Posted on 12/07/2009 11:36:42 AM PST by wolf78
“combined EPA cycle fuel consumption”
Q: Is this a plug in hybrid? Cuz in those cases I think the mpg can be extremely misleading.
ICE cars are not a sitting target.
They will improve fuel effiency. And still dominate the market 10 years from now.
The Hippy Green Left/ Anti-oil Hawkish Right market is only so big.
The anti-oil hawks will definelty go Volt.
The Hippy Green Left is going to have alot of choices. Prius plug-in,Nissan Leaf,Mitsu BEV(I forget the name)in additon to the Volt.
There are only so many rich Hippies on the Left Coast and Northeast.
I had an 82 Toyota Starlet years ago. 50 hp, 52 mpg. And yeah, it actually got that milage, at 65 mph on the highway.
And that was before fuel injection, etc. The thing actually had a manual choke on the dash, if you can believe that.
No, I am pretty sure this is just a diesel charging the batteries ... kind of like the WWI U-Boats.
How much does it cost?
For the the money both the VW TDI and BMW 3 series turbo diesel suck.
If they were about a third cheaper then we would be tawkin.
So, a “series” hybrid as opposed to a parallel one.
Pretty impressive in that case.
Diesels in GM cars in the late Seventies were all pretty bad since they attempted to convert a regular gasoline engine to diesel.
The new CRD (common rail diesels) are pretty smooth and don’t make the racket or smoke the way the older US and even Euro models did. I drove one in Britain back in 2002 and it was very nice. Unfortunately, it was a manual and that took a while to get used to (my previous experience had been with my Saab over 15 years ago).
Price wise ... yea.
Performance is great though.
When diesel was 20 - 30 cents cheaper than gas I was making out like a bandit on my Jetta TDI at 50+ mpg.
“For the the money both the VW TDI and BMW 3 series turbo diesel suck.”
suck is a difficult word to discuss.
The two companies are selling them as fast as they are available, in the US.
Some people have enough money to base purchase decisions on additional factors.
Do gunowners buy the cheapest guns? Fishing gear, knives, likewise?
The new technology diesels have direct injection where the fuel is injected under high pressure. The modern diesels are awesome.
Seems to me tthere was a diesel Cadillac, too. They tried to put diesel heads and injectors on a gasoline V-8 block and crank . . . wasn't a good idea.
I’m a little surprised at the use of magnesium. Didn’t VW have trouble with magnesium engine cases in the 60’s?
I remember when VW Beetles had 36 HP, and a top speed of 72 MPH.
“Looks like a Ford Focus ZX3.................”
Yeah, but at 1,500 lbs, it probably weighs close to 1,000 lbs less. Big fuel savings with that weight reduction, and will also make the car reasonably zippy even with the small powerplant.
Eight hundred cc’s is shy of the 1,200 that came with my ‘64 Beetle. It is Diesel and turbo though. i can’t remember how many hp the 1200 cc’s cranked out
The extra 3 gears probably help a lot on he road.
It would be interesting to know how the aerodynamics of the old beetle compares with this new kid.
800cc? That’s less than one cylinder on my motorcycle
Memory is a problem with old guys. Half of what we know is obsolete.
I have an ‘06 Dodge (Mercedes) Sprinter that is very large. It gets 23 mpg with its aerodynamics and turbodiesel engine at 65-70 mph cruise. That is on par with a Honda CRV.
There is Diesel fuel everywhere now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.