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| 7/9 |
| 2005/9/9-13 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:39606 Activity:moderate |
9/9 Small Japanese People making a comeback:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/small_japanese.php
\_ http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/01/Autos/fuel_efficiency_trends
"In 1981, the average car got 21mpg... Jump ahead 24 years, the
average car got... 21mpg... vehicles have gotten more fuel
efficient. It's just that car buyers have wanted other things..."
\_ I can pesonally attest to the advance in engine technology.
Thirteen years ago my '84 Jeep Cherokee (115hp) reached the
100k-mile mark and I was getting ~14mpg. This June my '96 Jeep
Cherokee (190hp) also reached the 100k-mile mark, and I'm
getting ~22mpg. Both trucks have *identical* bodies, so the
difference in mpg is all in the drivetrain. Actually my '96 has
cruise control and one mandatory airbag, so it probably weights
more than my '84.
\_ Not gonna happen. Gas price is going down again. For this to
happen, you either need a sustained 70s effect, where gas is
relatively $5-6/gallon. Not gonna happen now. Americans love
their SUVs.
\_ The 1981 inflation-adjusted peak gas cost was $2.94. -tom
\_ $3.0803 for CA. http://csua.org/u/dc3
\_ Whatever, the point is it wasn't $5-$6/gallon back then,
and the price had a real effect on car buying. -tom
\_ SUV sales are already way down. Someday they will be
like big station wagons of the 70s are thought of today.
\_ Americans use far more gas than they did in the '70s. Inflation
adjusted price comparisons are kind of bogus.
\_ nice try. it won't fly. most of these car's performance sucks.
zero-sixty at 15 second range. American need to have a lot of
interior room. None of these car has them. The two car I know
that has relatively roomy interior and small in size are
1. Audi A2, and 2. Opel Melvira
\_ Also American cities, excluding megaurbans that we know, tend
to spread out over a large area of land, and Americans
travel more distance with a greater speed than most of the
other countries so they prefer big, comfortable cars. After
getting spoiled for decades, and with loans at all time low,
it is unlikely Americans will buy something smaller when they
can obviously take easy loans to get something much better.
\_ only way to resolve this issue is slap $1 per gallon of
federal tax on gasoline (oppose to $0.18 right now).
\_ Yes, the solution to any problem is to raise taxes.
The government knows best how to spend your money.
\_ Instead, we should just get rid of all our taxes
because the government doesn't know how to spend
our money. In fact, they shouldn't even be spending
our money. Stop spending our money to build and
maintain our automotive infrastructure, damnit.
But I still want to drive my 6000lbs SUV.
\_ they do if best is defined in terms of speed or
meaninglessness.
\_ (Note, I'm not arguing pro/con) This is not a
revenue-generating tax, although it inevitably turns
into one, it's a punitive tax to try and steer
peoples' behavior, much like a cigarette tax. There's
a difference. -John
\_ ohh my gosh, John understands me for once.
\_ Not really. The government is telling you not
to spend your money on gas in that instance.
They are thus telling you how to spend
your money. The difference is the same.
\_ You're an idiot.
\_ Insightful.
\_ moron would be more exact, but agreed. |
| 7/9 |
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| www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/small_japanese.php jpg Is it any surprise that Japanese carmakers are planning to bring some of their small cars which are already best-sellers in most parts of the w orld to North-America now that gasoline prices are rising and that SUV s are finally losing steam? Of couse, our European and Asian readers won 't find these cars particularly small, but to most people in the US, the y are. Here is some of what you can expect to see on the roads of N-A in the next months and years: First, there's the new Suzuki Swift pictured above. We'll have to wa it and see if the diesel makes it to North-America, though. jpg The Toyota Yaris, also known as the Vitz in some parts of the world, and as the Echo Hatchback in Canada, is a small hatchback with a 15 liters high-tech engine. jpg Another "big" player in the small car world is coming: The Honda Fit (kno wn as the Honda Jazz in many parts of the world we think Honda didn't call it the Jazz in North-America because they already have a motorcycle with that name). When introduced in Japan, the Fit/Jazz sold more than the Toyota Corolla, a car that has been at the top of the best-selling l ist in Japan for 33 consecutive years! It is not clear exactly what e ngines will be available for North-America, but the 15 liters VTEC vers ion of the Fit is officially rated at 50l/100 km (47 mpg). jpg Nissan is also working on an all-new small car for North-America, but few details are available. c ontinuously variable transmission (CVT) transmission, could improve fuel economy by 28% while increasing torque. The car will use the chassis of the Japanese March model (pictured above). I see serious 'Mini-factor' not only in the styling, but in the dec ision to bring these cars here. Now if only Mercedes and Audi would brin g over their beautiful and practical A-class and A-2 models.... Carl at September 9, 2005 11:02 AM Ford's got one or two cars in the UK/Euro market that fit this size profi le, too. smaller and lighter t han a Focus, handles like a go-kart. Posted by: Jeb at September 9, 2005 12:44 PM CarlI know exactly how you feel. During a recent trip to Spain, I found myself snapping more pictures of lovely, compact A2s & A-Class cars than of castles and cathedrals. Sadly, though, neither model was small enoug h to be smuggled in my carry-on luggage. David Yoon at September 