Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Why our vehicles don't get better mileage

Interesting video, one man's point of view.
The technology is there, but taxes are more important.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBnlXGvA1Wk&feature=youtu.be

This issue has been beaten around for years. Feds claim it due to emission regs. Carb states won't even allow new diesel sales in passenger cars

Big oil wants it that way.

Safety regs and our need for quiet cars are a big one. If cars weighed 1500lbs it would take a lot less gas to move them around town.

My 1987 civic weighed 1865lbs had 88 HP and was fun to drive

my 1999 civic weighed 2423lbs had around 110 hp and was a dog

I see the new civic weighs 2915 Lbs

Weight may not be the biggest factor for highway mileage, but it is a big one for city driving. How many of the advantages of better engines get eaten up between EPA standards and increased curb weight?

OPEC.

Gunner

The technology for improved mileage on gas engines has been there for years, but big brother, oil companies, car manufactors, somebody, didnt want the technology on the market.

That technology existed in the early '70's. Whether or not it would meet EPA standards, I dont know.

I remember one day at coffee a few years back this topic came up. One fella quickly said: "Big oil pays the car manufacturers to not build more efficient cars."
So I ask him: "Then why do we always hear about car companies on the verge of bankruptcy?"
The subject changed to the weather.....

Much of the "mileage" technology you see has been in use for large tractors (Semi's) for a LONG time. Transmission technology that allows a car to run strong in very low RPM's does really great things for mileage.

Reducing our demand is the single biggest way we can cut oil imports. Unfortunately those technologies are expensive, so they'll be phased in slowly.

I had a 1983 Datsun with a carb that was pushing 40mpg. Here we are 30 years later and most cars still aren't pushing 40mpg.

Anyone know what MPG the Toyota diesel truck that has been in use elsewhere for many years gets?

big old 4 door impala 1965 with a straight-6, 23 mpg and held 6 guys and beer back in the day.

2008 article on a Ford diesel for a auto.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_37/b4099060491065.htm

My '95 Honda Del Sol gets 40mpg and goes 130mph on 1.5 liter, had an old Dodge Aspen station wagon with a 4 speed overdrive slant 6 that got 30mpg, why can't we have simple cars without all the crap on them anymore?

Most of the newer mustangs can easily push 5-700 horsepower with the factory motors and induction mods. They can also get high teens MPG in that very same state of tune. Go figure..

W

Could it be that Americans won't buy $30,000 skateboards?

The easiest way to get better mileage is to start using the imperial gallon. It's 25% bigger right off the get go. My Buick Allure 3.8 litre V6 gets 38 mpg highway. Just over 30 when I use US gallons.

The imperial gallon is just one of the mistakes included in the OP video.

Yeah I posted on this sometime back. For darn near every US model there is an identical weight & accessorized Euro counter part model except for the engine. The Euro models get over 40% better MPG. Believe we got 3 buggers over here in the form of Government wanting gas taxes, the EPA not so much after clean air but more after control, and Gasoline Retailers looking for big profits.

With the Euro Tech engines and the Government doubling the tax per gallon gas taxes would even increase but we the drivers would save big time in money paid to the Retailers with decreased oil imports as a bonus.

With that said what is the EPA really working for, our clean air or Gasoline Retailer profits?

as I understand it speaking with a few guys in New Zealand that have older 4 Runners like mine ( 1988)... the 4 cylinder diesels run about 35 Mpg +... on a US gallon, not Imperial 5 qt gallon...

and it seems no matter how hard you run them, their mileage is pretty much the same..

I've owned an 81 VW Dasher Diesel Wagon that got 40 mpg, whether you drove it at 55 mph or 85 mph...

had an 85 Volvo 6 Cylinder Turbo Diesel ( VW made engine), that got the same 30 MPGs whether you drove it at 55 mph, or put your foot in it and ran it at 90 mph...

I've noticed that in Afghanistan the US purchases tons of Australian made Ford Ranger sized Pickups with a 3.0 liter diesel engine in them...of course we can't have such a thing here...

It is easy to increase the MPG of a 3/4 ton 4x4 Cummins by 20-25%. Imagine if the [bleep] in the EPA and other .gov asswipes stopped their dumbassery. Promoting higher mileage, rather than crushing the technological gains with ever increasing, crushing "Safety" and emissions mandates.