[dmako]

I am watching Scientific America on PBS and they are looking at the new hybrid cars, anyway they showed a bit on the Toyota Prius and in the foreground parked is a copper Murano with a big green decal on it. I think it’s part of the fleet of hybrids.

Waiting to see if Nissan is shown.

 

[Halo]

Ford has a hybrid Escape in the wings so it isn't a surprise. Personally, I'd be very interested in a hybrid crossover SUV. Of course, isn't there some conspiracy theory that no hybrids can look even the slightest bit "cool" because then people would buy them and the oil companies would lose profits?

 

[Kris]

I would be very interested in hybrid Murano if performance was close to what we have now.........

 

[Eric L.]

A hybrid Murano would be cool, I mean it already has the prerequisite CVT! Toyota's new hybrid Highlander and RX400h have 270hp. Pretty nice!

Nissan recently paid Toyota for a license to its hybrid technology.

 

[HwnMurano]

anyone test drive a hybrid yet?

I was wondering how the acceleration compares to an "all gasoline" vehicle, all other factors constant. I'm guessing that there will be trade off in fuel costs and acceleration performance. What's the word?

 

[Stoker]

I have test driven a Toyota Prius and found the drive interesting. The thing that we all need to get our heads around is that 0-100 Kph in less than 6 seconds is not what this car is about. It is a very efficent city commuter car that is design to increase fuel economy by using a electric drive to assist the gas engine. It rides very well and gives excellant fuel economy, however the owner told me that the fuel economy gets worse on the highway than the city. It is presently getting 3.8lt/100 KM city driving vs 5.0 Lt/100 KM hwy driving.

Our Mo's get pretty respectable fuel economy IF we all adjust our driveing habits. Not doing jack rabbit starts from lights and reducing our highway speeds from 110 Kph to 100 Kph as this will reduce fuel consumption by 20%. With gas prices where that are now, that is a fare chuck of change over a year. Last week in Calgary I paid 92.5 cents/LT ( midrange fuel 89 octane)which is up 30cents/ Lt since the beginning of the year.

I would be interested in seeing if Nissan could change the Mo to a hybrid .

 

[Halo]

A good friend has 2 civic hybrids in their family. It's the only thing he says he'll buy from now on.

I've driven them and you will not feel the kind of acceleration that a high displacement engine produces. Electric motors actually make tons of torque, but as well stated above, these cars were designed to get you from A to B with minimal gas consumption.

What's awesome is being stopped in traffic and having the engine completely turn off while everyone is wasting gas.

They're becoming all the rage among the Hollywood/Beverly Hills set right now for various reasons.

There is one thing I have been somewhat confused by. Back in the late 80s and early 90s Honda had a couple of cars with 40-50mpg ratings (CRX HF, Civic CX (I think)) and a current Golf/Jetta diesel gets in the 40s too (albeit with a polluting diesel). Why doesn't the hybrid get better mileage than these other cars?

 

[EdMPT]

I don't know a lot about electric motors, however I believe that they are known for providing a lot more torque than a gasoline engine. So acceleraction performance would probably be improved. I have read that the Lexus Rx330 Hybrid has much better 0-60 times that the gasoline model even with the added wieght of batteries and electric motor. I think maybe a better question is how does that weight affect handling? Or maybe even acceleration while already moving? Whatever the case, the way gas prices are any trade-off would be worth the extra mileage you get per tank of gas...

 

[SugarRushMurano]

Adding to HALo's earlier post:

Of course, isn't there some conspiracy theory that no hybrids can look even the slightest bit "cool" because then people would buy them and the oil companies would lose profits?

Sometimes the car manufacturer does nto wan to create a too-good-looking-hybrid-model because it may hurt their hi-profit top of the lines of their products.

Yet, RX400h looks the same as rx330

 

[pcs15394]

CarConnection

The web site Thecarconnection.com has a small article about Nissans future Hybrid plans. They mention that the Altima is definite and that Murano and FX35 are likely.
Nissan to introduce Hybrids

 

[Eric L.]

I think a more interesting question would be, how will the CVT handle the extra power? Toyota is using a 5-speed auto on their RX400h and Highlander hybrid I think. The CVT is currently rated in the ~250hp range. I wonder how it will handle 270 or even 300hp??? Maybe we'll see a conventional 5 or 6 speed auto on a hybrid Murano.

