The 4-Wheel Diet: 6 Ways Today's Cars Can Lose Some Weight

You know why cars get such crappy gas mileage, virtually no better on average than the 1980s clunkers going into junkyards? Quite simply, like many Americans, they weigh too much.

According to the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the average 2007 SUV weighs 500 pounds more than a comparable 1990 model (and those were hardly lightweights). The average compact car gained 374 pounds since 1990.

Overall, vehicles have suffered from a 20 percent weight gain in the last 20 years. A fully loaded Ford Excursion weighs more than 7,000 pounds, enough to get it exempted from federal fuel economy laws. Putting this model down, in 2005, was a mercy killing.

When I interviewed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich recently he started talking about strong, lightweight carbon fiber as a replacement for steel auto bodies, a good idea he picked up from Amory Lovins of RMI. That's one way for cars to lose weight. Another would be stripping them of some redundant, and heavy, optional extras. Here's my list of what could be taken out of the average luxury sedan:

• 1. Steering wheel heater. It can be kind of nice on a cold day, but c'mon, seat heaters and a warmer for the wheel, too?
• 2. Navigation systems. The technology is wonderful, but how often do people actually use their built-in GPS systems (which requires approval of an annoying legal message every time the car is started)? Perhaps the better option is buying a hand-held unit and bringing it along when you're actually using it.
• 3. Wheel covers. They're ugly anyway, and turn into flying saucers (and then litter) when they come flying off.
• 4. The third row of seats. I can't believe how many people buy larger and larger SUVs because they consider the third row sacred. How often do any of us drive around with seven passengers, anyway? The rest of the time we're carrying around the dead weight of those seats and the extra wheelbase to fit them in.
• 5. V-12 engines. Sorry, but these macho beasts, reeking of wretched excess, really have had their day. Today's four- and six-cylinder powerplants offer more than enough horsepower for all but the most committed enthusiast.
• 6. Hard drives for music. These complicated, hard-to-load 20-megabyte systems had a shelf life of about five minutes, and are easily trumped by the simple "aux in" for your already fully loaded iPod or Zune.

There are many more examples of today's auto designers making cars more complicated and heavier than they need to be. The window sticker should give the car's weight, which would embarrass automakers into putting them on a diet. But experience has shown that they don't embarrass easily.

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