I don't know where we are in this conversation now, but MY 1983 escort station wagon got 30-40 mi/gal on average with up to 50 mi/gal on the highway. that wasn't a rating, that was what it actually got. So, why is it that all the new cars (including the hybrids) do so puke poor on mileage????
As for me, I'm waiting for the $60,000 price tag on the electric ZAP-X to drop about 15 grand, then I'll get one for every day driving. It goes 350 mi on one charge, and to recharge you simply plug it in for 10 min. Its a small car, but it looks like an everyday compact (unlike the nutty looking e-cars of the past). No kidding! If you were driving in city traffic all the time, $60K would be a bargain next to the gas you were dumping out your endpipe sitting in traffic. And, with projections of $4/gal gas soon, its sounding like a bigger bargain! On Thu, February 28, 2008 8:32 pm, Paul Cherubini wrote: > David Bryant wrote: > >> I'm not sure of your point here or where you get your data. > >> A 72 VW "micro-bus" got around 20 mpg (less than a Subaru Forester, >> replete with airbags, crumple zones, and cup holders) and was one of >> the most dangerous vehicles on the road. > > OK, I'll try outlining another example. If you took a 3,300 pound 2007 > Subaru Forester and installed a 80 HP 4 cyl engine in place of > it's 171 HP engine, a manual transmission in place of it's automatic, > and front wheel drive in place of all wheel drive, it's weight would > drop to about 2,800 pounds and it's highway fuel economy would > climb to about 37 MPG from 26 MPG. Then strip away the air bags > and crash protection structural reinforcements and weight declines to > 2500 lbs and fuel economy would rise to about 40 MPG. Along with this > large (54%) increase in fuel economy there would be a corresponding > large (54%) reduction in carbon emissions. > > At this point you'd have a vehicle with the same genera level of power, > comfort, convenience and safety features as a early 1980's era > vehicle and a vehicle like early 80's era ecologists and activists in the > USA were willing to drive, but not present day ecologists. > In addition, early 80's ecologists embraced the national 55 MPH > speed limit, which further boosted highway fuel economy 15%. > > Paul Cherubini > El Dorado, CA > Malcolm L. McCallum Assistant Professor of Biology Editor Herpetological Conservation and Biology http://www.herpconbio.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
