| Corin |
I don't know how I managed to miss this earlier, but did you know that Volkswagen made a vehicle that gets 317 mpg????
look here:
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/gw/vw1litre.htm
Note that this was NOT just a concept car. They made this to be the real thing, complete with airbags and everything.
Shame that they canceled the program. According to this:
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/gw/vw1litre.htm
they abandoned it because they didn't think people would buy them. Because of the materials (titanium, carbon fiber, etc) they figured the price would be too high for a 2-person commuter car: "But Volkswagen now says that it could not produce an ultra-economical car for less than €20,000 ($25,900)—too expensive for its target market."
That's really sad, since the Smart Car is selling for $25k and is a serious POS, and the Prius is selling for $25-$30k just because it's a hybrid (similar non-hybrids cost about 5-10k less).
Anyway, some cool technology. I have no idea how a 1-cylinder diesel engine would work. I'm sure it doesn't have that much "get-up-and-go", but I doubt it's worse than the pathetic Smart car. And certainly looks a lot better! :) |
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| njjoe |
How do you achieve 300 mpg in a modern day automobile? Use lightweight materials and power it with an ultra-efficient 8-1/2 horsepower diesel engine, that's how. You read that right - eight and one half horsepower! I would have liked to have seen a road test done on the car. Could it have survived here? Who knows.
-njjoe |
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| GripperDon |
| If you can make a 100 mpg car with acceptable performance and space and safety you can sell it for $40,000 plus easily. imho |
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| ikalinin3 |
quote:
Originally posted by njjoe
How do you achieve 300 mpg in a modern day automobile? Use lightweight materials and power it with an ultra-efficient 8-1/2 horsepower diesel engine, that's how. You read that right - eight and one half horsepower! I would have liked to have seen a road test done on the car. Could it have survived here? Who knows.
-njjoe
8.5 HP.. HAHA.. they make lawn mowers more powerful than that! |
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| Corin |
quote:
Originally posted by ikalinin3
8.5 HP.. HAHA.. they make lawn mowers more powerful than that!
Ha! Yes, but what is the mpg rating of your lawn mower? :) And don't forget that this is diesel.
Sure, it's very little power, but then also consider the fact that the entire vehicle is VERY light. Add in the extremely low drag, and you don't need much for a commuter car.
Double the power and bring the mileage "all the way down" to 100 mpg, you still can't really complain. |
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| htown_gator |
| It has a lot more to do with other sources outside of VW (namely "large interest groups") that will shoot down these ideas. |
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| Corin |
quote:
Originally posted by GripperDon
If you can make a 100 mpg car with acceptable performance and space and safety you can sell it for $40,000 plus easily. imho
NOW, sure. But a few years ago, no way. Not in America, anyway. Very few people were caring that much about gas mileage. Oh, they COMPLAINED about it, and *****ed about the gas prices, but they still went out and bought the largest behemoth they could find.
NOW finally people are waking up and realizing what it means. Why do you think Hybrids and TDI's are such big sellers now? Because they finally have the technology to do it? BS. People are finally starting to change their attitude.
My first car was a '81 diesel rabbit. Between 40-50 mpg. Not a lot of power, but it certainly got me where I wanted to go. Those types of vehicles died out, because people weren't interested. Now that type of thing is coming back.
So, hopefully they're working on something similar to resurrect this project. I've been waiting for an appropriate commuter car to come along, but so far they all suck:
Smart: underpowered, terrible rattling, loud, and incredibly expensive.
Corbin Sparrow (Myers NMG): Awesome concept, pure electric, but only 1 seat, 15 mile range, and incredibly expensive ($25k)
Prius: Best bet, but still just a baby-step to where I want to be. Mileage OK, price reasonable, dealing with battery issues.
100+mpg 2-seater commuter car that could fit in my garage BETWEEN my two other vehicles for under $30k? SIGN ME UP! |
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