VW Passat's in U.K get 78 mpg. U.S. Gov Won't Let Them Be Sold Over Here.

So You don't think big business controls what's happening in the U.S. Go to the U.K and you can buy cars running 70 mpg plus. Over here...40 mpg. Why? The U.S. government won't allow it.
Here's a quick vid from a guy who tried to buy one and what he found out.

video.staged.com...

reply to post by winterkill


You will soon be able to get ones over 100mpg in the UK.

www.thesundaytimes.co.uk...

He doesn't remember if it was a Golf or a Passat?


I smell BS.


Also, on the YouTube page itself, he messed up the conversion and had to fix the error.

It's simple, we get better mileage, the gov gets way less tax. So much for the carbon/ global warming, save the planet B.S. the gov feeds us.

If Americans really cared about mpg we would all be in tiny beetles or something similar.
There's just not much of a place in the market for them.

Originally posted by GmoS719
If Americans really cared about mpg we would all be in tiny beetles or something similar.
There's just not much of a place in the market for them.

That's bull right there.

If I could buy a Toyota Hilux that gets 40mpg I would in an instant. Hilux

The US EPA regs are all wonky and self defeating.

The law mandates we use a less efficient form of fuel.


ETA: Nevermind, I got my "EPA" wires all crossed.

Seems UK cars do not as high mileage as people looking at US cars get: link

Their gallon is bigger than ours, their mileage tests are easier than ours and their engines are smaller than ours.

I'd still like a diesel Toyota truck though.

You also need to bear in mind that a UK gallon is bigger than a US one. ..
Mind you, I had a non turbo diesel passat in the 80s and that would do over 50 and a turbo diesel montego after that which was good for the 60s per gsllon.
Things haven't improved too much since then apart from diesel engines getting way more powerful.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere

Originally posted by GmoS719
If Americans really cared about mpg we would all be in tiny beetles or something similar.
There's just not much of a place in the market for them.

That's bull right there.

If I could buy a Toyota Hilux that gets 40mpg I would in an instant. Hilux

The US EPA regs are all wonky and self defeating.

The law mandates we use a less efficient form of fuel.

Is it bull? Maybe to you.

What about people who buy the biggest gas guzzlers?
Hummers, big trucks, huge suvs.

That's not the first time this information has been posted on this site.

Last time I saw this it was mentioned that the possible explanation was that the government was afraid of losing gas tax revenue.

Certainly if everyone was using 1/2 the amount of gas they normally used there would be a problem.

Its not a 40 mpg bigger gallon though. Gas costs a fortune over there, so they are getting sacked by fuel prices.
Still, I had a friend who had a VW product back in the 70's getting 60 mpg and the U.S. still wants us to believe they can't do any better.
They would save huge on emissions by letting these vehicles in. The engine is manufactured in the U.S. for God's sake, what seems so wrong about that. Make em here, but we can't use them?

One thing i noticed while holidaying in the US and renting cars, is how incredibly underpowered they are considering the size of the engine.I rented a car for example, Ford Sedan 4.2 litre petrol and it was a joke. It would'nt pull your socks off. Acceleration was terrible, i was afraid to overtake people. It was like driving an agricultural tractor.It had about the same acceleration as a 1.0 litre petrol small European car. Even worse i would say.

I currently drive a C30 volvo 1.6 litre Turbo Diesel in Ireland and it is a very fast and powerfull car for its size. 0-60 mph in under 8 seconds and 70+ mpg.

Regardless Passat or golf This is Not New, America is Run by TPTB and they control ALL There are Many cars that get Very Good MPG's that are Not sold Here in USA. Bottom Line Thats the way it is.

You can buy BlueTDI Highline Passats here in Germany with ~60 mpg easy.
That's a "relatively old" 140 HP engine series that gets you from 0-100 km/h in 9,9 seconds with 213 km/h max. Still not the most economical car available.

Not my kind of car ( just too slow ), but I can't see why they wouldn't want to offer them on the U.S. market.

*eta: And I converted into american gallons, using 1L = 0.264g and 1km = 0.621 miles.

There are some finally coming but the reason they didn't have them before is simple....emissions......

www.fueleconomy.gov...

www.wired.com...

I think he mixed up...

In most localities it has been replaced by the litre, but three variants in current use: the imperial gallon (≈ 4.546 L) which since metrication is used colloquially in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States (liquid) gallon (≈ 3.79 L), and the lesser used US dry gallon (≈ 4.40 L). The gallon, be it the imperial or US gallon, is sometimes found in other English-speaking countries.

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by GmoS719


What are you talking about dude? I would LOVE to have a car with good gas mileage. If I could afford a new one I would, but even our best is only about 37 mpg.

reply to post by grey580


I don't think it would be that big of a problem though. If I could afford it I would drive so much more and take sooo many more road trips. I am a roadtripping fool. I drove straight through from Charleston WV to Tulsa Oklahoma once. If I could afford to waste gas I would.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


if you want something like a hilux, try looking in B.C. (maybe California or Washington as well). met a lady in Ontario that had a Mitsubishi van she found for sale out there. they apparently import quite a few Japanese diesel vehicles out there. i even managed to find a Toyota hiace for sale in Ontario yet another good Japanese diesel van not normally found in north america.

it has always bothered me that in North America the only diesel cars are European, VW, BMW, Mercedes etc. yet elsewhere in the world you can get the SAME vehicles sold in North America as gas only with a diesel engine. i do believe there IS some sort of CONSPIRACY with it.

as for this particular car i wonder if there is some safety issue with it? the reason why the old beetles while still being made in Mexico were not available for sale in the US or Canada.

Eh I actualy drive a bluemotion diesel passat and the claimed MPG is slightly misleading.

At 70mph on straight motorway I will average 61MPG
At 60mph on straight motorway I will average 70MPG
At 50mph on straight motorway I will average 80MPG

This can vary depending on gradient to between 40MPG and 120MPG

HOWEVER

You do need to actualy be doing good long distance drives, driving around town your average MPG is pretty much the same as any other car 30-40MPG average.

Still though 700 miles outa full tank aint too bad. The only issue I have is Volkswagen have had prototype engines that can do in excess of 300MPG for decades now, so has Honda. Where are those cars exactly?

Originally posted by SMOKINGGUN2012
There are some finally coming but the reason they didn't have them before is simple....emissions......

www.fueleconomy.gov...

www.wired.com...

Here's the joke. U.S. car gets x percent emissions per gallon at 40 mpg
U,K car gets x + 10% at 78 miles per gallon.

which car has lower actual emissions

which car is allowed because the gov guys are too stupid to do simple math?

So

1. They really are that stupid
2. Someone is keeping it out and using rules that we hope you are too stupid to understand

Who profits:
1, The gas guys
2. The tax guys