 

[pcs15394]

Hybrid Murano

I think someone on this forum had mentioned that the Murano for sale in Mexico has a five speed automatic transmission. It is possible they could use that but that would defeat them being able to use the regenerative energy that is a natural byproduct of the CVT.

 

[Eric L.]

Re: Hybrid Murano

I think someone on this forum had mentioned that the Murano for sale in Mexico has a five speed automatic transmission. It is possible they could use that but that would defeat them being able to use the regenerative energy that is a natural byproduct of the CVT.

It is actually a 4-speed auto since it uses the same drivetrain from the 2002 Altima (240hp with 4-spd auto).

 

[Kris]

I saw Muranos in Colombia. They have 4-speed auto trannies......no CVT.........

 

[ekaxel]

and a current Golf/Jetta diesel gets in the 40s too (albeit with a polluting diesel))

I believe the current diesels are very clean (and Quiet) ; not like the older ones!

 

[Eric L.]

The new diesels are also good performers. The new Mercedes E320 CDI outperforms its E320 V6 model (0-60 in 6.7 vs 7.2s) and gets 35mpg to boot.

 

[MightyMo]

Modern Diesel tech is good stuff, I used to have a VW TDI Golf before I sold it for my Mo (needed more room, and needed more towing capacity than a Diesel Passat). They are powerful, fast, quiet, "clean", and got 50MPH on the highway and never worse than 40MPG even after the worst twisty back road thrashing I could provide. If you've never test driven one, go do it, especially the new 130HP Passat TDI, all that massive torque will put a smile on your face I promise :2:.

However, read "clean" above as no more showers of soot out the tail pipe like in the days of yore. Diesel does still produce far more NOX than a gasoline engine, directly caused by the increased air to fuel ratio and more complete burn of the fuel, which is what makes Diesel more efficient. NOX is the primary ingredient in local smog problems, which is why it is so tightly controlled by CARB and such.

OTOH, Diesels produce far less CO2, a green house gas. Think of Gas vs. Diesel as a local pollution vs. global pollution argument. Also Diesels produce those extra NOX emissions only at idle when the air-fuel ratio is off the charts at like 80 to 1. When under load the Diesels don't produced much more NOX than gas engines.

One of the reasons the NOX can't be cleaned up with a Cat is the high sulfur content in US Diesel fuel. The sulfur will clog up the Cat in no time. In 2006 new regs kick in and all Diesel fuel produced in the US should comply with new Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) standards, which will allow manufacturers to put on new cats, pass the NOX tests, and finally really get their butts into production.

But all that is a long ways away, time will tell how much the oil companies kick and scream about investing billions in hardware to get the sulfur out, and how quickly auto manufacturers will use the new potential of ULSD.

 

[MO Dale]

Surrounded!

Hybrid Escapes to be sold on the coasts first in August!
http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content...=carnews&loc_code=index&content_code=01564449

Strange that I found myself surrounded by 4 of these new Hybrids on my way home last night in the middle of Missouri. Each had a similar Missouri personalized plate to some organization which I could not make out. Kind of looked like highway patrol insignia, but quite unclear.

 

[Kris]

I believe the current diesels are very clean (and Quiet) ; not like the older ones!

This is correct. Modern diesels are very different to what we are used to. Also the diesel in Europe has much lower sulphr content I believe, so much less polution from diesel engines........

 

[Nicole]

I have no interest in a hybrid....couldn't care less about them. Just throwing out a personal comment there. I don't have a problem consuming gas and paying for it....but the reasons why gas is soo high is my biggest complaint. We need to stop depending on others for our oil. We should be looking else where for it.

I like the power and peformance....I have a camaro SS and an altima 3.5 SE...I like to jump off the line, I like to drive fast and put my foot into it....bc I'm good at it and driving is my passion/hobby not necessarily just my way of getting from point a to point b. So I'm not interested in changing my driving habits nor am I interested in a hybrid...we need to find alternatives to getting our oil.

Obviously the big debate over Bush going over to Iraq for oil wasn't true...bc we still don't have it!!! Boy would it be cheaper though if we did!!

Anyway, just wanted to throw in a different perspective...not all of us like to just "put" around to get where we want to go, I like driving, I like hearing the engine wind.

But then again I only put on like 8K miles on my altima last year, the camaro is 3 years old and only has 10K miles on it...so we don't drive a whole lot.