I'm a fuel economy junkie

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https://www.treehugger.com/cars/mod...el-economy-competition-with-118-mpg.html

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Honda Power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
My Mazda 3 is averaging a solid 35mpg on my current 120 mile roud trip commute. It is 95% freeway, but it does include heavy stop and go in a lot of sections. Makes no sense to me to search for a more fuel efficient vehicle when this one is still reliable, cheap to insure and register just to save a bit on gas, which I think would be around $600 a year if I got a Prius.

However, once it is time to replace it, a hybrid will definitely be a consideration.
 
Have both a Fusion Hybrid and 1.4T Cruze …
MPG ? Uh, well, I know they are both better than the Tahoe and Z71 !
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Originally Posted by ecotourist
We're paying $1.61 Cdn per litre (which works out to $4.52 US per US gallon) locally. And that's probably a good thing.
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Originally Posted by AZjeff
When I started my new 75 mile daily commute a year ago I decided to drive for fuel economy in the RAV. Didn't last 2 months, got tired of being the rolling road block at the posted speed and getting stuck behind creeping semis in the right lane on the 7 mile uphill coming home. A few dollars of gas wasn't worth the aggravation.
It's boring with an auto trans. With a manual you can concentrate on rev matching to make things interesting.
 
Originally Posted by ecotourist
We're paying $1.61 Cdn per litre (which works out to $4.52 US per US gallon) locally. And that's probably a good thing. There are lots of small cars around here and an increasing number of hybrids and EV vehicles. If most people drive a small car, you don't have to drive something big in self defence.



Try being 6ft 6 with a wife and 2 kids in a small car. Not a one size fits all situation. Who can afford a new electric car to avoid the astronomical gas prices? I need a minivan or SUV next. Either I buy a 20k gas vehicle or spend how much for an electric car? I wont get political but gas prices driven up by taxes to force people to switch to electric cars is not the solution. Makes families like mine suffer. Cant afford an EV? You are left paying a ridiculous amount for gas. Up a creek either way. Govt wins either way.
 
Originally Posted by gman2304
Originally Posted by tiger862
Before the electric fuel injection economy engines I was getting 50 mpg in a Datsun B210 wagon with a few vehicles over 30. Now with current vehicle I still beat EPA average. Nothing wrong with 28 mpg highway with Grand Caravan.
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Really? 50 mpg in a carbureted Datsun B210 wagon?

http://datsun1200.com/
 
Originally Posted by fdcg27

I wonder why hybrids aren't the basic standard for all cars?
Maybe that'll happen when fuel prices next spike?


Didn't last time. It is nice to dream such things when one lives in a white bread world. Right now, your hybrid could not even make it to my house. Reason? I live on rural gravel roads and we have gotten two days of rain. The county has been playing their incompetent games with road maintenance to the point where if one doesn't have a serious 4x4 vehicle, they are not going to make it down the road.

And that is just one example why hybrid will not be the standard for all cars. There are many more anecdotal situations where hybrid will just not cut it.

Now the area we probably could focus better on would be something like hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. Electric motors deliver full torque at start up, with a electric motor at each wheel on a AWD type vehicle. Of course, even that might not be viable either. Kinda hard to got thru sloppy mud and water of any depth that is required also by those who don't live in the pristine text book lifestyle of Ozzie and Harriet. Electric motors don't fare well under water.
 
I'm a fuel usage junkie. Not even our motorcycles get 50 mpg. The sportscar can easily get into single digits, same with the truck while towing. The wife's SUV gets mid-teens usually. The GT car about the same. The old SUV high teens. The FWD sedan can get over 30.

I'm paying plenty of tax to maintain the roads.
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Originally Posted by TiredTrucker
The county has been playing their incompetent games with road maintenance to the point where if one doesn't have a serious 4x4 vehicle, they are not going to make it down the road.


Can confirm, I turned around in the gravel driveway of the local utility companies little switching yard entrance today... my tires just wanted to spin.
 
I'm still waiting for someone to step forward & properly challenge me & my little Suzuki Celerio.

I once, on a long motorway run, got 546 miles on 32 litres (8.45 US gallons) of standard UK unleaded. Compared to any hybrid, the Celerio is laughably low-tech (& dirt cheap to buy) but it does demonstrate just what you can do with low weight, a 1.0 L 3 pot NA engine, a relatively high compression ratio, good gearing, 0W20 & a light left foot.
 
Originally Posted by SonofJoe
I'm still waiting for someone to step forward & properly challenge me & my little Suzuki Celerio.

I once, on a long motorway run, got 546 miles on 32 litres (8.45 US gallons) of standard UK unleaded. ...
That's pretty good, but then it's a significantly smaller, lighter car than most hybrids sold in the US.

We used to get the tiny Geo Metro (aka Suzuki Swift) 1.0 L that could do numbers like that or better.
 
I've had fuel economy on my mind lately. Next week, I'm taking the family on a 2,000+ mile round trip to Oklahoma for a family reunion in a 2002 Tahoe 5.3L with 247k miles. If I average 18 mpg, I'll call it a victory. I'm going to try to hit 20. I've set aside $450 for gas for the trip.
 
Until today, I'd never heard of the Geo Metro. However I found this article which was quite educational...

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/geo-metro

I'm lover of small, efficient cars but from what I read, even I would baulk at the Geo Metro! To get that low 1600 lb (729 kg) kerb weight, it sounds like the engineers took a hack saw to anything they deemed 'unnecessary' (including critical safety features). The resultant car must have been a complete dog to both own & drive! Also, given that GM had to downgrade the 'official' fuel economy figures to 43/52 mpg (city/highway) I suspect that many of the 75 mpg claims were fisherman's tales.

By way of contrast, the little Suzy weighs in at 840 kg, the engine develops 67 BHP (vs 55 on the Geo), has an 11:1 compression ratio (vs 9.5:1 for the Geo) & there's nothing stripped down about it. It's whisper quiet & with the robotised manual/auto box, effortless to drive.
 
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Originally Posted by Shannow

I agree, hybrid drivetrains are the ultimate in efficiency and utility.
The KONA should have 30KWh batteries, and a 20KW APU


It shouldn't take that much power for steady state, "Flat-terrain" driving.
I would think a 10KW APU should be enough to keep it at highway speed, and the battery would be used for hills.
 
SUVs and Pickups on the road the past 10 years have become very popular, in Canada those categories are 71% of the new vehicle market.
All the 3,000 lb vehicles discussed here would not fair well in a crash vs a 6,000lb SUV or pickup.
And great driving skills take you only so far, just look at the car cam videos that hit the internet everyday.
 
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