Subaru Crew Cafe

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Comments

  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Brazil can produce Ethanol cost-competitively with gasoline. That is why they're now fuel-positive, i.e. they produce more than they consume.

    US is not even close. It's cheaper to make Ethanol from sugar cane when you have abundant rain, vs. here in the US from corn and not nearly as much rain.

    -juice
  • ladywclassladywclass Member Posts: 1,713
    so how long can fidel hold on? ..

    cuba .. the 51st state!
  • jfljfl Member Posts: 1,398
    Puerto Rico would happen before Cuba.

    Sugar cane, pineapple, and rum. (insert your punch line here...)

    Jim

    Edit: Rum Punch = 1 of sour, 2 of sweet, 3 of strong, and 4 of weak.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Pour me some! :D

    Brazilians make "cachaca" from sugar cane, pronounced Ka-Shah-Sah. It's moonshine basically.

    Get a wood cup, press a whole lime in there, mashed up, add crushed ice to the top, two teaspoons of sugar, and then fill up with cachaca. That's called a Caipirinha and they're addictive.

    Cheers to the World Cup teams, go Brazil!

    -juice
  • lilbluewgn02lilbluewgn02 Member Posts: 1,089
    ".... But for some reason, their map shows NY as a non-alcohol consumption state."

    Steve,
    I don't agree...when I lived in NY, I consumed plenty of alcohol !!!
    Serge, writing from Margaritaville
    P.S. love those capirinhas, juice
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    That's called a Caipirinha and they're addictive.

    But sip them slowly.

    Had my first one when I was 12 while visiting family in Sao Paulo.
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Brazil can produce Ethanol cost-competitively with gasoline. That is why they're now fuel-positive, i.e. they produce more than they consume.

    But don't forget that the Brazilian goverment (OK the generals) for 20 years mandated and subsidized the manufacture and use of ethanol. Only when subsidies were taken away in the 90's did producers finally get the cost down. And only if oil remains at the current price is ethanol an economical alternative. Further, ethanol is taxed at 9 cents per litre vs 42 cents for gasoline in Brazil.

    It's an alternative, but there are hurdles to oversome. The issue that corn has to be converted to sugar first and then to ethanol. Vehicles have to be able to run on E85 - most today cannot.
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    Serge,

    After I posted that, I read it & sat back and laughed. I was going to add a post-script about Clarkson U. being a high alcohol consumption school. We had a chemist who used to lift a bottle of ethanol occasionally from the store room to add to the Kool-Aid & fruit juice punch.

    Steve
  • locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Even at today's prices, ethanol is absolutely not cheaper to produce than unleaded 87. It is still heavily subsidized.

    ~Colin
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    True, but Brazil can make it cheaper than the US can, given the advantages they have (climate, crops, cheap labor).

    And by the way, they don't use an E85 blend. It's all Ethanol from the pump. My brother's Chevette ran on Ethanol, and it had a seperate gasoline reservoir for warm-ups. At least that was the case several years ago.

    They're real finicky on cold/humid starts, though. That's why they had a gasoline "choke", sort of.

    I guess E85 tries to address that with the blend, plus modern engine controls.

    -juice
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    And by the way, they don't use an E85 blend. It's all Ethanol from the pump.

    I realize it's all ethanol. My point is that most cars in America won't run on E85 now. To go to E100 would be even more difficult especially with the cold temps we see in many parts of the country. I don't want to have to deal with buying 2 types of fuel just to start my car in the winter.
  • fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    What ever happened to the pill that you dropped into a gallon of water, or the 200mpg carb that the oil companies bought the rights to and then hid away??? ;) Where is that miracle cure to the gasoline blues when you need it? We need to start a new fantasy rumor!

    Steve
  • jeffmcjeffmc Member Posts: 1,742
    Great safety testimonial recently posted on the Subaru Global website:
    http://www.subaru-global.com/topics/news/2006/0613.html
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Cool, and a bit funny since noone was hurt. Help me undo my seatbelt, LOL!

    -juice
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    juice:

    Just for you: I saw 3 - count em 3 - Outback Sedans this weekend. I know how much you love them so I thought you'd like to know.

    :)
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I don't dislike them, I just prefer the wagon. And since Subaru has to limit its models, I'd rather see that disappear vs. anything else.

    OK, I do dislike them. A little. ;)

    -juice
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Even more than the Baja??
  • lilbluewgn02lilbluewgn02 Member Posts: 1,089
    Rob,
    I see dead people!
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Baja outsells the Outback sedan alone. But it's on the last generation platform, so it made sense to discontinue that model.

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    in English!

    http://www.japanvehicles.com/newcars/subaru/WRX07/main.htm

    Bob
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060622/BUSINESS/606220404
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Wow, does our regular WRX get 4-pot front brakes?

    -juice
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Subaru just couldn't grow fast enough to pick up the slack when Isuzu left. With Toyota, I bet they'll thrive.

