Are we really going green when it comes to cars and MPGs?

[AutoXer]

I had a 85 honda accord that would always get 35mpg ..... I go back to that quite often and even asked a dealer what he thought the reason might be that today's civic can't get that highway say nothing about true everyday driving and he said that the cars back then didn't have abs, air bags and all the other stuff that our loving gov't demands to keep us safe and able to pay there high taxes .... I call BS on that for the simple reason that I could have two ppl with me and still get that same 35mpg (crumple zones, air bags and abs can't add 300 lbs to a car can they?) Then there was the 94 mustang that my mom bought new and got 30's with that car. 6cyl manual and all the goodies .... rear wheel drive beating fron't wheel drive? fancy that. What are we doing to ourselves? We are given a "smart car" 40-50mpg??? really ??? for a car that can barely haul 2 ppl?? no thank you ... guess the harley (again the old carb model I had got 50 mpg) will get driven @ 45mpg. Or better yet the 1983 XL600R!!! lol

[Mr_RPM]

Maybe they don't wanting us using less oil, they hype up the hybrid stuff to make the environmentals happy while we still burn gas at the same rate we have been.
The global warming fad made alot of people want to change their ways but the oil companies could not let that happen, so they give us an Illusion of going green but are actually not. lol
...I know, conspiracies....but still It doesn't hurt to think around.

[NINJA]

That's right kid, it's better to be well informed than ill informed.

[Slingblade]

It all boils down to one thing- MONEY. The Fed. Govt. can set mandates and cry save the environment all they want, but they can't come up with a way to replace that 18 cents they collect with every ding at the pump. Then states charge at least that much on top. There's no telling how much $ California knocks down in gas taxes. You think they can afford to take a cut right now, with a bazzilion dollar deficit. They haven't figured out how to afford to go green. And I think about this everytime I see one of those Smart Cars on the interstate between 2 semis, My road car is an 01 Grand Marquis, V-8, full frame, rear wheel drive and gets 25-26 mpg on the Highway. By comparison that roller skate should get about 75, but NO- about 40 mpg. Are you freakin kiddin me?

[andrew j hyman]

I agree with both statements here.

as for Diesel cars being brought over here, I think alot of people would go for it, sad thing is "good" MPG cars are sort of a fashion statement in some parts (not mine ) such as why the prius became so popular because it was advertised and thought to be "the best".
If companies started advertising diesel cars as the new "Best" car for the environment they would be bought right up.
Get a few famous tree huggers to endorse in them and before ya know it California makes it their State car.

Basically anything can be sold to America with the right propaganda. I think if all of those efficient Euro cars were brought over here and were "hyped up" people would jump all over it.

NINJA, I could not agree more!!!
also, the manufacturing of these hybrids are very bad for the environment. BBC's Top Gear once said the Manufacturing of the Prius was so inefficient and the aftermath of the prius with it's battery debris would cause more environmental damage then it would have saved...dont quote me on that, ill look for a video or something.



FOUND IT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTOyiKLARk

Clean burning Deisel is the way to go. My first truck was a VW truck 1982 it got 40-50 mpg . Most cars over seas are diesel ! Ford has a diesel now over seas that get 60mpg But will not bring it to usa . Even Honda has a diesel

[HuffieVA]

Most of the diesels overseas don't comply with our ridiculous EPA rules yet which is keeping them on the other side of the pond. I'm not sure I understand how this whole clean air movement has improved anything overall over the past 40 years...

When I was a kid we had leaded gas, leaded paint, lawn darts, bottle rockets, M80's, the occasional fist fight in High School and the drinking age was just a suggestion... only thing we didn't have was ADD, ADHD and X-Box 360's, school shootings or "economy" cars that cost $40,000

I don't want to cry conspiracy, but we may want to rethink this whole idea...

[cattle-dog]

i am with sling blade on the fullsize cars, i had a 93 buick roadmaster 4 door with the 350 police engine and that car was loaded and still could get 25 mpg and up think 27 was my best and that buick had 150,000 miles on it !! a 4000 lb car or more!!!
you can bet its our oil companies controling what cars we get to have , i drive all diesal trucks and the mileage the american trucks are getting is nothing compared to over seas.

[TommyBoy1971]

well you would think that if the CR-x got that good of gas mpg's back then, it would at least be doubled or tripled by now with technology. I am sure all that tech is monitored and regulated to keep prices up plain and simple. Think how much money some of the oil countries would have lost if this was the case with our technology...We cant have our enemies going broke now can we? You know, I don't even remember having to worry about paying for gas back in the 80's, and I was paying rent while finishing school.

[andrew j hyman]

Most of the diesels overseas don't comply with our ridiculous EPA rules yet which is keeping them on the other side of the pond. I'm not sure I understand how this whole clean air movement has improved anything overall over the past 40 years...

