Posted on 03/18/2008 7:59:57 AM PDT by ZGuy
In U.S. units, this is 41.88 mpg for the BMW and 40.05 mpg for the Prius.
Whats the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?
BMW driven more-or-less normally, beats a Pious driven incredibly carefully with an eye on saving gas.
Wonder how all of the Hybrid owners will rationalize this away.
Can you provide a link with some more info? Thanks
that is exactly why I said “pompous” hybrid owners. Those hybrid owners who simply like it..but don’t try to rub their “superiority” in folk’s faces are not pompous...
Not to the new US standard. They were 50 ppm, we are now less than a 1/3 of that at 15 ppm. Quite a significant jump.
And my two year old Corolla gets 35mpg (mixed conditions), and I'm not particularly careful about fuel efficient driving.
The EU very cleverly made its gasoline-powered vehicle emission standards identical to those of California, but the Diesel thing is a hodge-podge. To me it is unconscionable that different states have different standards. Why have an EPA or a DOT if I can't buy what I want in any state? One other thing this article inadvertently points out: the shocking (shocking, I tell you) demand for off-the line acceleration that is corrupting our fleet economy averages. In the olden days, 0-60 in 10 seconds was considered the Gold Standard of acceleration. Now every dumb little KIA/Civic/Corolla can beat that.
The author clearly thinks 8secs to 60 is an eternity! My question: "WHY?" If every American car where to have a lower ratio rear,(say 2.7-1, with a higher ratio overdrive top, say .6-1, we would suddenly have much better highway mileage, even if more leisurely acceleration.
Why this acceleration mania? Some of the greatest sports cars of the 1960s took a whole 12 seconds to hit 60 ... nothing wrong with that!
I got 43.1 mpg in my Honda Fit last week. Not hybrid.
“Whats the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?”
With the porcupine, the pricks are on the outside?
Recall the Honda Civic HF? It got over 50 mpg years ago.
Bingo. (I happen to have an older beemer, so I get to crack that joke without being “insensitive”.)
Further information on Europes Low Sulfur Diesel requirements. The 50 ppm only became the requirement in 2005. In 2000 they had lowered the limit to 350 ppm. Prior to that in 1996 they had lowered the limit to 500 ppm. The same level the US has been at.
so Europe is fairly new to the ULSD game as well.
In 2009 they are going to become even more strict than use lowering to 10 ppm.
Fuel Regulations, European Union
http://www.dieselnet.com/standards/eu/fuel.php
The guy in the BMW doesn’t seem to have tried all that hard to save fuel (he was, after all, going nearly 80 mph). The guy in the Prius was doing some fuel-saving tricks.
But, yeah, any car can be relatively fuel-efficient by reducing weight, having a smaller engine, and good aerodynamics.
The BMW 5-Series, though, is a bigger car than a Corolla (or Prius). The 320d is more of a fair comparison, and it gets 44-45 mpg (U.S. gallons).
Wish we could buy these here.
Toyota Yaris HB...1.5L 5-speed...rated at 36mg hwy.
Folks at Yarisworld.com are reporting mpg ratings of 40-45.
$11,350 base price...cheapest, except for smartcar & uses 87 octane.
A straight gas motor, not hybrid.
Does not feel like a small car, handles well and has lots of room.
They seem to be flying off the lots.
Every dealership we’ve been to kept the cars way in the very back of the back lot. Not one had one up front.
Set to pick up mine on Thursday...fingers crossed.
14k out the door, with power windows, locks & mirrors, rear defrog, frog lamps, keyless entry.
Beats the 15mpg that my quadcab hemi is getting and should be excellent as a commuter car.
Huh? The units in the story are mpg. What did I miss?
I haven't figured that one out yet....if you put 10 gallons of gas in a car, and go 340 miles, then you are at 34 mpg. Period. Doesn't matter when the engine runs.
Sounded like he was parroting a salesweasel, along with making a convenient rationalization that his hybrid that gets a few extra miles per gallon was worth the extra $7500 he paid for it.
I love listening to hybrid owners rationalize and justify their decisions.
Thanks for the link, I had not seen that before. Have you hear of any further development since 2005?
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