Detroit ready for a fuel efficient future

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Detroit ready for a fuel efficient future; I'll let you decide...
Tweet Topic Started: Mar 14 2012, 02:35 PM (791 Views)
idmetro	Mar 14 2012, 02:35 PM Post #1
Posts: 5,898 Group: Tech Certified Member #1,094 Joined: Aug 12, 2009 Location Mechanicsville, VA Year/Make/Model Metroless (through no fault of his own) 1989 (gone) 1996 hatchback (gone) 1992 Vert (gone)	Part of the article states "The reason for selling them isn't that they get better fuel economy, though. Generally speaking, subcompacts and minicars don't get better mileage than larger compact cars." My rhetorical question is why not?!? http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/autos/1203/gallery.american-fuel-economy/?iid=GM



Cobrajet25	Mar 14 2012, 05:35 PM Post #2
Posts: 2,973 Group: Valued Members Member #3,888 Joined: Dec 16, 2010 Location Olympia, WA Year/Make/Model 1991 Geo Metro XFi (RIP), 1997 Metro hatch "The Tomato" (SOLD), 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage ES	W...E...I...G...H...T.



Deleted User	Mar 14 2012, 11:18 PM Post #3
Deleted User	And HORSEPOWER!! And Number Of Cylinders And How Big The Engine Is! The Smaller The Engine The Better The MPG, IMHO.
Deleted User


Cobrajet25	Mar 15 2012, 01:04 AM Post #4
Posts: 2,973 Group: Valued Members Member #3,888 Joined: Dec 16, 2010 Location Olympia, WA Year/Make/Model 1991 Geo Metro XFi (RIP), 1997 Metro hatch "The Tomato" (SOLD), 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage ES	Richard Kaltenbach Mar 14 2012, 11:18 PM And HORSEPOWER!! And Number Of Cylinders And How Big The Engine Is! The Smaller The Engine The Better The MPG, IMHO. Lol...yes and no. A small engine will not move a heavy car. If it does, it has to work really, really hard, which makes for low MPG anyway (and poor performance). There comes a point where a larger engine will move a car of a certain mass more efficiently than a smaller engine, and get better MPG doing it. Heavy car = more horsepower = less MPG...no matter what the car's external dimensions are. It's all about mass. The government in the US, unlike in Europe where efficiency is the number one priority, will not allow manufacturers to produce light cars anymore. Unlike 20 years ago, a new compact has to have 4-channel ABS, 12 airbags, 10 cupholders, a tire pressure monitoring system, etc, etc. While the outer dimensions of the car are the same as a 1995 Metro, it weighs as much as a 1990 Ford Tempo. It's the same reason that GM never put the 1.0 in the '95-up Metro sedan. The 1.0 engine was at the upper end of it's design capability with the heavier Metro hatch...the sedan was simply too heavy, and the 1.3 would more efficiently move it. Engines are about 20% more efficient than they were 20 years ago, and will move a 2500 pound car 20% more efficiently. The 25 MPG you would get 20 years ago is now about 30. That 2500 pound car is just much smaller now. Compact cars are not light anymore. Simple as that.



HelterSkelter	Mar 15 2012, 01:21 AM Post #5
#1 Pizza Driver Posts: 5,098 Group: Valued Members Member #6,942 Joined: Sep 24, 2011 Location Houston Texas Year/Make/Model 94 Geo Metro Base 1.0L 2 door 5 speed	Cobrajet25 Mar 14 2012, 05:35 PM W...E...I...G...H...T. damned safety regulations. if i don't wanna drive a safe car let me! i also hate seat belt laws. if someone is to stupid to wear their seatbelt let them die for it. if someone wants to sacrifice safety for fuel economy LET THEM!!!!



Ryan	Mar 15 2012, 01:24 AM Post #6
Ryan Posts: 2,214 Group: Valued Members Member #25 Joined: Sep 22, 2008 Location Grand Rapids, Michigan Year/Make/Model '98 Metro base 3./5	Common sense



Cobrajet25	Mar 15 2012, 03:05 AM Post #7
Posts: 2,973 Group: Valued Members Member #3,888 Joined: Dec 16, 2010 Location Olympia, WA Year/Make/Model 1991 Geo Metro XFi (RIP), 1997 Metro hatch "The Tomato" (SOLD), 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage ES	HelterSkelter Mar 15 2012, 01:21 AM Cobrajet25 Mar 14 2012, 05:35 PM W...E...I...G...H...T. damned safety regulations. if i don't wanna drive a safe car let me! i also hate seat belt laws. if someone is to stupid to wear their seatbelt let them die for it. if someone wants to sacrifice safety for fuel economy LET THEM!!!! I agree. But you can (and we all do) drive an "unsafe" car. We just can't buy an unsafe NEW car. Did you guys know that to this day airbags are not required in European cars?? That is one of the reasons why in Europe they can sell the 60 MPG, 1600 pound cars with 1.2L direct-injection turbo-diesels we all drool over. While safety is a concern in Europe, it is not the top priority it is here. Here, if a 16-year-old girl can't drive a new car into a brick wall at 70 mph without getting so much as a headache, the government says, "Go back to the drawing board, and make it heavier." I doubt the powers that be over here are going to take us back to 1995 safety standards any time soon... Do more Europeans die in car crashes than Americans every year? Didn't think so... I am all for reasonably safe cars, but it is getting ridiculous. Edited by Cobrajet25, Mar 15 2012, 03:31 AM.



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