When I was a kid we had leaded gas, leaded paint, lawn darts, bottle rockets, M80's, the occasional fist fight in High School and the drinking age was just a suggestion... only thing we didn't have was ADD, ADHD and X-Box 360's, school shootings or "economy" cars that cost $40,000

I don't want to cry conspiracy, but we may want to rethink this whole idea...

Some of the do comply like 2011 FIESTA diesel vw tdi, alos Green car of the year Audi A3 TDI, Just Crazy Ford fiesta diesel get 62.5 mpg Man would love to have one. Now ford needs to have f150 diesel .

[dcreel]

The only CRX that got that kind of mileage was the HF model. It was extremely light, and put out about 62 hp. The CRX SI was fast for the time. It had better brakes, a bigger motr with VTEC. But certainly didn't get that kind of mileage although it's mileage was good. What the CRX had going for it was a low drag, it was seriously slippery in the wind. The comparison in shape between the crx and the late model hybrids is there. The amazing thing is there is a group of people out there who do all kinds of aerodynamic work to their cars to achieve more mpg. Hypermilers or something like that who have seen 60 to 70 mpg with changing the aero and driving habits of themselves.

The wife and I own a 95 Civic LX, and an 07 Honda Fit Sport and they both get right around the same mpg. I would love to own the new Honda CR-Z. I would love to have a hybrid with a 6 speed that is sporty. But I would also love to drop the 200 hp motor and 6 speed trans out of an Acura RSX type S into my 100 hp Honda Fit. It would probably run a high 13 second quarter mile and still give 30 mpg if driven smoothly. They even sell the motor mount kit.

Found an article on the 09 Prius VS the 89 CRX HF

http://www.ridelust.com/mpg-wars-198...-toyota-prius/

And Volkswagen has been selling diesel and turbo diesel cars for a long time. Their TDI engine's are very good at conserving fuel, and when built can run fast as well.

[Slingblade]

I'm with cattle dog on the oil companies. I'm convinced there is a river of dirty money flowing from the oil execs to make sure the crude continues to line pockets with billions. I'm truly ignorant on some things so could someone please help- Who sets the price of oil? I realize it's supply and demand and such, but somebody, somewhere has to set that price. When the price of oil peaked a few years back Exxon mobil was netting profits of like 12 Billion per Quarter. 12 Billion in 3 months? I can't wrap my mind around that. And don't even get me started on T. Boone Pickens. When oil was that high he was trying to get investment for his "wind" project. The comercial should have said: "I'm T. Boone Pickens, Would all you Americans standing in the oil line please stand up straight and pull your pants up, move to the line that says WIND, place your pants at your ankles and bend over again, I'm T. Boone Pickens and I want to save America."

rant over

[oldskool83]

my 04 civic has been giving me average of 35mpg since i got it new. i travel 25 miles 1 way to work, i used about 8 gallons a week...u do the math.

ok ill do it...thats 37.5 give or take a few lets say 35mpg...most of thats got some redlights too...i dont want no hybrid stuff.

but i see your point RPM...if carb sin the 80s were getting that why isnt my honda getting say 40-50mpg

[300rman]

I'm with cattle dog on the oil companies. I'm convinced there is a river of dirty money flowing from the oil execs to make sure the crude continues to line pockets with billions. I'm truly ignorant on some things so could someone please help- Who sets the price of oil? I realize it's supply and demand and such, but somebody, somewhere has to set that price. When the price of oil peaked a few years back Exxon mobil was netting profits of like 12 Billion per Quarter. 12 Billion in 3 months? I can't wrap my mind around that. And don't even get me started on T. Boone Pickens. When oil was that high he was trying to get investment for his "wind" project. The comercial should have said: "I'm T. Boone Pickens, Would all you Americans standing in the oil line please stand up straight and pull your pants up, move to the line that says WIND, place your pants at your ankles and bend over again, I'm T. Boone Pickens and I want to save America."

rant over

i remember watching a video on who sets oil prices......you know they still only pay 35-40$ a barrel to iraq? the rest of that inflated price goes straight into the pockets of the oil companies......

[RDH/86200X]

my great grandma dorve a 1966 chysler new yorker that had a 383 big block and the push botton automatic and that car got 21-22 mpg with out waver. that car weighed 3 tons and had enough power to smoke the tires at 30mph. imo if a 3ton car with a big block and a 4 barrel carb can get that mpg then shouldnt a car that weighs 1/3 the weight get 3 times the mpg. and thats not including the rate at which technology advances.

[Chazz of Blades]

98 Honda Civic with 155,000 miles on it, gest around 35 mpg.


Hell, 94 GMC Sierra Diesel turbo with a 6.5L gets about 23. And it's got 280,000 miles on it and running strong.