The 157 mpg Loremo (Low Resistance Mobility) LS

Why do we need 1.5 tons of steel to get an 80 kg person from A to B? That’s the question Gerhard Heilmaier, Stefan Ruetz and Uli Sommer asked themselves six years ago which led them to form an innovative company named LoReMo - Low Resistance Mobility. LoReMo used this week’s Geneva Show to introduce its first car - a featherweight (450 kg), highly aerodynamic (Cw value of 0.20) 2+2 auto powered by a 20 PS (15 kw) two-cylinder turbo-diesel motor capable of 1.5 litre/100km (157 mpg) that will sell for 11,000 euro (US$13,200). Want more speed? The 50 PS (37 kW) three-cylinder turbo-diesel Loremo GT can top 220 km/h (138 mph) returning 2.7 l/100 km (88 mpg) for less than 15,000 euro (US$18,000).

Bavaria is well-known for its innovative car-makers and Loremo AG is the newest of this breed. Founded in 2000, the company has taken a completely different approach to the automobile: less is more and the most efficient use of energy is not to use it at all.

The Loremo’s construction handbook would make an excellent diet recipe.

Slim lines and no unnecessary ballast distinguishes the Loremo from all other cars. Its superior safety concept, excellent aerodynamic characteristics, revolutionary bodywork, the linear cell structure, and a radically new rearaxle keep it in form. It combines the economy of a compact car with the handling and feelings of a sports car. The Loremo LS – light and simple is a car which awakens emotions and yearns for sinuous roads.

Bodywork and chassis concept

The 95kg (209 lb) lightweight steel chassis – a patented linear cell structure – is one of Loremo’s key elements. It performs well-above average in crash simulations and provides excellent handling characteristics with its low center of gravity and torsional stiffness. Longitudinal supports, extend at fender height along the length of the entire vehicle, increase stability and ensure that the linear cell structure remains practically undamaged in offset and side crash-tests. The centrally mounted cross-support, on which the roll bars are mounted, stiffens the longitudinal beams and houses the engine.

The non-load-bearing, self-supporting, thermoplastic body panels mould to the linear cell structure and help the Loremo to achieve its aerodynamic shape. This material has a number of advantages: it is light weight, weatherproof, scratch-resistant and it is economical. It substitutes the classical paint by a thin film, in the colour of the car, during the manufacturing process. In this way the Loremo receives a high-quality, paint-like surface without environmental damaging paints.

The intelligent, chassis air-guiding system is perfected with the help of lower tire fins and by the air stream optimized chassis design. The Loremo achieves its optimum driving characteristics with its minimized wind resistance and reduced buoyancy.

Design

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