THOUSANDS of MILES on just ONE TANK of GAS...WELL ATS...

a reply to: Grimpachi

Totally agree with you on the fact that cars are over-equipped nowadays.
My dream car would be a 60's or 70's Italian car.

However, most sold car in the world for the last two years has been the Ford Focus (worldwide) and VW Golf (in Europe).
Which is a good hint at what customers want.

I forgot to mention the homologation of the cars.
Did you know that there are two states in US (forgot which ones) which require passenger to survive an impact unbelted? Therefore we have to add tons of head impact counter measures (e.g. foams) in the headliners because of these two states.
And this is one of many examples.

Recently Renault took a Megane (their middle segment, VW Golf type) and stipped it of all unnecessary equipment to create an extreme version of the RS version, in order to be the quickest FWD car on the Nurburgring - they removed the RR seats, the AC, etc.
This stripped car weighs 1278 kg...

My key message, reacting to earlier posts, is that car makers do not hold back technology in order to make us use more fuel.

a reply to: KarmaComa

Ford focus is kink of a basic car isn't it or less expensive car maybe a bit of both. Customers at least smart ones will buy the cars that give them the most for their dollar. Of course that also factors in dependability which is one of the highest on my list when buying. I don't buy cars that often I will generally get 200K + out of them till I move to another. One of the first things I do is put Amsoil 100K oil in them but still change it out every 25K. That has worked well for me so far.

I think it is insane you have to design a car for a two states. Does that apply to all cars manufactured or just the ones being shipped there?

As cars being built for speed by manufacturers call me old school but I believe that if you cant turn the wrenches yourself to trick them out then you have no business turning the wheel. When I was a teen I striped and tricked out and older model Honda civic it was fun and an expensive pastime. I know some people have the doe to pay others and that is one way. I have a friend now that has one of the older BMWs 553 I think, but he ordered a transmission from Germany that was geared completely different. If he gets one more speeding ticket his license is gone.

Anyway I am not saying makers are holding back tech but I do think they have gone the wrong direction with a lot of it. Correct me if I am wrong but for years I had seem makers building cars with bigger engines and higher HP yet they managed to keep the MPG about the same as the older models that had less horse, now couldn't they have gone the other direction keeping the HP about the same and increased the gas milage? Now its kind of hard to ask people to step down in performance because they are used to it but with gas over $4 a gallon I would be willing and I am sure I am not alone.

originally posted by: eso322
a reply to: bbracken677

Its not about the auto manufactures...its about government regulation. Like everything else. Cant believe the words that are coming out of your mouth. I would propose that I build on on a lawn mower meet you somewhere and if it works you admit that it IS POSSIBLE. On top of a 2k bet. But... egotistical narcissists would never do anything that would remotely tarnish their reputation or prove them wrong.

So what regulations prevent Auto Manufacturers from producing cars that get higher gas mileage without going electric?

I call BS on that. Prove it or lose it, so to speak.

If you are, indeed, correct then we need to start a campaign contacting our reps and senators demanding regulation change....seriously!!

a reply to: 8675309jenny

If you were driving a german car, in Europe...wouldn't those measurements be in kilometers and liters?

a reply to: Grimpachi

Cars are actually getting more and more reliable.
However, they are also equipped with more systems therefore more failures potentials.

Regarding the fuel economy, cars are actually much better and still improving.
On the other hand, cars are also more "boring" to drive.
New engines tend to deliver torque as low as possible, then keeping it steady, which then makes the engine not willing to rev up. To illustrate, you can compare a new VW TSi engine, or Ford Ecoboost (anyway, one of those new turbo engines) vs. an old school Honda engine.

Anyway, car makers are developing and producing what customers are buying.
For example following the Lehmann's Brothers crash, trucks sales in the US took a nosedive, OEMs concentrated on small, affordable cars for the American market (Ford Fiesta, GM Volt). Then the trucks market pick up again once the crisis was past, and the OEMs are back into the sector, still building huge V8s - eventhough there seems to be an effort from OEMs to propose alternatives to these big gas-guzzling engines e.g. V6 Ecoboost on the F150.

a reply to: bbracken677

Well spotted indeed.
Especially the speedometer would definitely have km/h. Even in the UK the speedo is in mph AND km/h.

a reply to: 8675309jenny

Diesel cars tend indeed to consume much less that gasoline engine cars.
However, they are also more expensive to maintain.
Driveability is also very different, with engines which do not enjoy being revved up.
Diesel engines are prone to failures when drive in city only. They are really efficient when driven at constant speed on long journeys i.e. highway.

Another point is that diesel rejects some fairly unhealthy particles - much more unhealthy than gas engines.

