Posted on 01/19/2014 7:58:40 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Are you thinking about buying a new fuel efficient car but are wary of hybrid technology? Fear not! There are dozens of cars on the market today that deliver great fuel economy without resorting to heavy and expensive battery packs. While most of these vehicles are designed to run on petroleum products (either conventional gasoline or diesel fuel), the Ford Focus SFE is a FlexFuel vehicle that can run on 100% domestic E85 ethanol fuel as well as conventional unleaded gasoline.
2014 Ford Focus five-door E85 holds a significant price advantage over regular unleaded gas in some parts of the country. It comes as no surprise that the top of the list is dominated by Volkswagen TDI models, as clean diesels are renown for their excellent highway MPGs. While this list is primarily 2013 models, we’ve included the remarkable 2014 Chevy Cruze Diesel … (continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at mpgomatic.com ...
The EPA does not want diesel powered passenger vehicles in the US, period, and it has nothing to do with emissions. The diesels used throughout the world today are nothing like the big three cobbled together engines of the 70’s and 80’s. If allowing for gains in thermal and volumetric efficiency of current engine designs, combined with body, chassis, and powertrain improvements, 60 MPG gas and 80 MPG diesel mid sized vehicles should have been on the market around the late 90’s. That isn’t going to happen though, because of the influence of the oil, auto, and enviroment lobbies. I worked in the auto industry for two decades, and amongst the engineers and technicians was a collective WTF are the these people thinking? it has nothing to do with fuel economy or emissions, and everything to do with extracting as much money as possible from consumers.
Forget fuel efficient cars, where are the fuel efficient “TRUCKS”? In my business I Drive in excess of 80K miles a year and I would see these savings. So far, NO major breakthrough has been made by any of the automotive manufactures for fuel efficient trucks or Hybrid trucks. Years ago VW produced a diesel truck that got above 40 mpg. HELLO any body listing?
I’ll stick with my Honda CRV.
I have a 2 year old ford focus. They are great at first, then they start falling apart. I’ll be trading it for another Hyundai this year. I didn’t have nearly as many problems with those.
E85 (85% ethanol) fuel only has about 65% of the energy content per unit volume as compared to 100% gasoline. Even less when compared to diesel.
That’s why E85 is a loser. It may cost less, but the MPG will drop significantly.
It also helps to explain why vehicles seldom seem to match the factory test MPG (which is done with 100% gasoline).
The EPA is full of lawyers, not engineers. That’s why we get idiotic (and often contradictory) regulations from it.
F150 supposed to be aluminum body end of this year.
Saved 700#’s
Too bad it’s going to be full of spyware.
Compared to the MPG we were getting with her old car...
We actually pay less than $150.00 a month for it...
Another reason why diesel fuel will require a long time to adopt is that the refineries in the United States are optimized for the production of gasoline, not diesel. It will take decades to rebuild refineries that are optimized for the production of diesel - if the environmentalists even allow it. European refineries, on the other hand, are optimized for the production of diesel.
What are the effects to the end user of that factor?
What is available at 6K or less, cash?
Ram (formerly Dodge) trucks have a 300hp V-6 full size 1500 that gets 26 mpg right now, IIRC.
The whole notion of “mileage” is ridiculous as soon as we begin talking about non-gasoline fuels. “Mileage” only makes sense if we use gasoline as the standard fuel. The only metrics that make sense are cents per mile or perhaps cents per passenger-mile or freight-mile.
I just have to laugh when the ads say electric vehicles get “over 100 mpg.” My big Expedition could get 1,000 mpg using these silly standards if I installed some massive batteries and auxiliary motors.
There’s still a 25% tax on imported trucks. As long as people buy higher-profit big ones, there will be no more small ones.
The smaller VW Amarok pickup with a small diesel is sold over most of the world.
See my #13. Also, look in Craigslist, Cars.com, Autotrader.com and similar. I’m seeing a lot of mid-2000’s Chrysler/Dodge mid-sizes (LHS, 300M, Concorde, etc. which I intend for my next car once I sell the Mercedes) from $1,300 to $2,500.
To me if you can afford a 40 grand rig, why would you worry about gasoline cost unless you were a road warrior?
E85 is a great low buck racing fuel (assuming you have the compression and tuning to take advantage of the high octane) but as you say for the on road consumer it’s a loser.
tricky words. My Tahoe is very efficient.
Yes, it consumes more fuel - but it simply does more with that fuel.
Compared to my Mustang V6, lets say on the highway. I get 19 with the Tahoe, 29 with the Mustang. The mustang is a bit more fun, but the Tahoe is carrying the troops, dual airconditioners, radios and gear. Not to mention whoever I put in it - with no effect on it’s mileage. When I did this sort of thing with my Honda Civic hatchback (1991.. I LOVED that car) it would go from 40 mpg to 28 mpg and barely kept up with traffic.
All things being equal 19 MPG is certainly less than 40mpg - But things aren’t equal. My vehicles do more than a modern econo car.
The only reason these topics come up is because liberals have brainwashed people into thinking their cars are terrible gas hogs and are killing the environment and we are running out of gas.
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