New small cars comming out. (56k warning)

[SVOboy]

VW is actually making a diesel hybrid, but it only gets like 10% better gas mileage. VW doesn't like hybrids, wants to invest it's money in diesel. Which I won't knock because that money has created a prototype car that gets 240 mpg and the lupo that is production and gets 115 mpg.

[Matt Timion]

Okay, you make a point Sludgy. The government might not want more efficient cars, but it is for the same reasons that they really don't want people to quit smoking. They are getting huge revenues off of tobacco taxes.

When I lived in California there was a huge problem with the budget. All of the money allotted for the roads were actually being used elsewhere. They wanted to raise taxes so that they could get more money for the roads. They had the same problem with education money. The lottery was designed to fund education. A sneaky politician made the wording so that the lotto underwrote the education fund. So the actual money that was supposed to go towards financing a horrible education system did not increase, the source just changed. Now the government had extra money to spend.

You could say that the real problem is that our government system is extremely inefficient. They spend too much. If you do this long enough the whole house collapses.

I will as you this, Sludgy. If the government does not want more efficient cars why do they continue to raise the US fleet fuel economy standards? Surely there has to be a reason.

I do believe that people will want to buy more fuel efficient cars when gas hits $5/gallon. When it was $3/gallon this year the SUV sales dropped 4% and the hybrid sales increased 4%. It's unfortunate that it takes a dissaster to wake people up, but it's the awful truth.

[Sludgy]

Corporate fuel economy standards are something of an auto insider's joke. Yes, the CAFE standards were raised last year, but large vehicles like 3/4 ton and larger vans and pickups, big SUVs like Ford Excursions and Cadillac Escalades are exempt. Almost as many exempt vehicles are sold as CAFE vehicles.

Exempting large commercial vehicles from CAFE makes sense, but exempting big SUVs and pickups used as personal vehicles does not. Whether we like it or not, these personal, wasteful vehicles raise gas prices for all of us by increasing gasoline demand.

You absolutely hit the nail on the head about gas prices and fuel economy. Costly gas would keep wasteful vehicles off the roads. I've long advocated phased-in INCREASES in the gas tax (accompanied by correspondingly reduced auto sales and exise taxes, registration fees and the like). An increase of about 10 cents per gallon every year for the next 20 years is about right. High gas taxes keep Europeans and Asians driving fuel efficient cars.

With higher gas taxes, nobody owning a guzzler would get hurt since gas would be cheap long enough for their vehicles to wear out. It sure would make sales of new fuel efficient vehicles take off. Even the manufacturers couldn't ***** because they would have time to tool up. What do you think?

I'd love to get a new truck that got good mileage, but that's not going to happen soon. In the meantime, we need to keep tweaking our cars. I'll try tweaking the pickup truck.

[Compaq888]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

Link please? I read about a CRX that got over 400 HP once and it was so powerful it couldn't even move. It just spun the tires. I'm having a difficult time believing that Honda makes a 450HP commercially available car that gets 60mpg.

easily converted to get 200mpg? COnsidering that the enthusiasts can only get the hybrids to break 100mpg I am not sure how the automanufacturers are going to magically pull another 100mpg out of thier rear end. It would really be a cool trick though, and one I'd like to watch.

Another statement which I've heard a billion times (and used to believe myself) is that the car companies are in bed with the oil companies. I just don't buy it. The free market dictates that the auto manufacturers would actually benefit more by offering 200mpg hybrids, 90 mpg sedans, 450hp cars that get 60mpg, etc. Honda would gladly offer a 200mpg hybrid to eliminate the competition. And if gas then goes up to $5/gallon, more people will be buying their hybrids. It's a winning scenario for them. But you claim that the car companies actually make money by NOT selling cars, which I don't buy.

This goes back to the 200mpg carburator story that has been told time and time again. Big bad oil comes in and steals a 200mpg carburator from a guy to prevent him from offering it to the world.

Yeah, okay. Big oil is corrupt, sure. They want more money, okay. I don't for a second believe that they have somehow managed to convince auto makers to not produce more efficient cars. If you want someone to blame for the lack of efficient cars, blame the US Gov't, who won't allow these efficient cars into the country.

I'll make a really good response when I get back from work.

[MetroMPG]

200 mpg hybrid: could be referring to the plug-in prius?

[kickflipjr]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

VW is actually making a diesel hybrid, but it only gets like 10% better gas mileage. VW doesn't like hybrids, wants to invest it's money in diesel. Which I won't knock because that money has created a prototype car that gets 240 mpg and the lupo that is production and gets 115 mpg.

That vw got 0.89 litres per 100 km (317 mpg imperial) on it's test drive.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/gw/vw1litre.htm

they said they wouldn't produce it because it would cost over $26,000 to produce. That is too high for the target market.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/04/vw_abandons_its.html

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by kickflipjr

That vw got 0.89 litres per 100 km (317 mpg imperial) on it's test drive.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/gw/vw1litre.htm

they said they wouldn't produce it because it would cost over $26,000 to produce. That is too high for the target market.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/04/vw_abandons_its.html

okay, I want one.

[Compaq888]

sir your question was answered.

[chesspirate]

Y'know if VW put out that 1L engine some "movie-stars" would get out to show that they care about the enviornment, and people would follow (only a couple though) but it would be a good image for VW to project. Wouldn't you agree?

And as John Travolta said to Danny Devito's "don't you want somethin with power"? Travolta replied "if you're important enough, people will wait"