67mpg on the highway... which Mercedes model was it?
67mpg is 3,5 l/100km, which sounds a bit too good in my opinion, especially for a car 10 years ago. You might be able to achieve this with a small car nowadays, on a flat highway, no front wind, good tires, no air-con, doing 100 km/h...
Anyway, this was seen at the computer, which is always optimistic on a car.

a reply to: KarmaComa

Exactly: The consumer plays a huge part in determining what is presented for sale.

During the 80s fuel efficient cars were in demand. As a result, for example, you could buy a Datsun B-210 which would deliver upward to 50+mpg but the acceleration was...well, 0-100 in oh, about 5 days. During the 90s people wanted performance, not economy. They also demanded more and more "extras". How easy is it to buy a car in the US today with manual windows?

There is an increasing demand for fuel efficient vehicles, but in order to be commercially viable (as opposed to a fad vehicle owned by a few) they have to balance efficiency with cost and still deliver the extras people like to see.

As gas prices increase, the demand for efficiency will outweigh other considerations as we approach the 100 mpg, acceleration 0-100 in 3 days. lol

IF a manufacturer could, today, produce a vehicle with all the extras (or even most) that got 100 mpg, had decent acceleration and cost less than 30k dollars they would sell tons of them. The company that pulled off that coup would own market share. Yet we do not see this, and I dont think it is because of govt regulations or the oil companies lol

originally posted by: bbracken677
a reply to: 8675309jenny

If you were driving a german car, in Europe...wouldn't those measurements be in kilometers and liters?

My truck could display it any way I wanted, be it kilometers or miles.

a reply to: VoidHawk

I wondered about that...

Does Mercedes have the same option?

originally posted by: bbracken677
a reply to: VoidHawk

I wondered about that...

Does Mercedes have the same option?

I was driving a Merc truck

a reply to: bbracken677

look at the speedo, it is in mph only...
No vehicle is available in Europe with mph only. Unless it is an import (from US?).

a reply to: bbracken677

Well then...I have gotten my mower going. First try actually. Going to take off the carb and remove the tank completely, so you cant point and say left over fuel in the bowl.... hidden gas line.... Gonna throw socks down in the vaporizer tank along with some cotton balls so you cant say well LIQUID fuel is getting into the intake and that's how its running.

While I was building it my neighbor came out and said him and my other neighbor were doing the same thing...

Looks like I am going to be 2 k richer. Mowed .5 acres on 1/2 a cup.

And to end... I do however wish to meet half way. Say Louisiana.

a reply to: bluesman1955

Perfect to run from the radiator. Im thinking 1/4 inch...Maybe we could get an ADMINISTRATOR and a team together. Would be nice. Build one so the old owner of that 1946 Studebaker would not have died in vain.

Im sure if ATS made one we could get backers and produce 20-30 of them. Maybe come out with our own ATS vehicle line. The ATS MINI TRUCK. LOL

originally posted by: aLLeKs
I am not sure if it actually works, but if it indeed does work, you can expect your engine to die...
It will just run extremely lean, that will result in overheating and more wear at the engine parts.
The valves will probably slowly melt.
It will detonate early and result in gasket failures etc. etc.

yeah, the fuel lubricates and cools the valves a little bit. I heard lean running burns up the valves, because there is extra oxygen and higher heat.

Man you all got to be kidding me. I had a 1989 geo metro that got real life 47 mpg. My wife had a 2002 vw Beetle that got 52 mpg. You trying to convince me that they have not made any advances in this field? They only want it to be so efficient as otherwise it is not so profitable for "them".

They are not fooling me. I grew up with a guy whose grandpa made a carburetor that got huge gas mileage. He was bought out by the oil companies and died broke despite his incredible carb.

There are many stories like that. It is not about saving us money. True story.

a reply to: Coopdog

Yes hundreds of people all invented amazing carbs and all died broke with not 1 making the market.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

I wonder why...I also wonder why we rely so much on "The market" and stores. Someone with a simple understanding of theory could do wonders. They need us we don't need them and they now know it. Not just talking about the auto industry.


Im making a bowl free carb tomorrow for my mower. Get the much needed air filter for the gas tank. Thinking bout hookin up the exhaust...intake booster that is already on the carb to run into the intake and help split the vapors more for a more combustible burn thus raising the efficiency allowing me to lower the vapor intake. Also allowing me to cut down on the air intake so I don't over oxygenize the new vapor intake. Only thing that worries me with that is back fire.

Just gives me a reason to research homemade back arrestors. I need air flow to go in but not out through the intake... any ideas

a reply to: eso322

lol

Alrighty! Get back to me after you have mowed that 1/2 acre about a half dozen times. I will meet you in LA. How's New Orleans sound? Lots of great food there, or used to be.

I have a 1982 Isuzu PUP diesel that gets about 60 MPG. I keep telling myself I am going to convert it to bio, but it has 340k miles on it and still runs perfect (relatively speaking)...so I can't bring myself to potentially break it.

I haven't even had to rebuild it yet.

You definitely don't smell the best after riding in it for a bit...those fumes.