9, 2005 01:02 PM Suzuki Swifts have been available in Canada for years. Posted by: Anonymous at September 9, 2005 01:40 PM "Suzuki Swifts have been available in Canada for years." The name "swift" was, but the current canadian swift is actually a rebadg ed Daewoo. It wasn't designed by Suzuki and is very different from the n ew global swift design created by Suzuki. at September 9, 2005 02:21 PM I've posted my hope/wish/desire that American car companies bring over th eir small European models. As I've also posted before, it is nice to have a separate "system" of automobile des ign - in a country totally dependent on oil imports. If we were in a position like them we might be as "good" - but we haven't been, so we are lazy. unfortunately does not meet standards of social responsibili ty, as they have assembly plants in burma. burma is so bad that even the USA has prohibitions on doing business there. at September 9, 2005 04:50 PM I hope that all these guys are planning on bringing the diesel versions o f these cars as well. With diesel offering the best fuel economy and the potential for bio-diesel, it would be nice to see. Unfortunately, there 's a tradition of not bringing diesel models to American markets. at September 9, 2005 05:29 PM Post a comment But before you do - please note the following: a) Imagine you are raising your hand in a crowded room to ask a question or make a comment. If you want product info, plea se contact the company directly. If you have a link to som ething, please be sure to post it this way! A Look At the New, Small Cars Coming to North America from Jalopnik Treehugger is so pleased Japanese carmakers have decided to ship some of their smallest specimens to North America -- and, in some cases, all the way to the US -- that they've devoted column inches to examining some o f.. |
| money.cnn.com/2005/09/01/Autos/fuel_efficiency_trends -> money.cnn.com/2005/09/01/Autos/fuel_efficiency_trends/ Research used cars NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - In 1981, the last time gas prices breached $3, adj usted for inflation, the average car got 21 miles to the gallon. In fact, however, vehicles have gotten considerably more fuel-efficient, according to a recent EPA report. It's just that car buyers have wanted other things from that efficiency rather than simply to travel farther o n a gallon of gas. For the same 21 miles per gallon, America drivers today are buying bigger , faster vehicles with a lot more power. Light trucks, a category that i ncludes SUVs and minivans, now account for 50 percent of passenger vehic les sold in the US That's more than double their share in 1981. In a recent poll by Kelley Blue Book and Harris Interactive, 59 percent of current vehicle shoppers said gas prices have either changed their minds or strongly influenced their decision. At the same time, there has been an upturn in vehicle fuel economy in jus t the past few years. The reasons for that upturn are not yet clear, but as the market shifts back toward cars instead of trucks, that could all ow fuel-saving technologies that are already commonplace to work in favo r of actually using less gas. Today, America's passenger vehicles get a "ton-mpg" of 432 That's a huge increase in efficiency, but the average vehicle today simpl y weighs a lot more than it did then. In 1981, the average passenger veh icle weighed about 3,200 pounds. Today, thanks mostly to more SUVs and v ans, the average vehicle weighs almost 4,100 pounds. Besides the shift to trucks, a significant portion of that weight increas e has to do with increased safety equipment and things like additional s ound-deadening material to meet consumer demands for a quieter ride. Top speed has also increased from 112 miles per hour in 1981 to 136 mph today. Increased efficiency Looking at those numbers, it's impressive that overall fuel economy has a ctually stayed the same since 1981. That's been possible because of a va riety of technological advances involving just about every part of the m odern automobile. Engines produce more horsepower for every liter of dis placement. Most of the efficiency improvements of the past couple of decades have co me about by combining small improvements that, individually, would have been almost meaningless but, combined, have had a big impact. "On the Hemi, adding the second spark plug was a 1 to 2 percent improveme nt," said Bob Lee, the Chrysler Group's vice president for powertrain de sign. Overall, the basic 57 liter Hemi V8 engine is about 10 percent more effi cient than the engine it replaced. The addition of "multi-displacement" technology, which shuts off four cylinders when their power is not added , as in steady highway cruising, boosted efficiency by another 10 percen t Other technologies, like computerized fuel injection controls, multiple v alves per cylinder, and lighter-weight engine parts, have also had a big effect, Lee said. How that increased efficiency is used is largely up to the consumer. If c onsumers buy more efficient light trucks rather than more efficient cars , the effect on mileage will be muted. As car buyers' tastes shift, prodded by rising gas prices, simple market economics could deliver the efficiency increases we've been missing. But to see that effect we would need a huge shift in consumer car-buying be havior. |
| csua.org/u/dc3 -> www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/statistics/gasoline_cpi_adjusted.html Peak pri ce for the year was week of September 11, 2000 6 2001 price is yearly average California RFG unleaded regular. Peak pri ce is for week of May 14, 2001 7 2002 price is yearly average California RFG unleaded regular. Peak pri ce is for week of April 8, 2002 8 2003 price is yearly average of California unleaded regular. Peak pric e is for week of March 17, 2003 9 2004 price is yearly average of California unleaded regular. |