If money was no object : 853 Reynolds car – possible?

well if you had any experience with 853 you would know that in the post welded (air hardened) condition it has a uts of 1400, do you know what its yield is in that condition? Go on tell me..

(awhiles furiosly googles 853 and wonders why he cannot find any reference to 853 yield..)

i’m leaving this conversation now, it’s gone a bit mental.

i’m leaving this conversation now, it’s gone a bit mental.

mtfu – you have to have the courage of your convictions! 8)

I’m still confused why the OP thinks cars can be made from 853 which is a range of tubing, not a material. Most cars now have monocoque floorpans and cast supension components. The only good examples for the use of 853 mentioned above are the Porsche, the aerial atom and the Ducati with tubualar frames. These could all probably be achieved in aluminum if you wanted ultimate weight savings (though probably not on production models where fatigue life could be an issue).

New Clios have plastic front wings to keep weight down.

Clios aren’t cars though, they’re miserable 4 wheeled boxes of electrical faults.

I’ve often wondered if 853 could be used in a situation where chassis flex is desired (such as go-karts as they have no suspension) but Reynolds only do plain gauge tubing in 631, you can only get 853 in bicycle specific butting profiles unless you pay for tooling. This is probably the main reason no-one has bothered. Reynolds have recently made 631 available in various sizes of plain gauge and it is still used for some motorbike stuff

It would be interesting to know if a 953/931 motorbike frame would be any lighter than whatever the preferred materials are currently

Matt

I’m still confused why the OP thinks cars can be made from 853 which is a range of tubing, not a material. Most cars now have monocoque floorpans and cast supension components.

”money no object” remember?

is it impossible to manufacture 853 in sheets?

I dunno, just wanted to put it out there.

is it impossible to manufacture 853 in sheets

Correct me if I’m wrong but a lot of tubing starts life as a sheet and gets rolled and formed into tubing. By the way to can have it profiled I’d guess 853 isactually drawn tubing.

So yes therewill be sheet metal out there with the same properties as 853, but it’s probably not much better performing/lighter than the normal galvanized steel alloys used in normal car chassis/body work. I’d guess if you’re making a car and you need to add strength you just add some more material. There’s usuallu plenty of space…

If a car was made with 853, would it only have one gear?

At last, a sensible question ^^^^

Correct me if I’m wrong but a lot of tubing starts life as a sheet and gets rolled and formed into tubing. By the way to can have it profiled I’d guess 853 isactually drawn tubing.

you are wrong.

853 is drawn from billet steel.

True Temper OX Platinium (another air hardening steel bicycle tube) is made from sheets though.

By the way to can have it profiled I’d guess 853 is actually drawn tubing.

Umm no I’m not?

Ultimately, you’d sell bugger all cars on the basis of “Guaranteed for 20 years / 500,000 miles” or at double or treble the price of a standard car. I don’t think it would be a major technical challenge – I’ve been in plenty of Merc Taxis that have done massive mileages and seemed to be fine. Your biggest problem would probably be the interior wearing out.

The majority of new car buyers are interested in having a new car – status, image, technology, increased fuel economy, lower noise levels etc. They’re not really that interested in real long term longevity. So who the hell would you sell them to? Tight arses like me are happy to motor about in cheap second hand cars from reliable makers…

Or to take an example from another sector – I’ve got a Nokia 3310 and an Ericsson R310 knocking about the house somewhere. They’re both reliable, better at making calls than my current smartphone and have longer battery life. Bugger all chance of me using one as a day to day phone though…

Following on from tron’s post – aren’t there thousands of perfectly serviceable cars going to scrap for want of simple repairs? Their market value is so low that it’s not worth it. Why is the market value so low? Because enough people higher up the chain can afford new ones.

or want to afford..