So the O.B.ama admin is instituting demands that by 2016, all cars/ vans/ trucks/ suv/ AVERAGE 35mpg! I could see pushing for the cars to get that average, but trucks and suv's as well? With the F-series and Silverado/GMC still outselling the top selling car model, isn't that going to be difficult to do? They'd have to sell cars that averaged 80mpg to get the overall average that high, right? Anyway, this is not even on topic.
Hybrid Vs. Diesel.
Buying a hybrid gets you a free pass to the "I Care" club. You get to drive in the smug knowledge that you are better than everyone else, because you care about mother earth, and can brag to your petrol-swilling co-workers about your 40+ mpg averages.
and you know what? Good for you. If you don't mind spending the extra dough, and it makes you feel like a better person, then go for it. Plus, if you keep the car for 10 years, the money you save over the n-a model, will pay for the hybrid upgade....and you can pillow your head at night, assured that you have saved the life of some random bird from the ravages of global warm...er....... um....climate "change".
Diesel
Instead of giving tax breaks to hybrid buyers and manufacturers of such, why not lessen the tax on diesel fuel? Europeans, (whom Americans envy for a myriad of silly reasons)
have been using the stuff in their cars for decades. VW has a new compact that reportedly gets 60+ mpg under normal driving conditions. (note: in order to get those results from a Prius, you'd cause approximately 32 cases of road rage per day, from your hypermiling routine)
It seems to me, that until battery technology advances on its own merit, sans govt subsidies, that diesel would be the more economic, and dare I utter the word....green way to go? I haven't studied the CO'2 emissions charts, so I'm not sure about that end of it.
If we could just ONE American made compact to go diesel, and showcase the snot out of it, (instead of pouring money into a 40k volt), we'd be well on our way to 35mpg average.
.
“Poor Al Gore. Global warming completely debunked via the very Internet you invented. Oh, oh, the irony!” -Jon Stewart
I've said it a million times... we really need to start looking at small displacement turbo diesel motors for small- and mid-sized vehicles, and possibly even 1/2-ton trucks. for 3/4-ton and above trucks, I really don't see them making the 35 mpg limit.
Desert Tuners
“When you come across a big kettle of crazy, it’s best not to stir it.”
Thre greeny lobby wants crap that uses batteries (on whose behalf are they lobbying anyway....baby seals + polar bears, or companies that make batteries)
The oil lobby fights any change that improves fuel economy. They may be sneaky about it, but less demand for their product = fewer millions come bonus time.
1.5 litre turbo diesel would be ideal. Heck, even offer a 1.0 litre fore the super frugal.
“Poor Al Gore. Global warming completely debunked via the very Internet you invented. Oh, oh, the irony!” -Jon Stewart
ScottaWhite wrote:Thre greeny lobby wants crap that uses batteries (on whose behalf are they lobbying anyway....baby seals + polar bears, or companies that make batteries)
The oil lobby fights any change that improves fuel economy. They may be sneaky about it, but less demand for their product = fewer millions come bonus time.
1.5 litre turbo diesel would be ideal. Heck, even offer a 1.0 litre fore the super frugal.
Why stop there? Bring in Japanese Kei cars. 660cc 3 cylinder cars that have all the performance of a horse and cart, and save more money in fuel vs. the cost of hay and a shovel to clean up the sh*t they horse(s) leave on the road.
2010 Honda Fit LX
