal). Lots of parents in rural areas and faraway suburbs buy their kids mopeds at 15 so they don't have to be driven around.