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Yes.

    Bob
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    FHI was predicting for 5000 sales per month of the new Stella. A report has just surfaced that the Stella sold 5000 cars in the first week of being on sale!

    Bob
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I keep saying to myself, "STELLAAAAAAH!"

    :D

    -juice
  • rangnerrangner Member Posts: 336
    :D good one juice!
  • jeffmcjeffmc Member Posts: 1,742
    Hey, that's great, 5k Stellas in a week! I wonder why, though? Pent-up demand? Were that that many buyers that wanted to get a Subaru kei-car, but just couldn't live with an R2?

    It doesn't seem unique enough to me to just draw that many people in, oohing and aahing over it.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    It seems more space efficient than the R2. A lot roomier inside. Looks more like a Scion xB.

    -juice
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    That has a lot to do with it. People looking at K-cars are looking for maximum room.

    Bob
  • jeffmcjeffmc Member Posts: 1,742
    Yes, but the Stella looks so much like other kei cars, can it possibly have more room than the competitors? Why go with the Stella over another brand?
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    I'm not an expert on those K-cars, but maybe because it's also available with AWD. The Stella also has a 4-cylinder engine, whereas I think (?) many others only offer 3-cylinder engines. However, that's just guessing on my part.

    Bob
  • jeffmcjeffmc Member Posts: 1,742
    We've seen the breakdown of Stella sales by model so far. It'd be interesting to see what portion of each model has been AWD.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    OK, anyone who knows us will recall Bob and I have the occasional bet.

    Big news is Smart will sell cars in the US via Penske outlets. I think it'll be hot at first, but mostly a fad that'll fizzle out in about a year. Bob says they'll be hot and stay hot.

    So we have a new bet - one year after launch, we're going to see if they're still in demand. Loser buys lunch.

    Cute as they are, I just think they're too small for the American public to embrace. They'll get a lot of attention, sure, but I don't think they will sustain strong sales.

    I'm not even looking at pure numbers. Minis don't sell a lot of volume, but they're hot and in demand even now. So we'll look at supply and demand, basically.

    -juice
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    juice - the smart (he he - I made a pun) thing DCX is doing is that Smarts will only be sold in large, urban areas according to the article I read. NY, Boston, DC, San Francisco, Chicago - places where they should be popular.

    There's a new condo project across the river from Boston in Chelsea that will come with a fleet of Smarts for use by the residents. Heck, my understanding is that you can't even park your own car at the building - the parking spaces won't accomodate anything bigger.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Penske and DC are targeting 20K sales. I say they will do that, if not more. They will be marketed on the east and west coast urban areas primarily. So in LA, NY and like cities I predict real success. Boise? Nah...

    I'm really looking forward to a free lunch here... :)

    Bob
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    There's a new condo project across the river from Boston in Chelsea that will come with a fleet of Smarts for use by the residents. Heck, my understanding is that you can't even park your own car at the building - the parking spaces won't accomodate anything bigger.

    I fully expect to see a lot of this very clever and—dare I say "SMART" marketing of this vehicle. I bet you will see college campuses being heavily targeted, as well as retirement communities, beach communities, RV owners, etc. I think (expect!) the marketing will be as unique as the car.

    Bob
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    I think (expect!) the marketing will be as unique as the car.

    Bob, Bob, Bob - you've got to get it together. You've confused your micro-cars. Ford closed up Think a couple of years ago!!

    I also see companies like Zip Car offering Smarts in their fleets.

    I've seen one Smart Four Two around here with MD plates. It's part of the model condo for the project I mentioned.
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Bob, Bob, Bob - you've got to get it together. You've confused your micro-cars. Ford closed up Think a couple of years ago!!

    ???

    Bob
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    I think (expect!) the marketing will be as unique as the car.

    I thought you were making another bad pun with reference to the Think car. Or are you unaware of the Think brand?
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Nope. I don't recall the Think car.

    Bob
  • ozman62ozman62 Member Posts: 229
    I'm with Bob on this one. The Smart car has been selling in Canada for a while now, and here in Calgary (fairly large urban area) there are a lot of them around. I realize Canadian and American attitudes differ on the whole economy car thing, but here the Smart is significantly more expensive than some of the other, larger economy models (Yaris/ Echo etc.) It's almost as if it's more of a status symbol than anything (that sounds wierd). Bon apetit, Bob. :D
    Owen
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    The other thing is: The SMART car is about as "cool" as you can get. The kids and yuppies here will flip out over it, price be damned... Think Mini-like success!

    Here's the blog I posted on it. I gotta thank juice for the news scoop here, as he emailed me the news this morning. :)

    http://blogs.edmunds.com/Straightline/1183

    Bob
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    Think is/was a line of electric city cars that Ford introduced. IIRC they purchased the company from somebody else. It failed to meet expectations. They sold it to a Norwegian investement group who is now marketing the vehicles in Europe.

    www.think.no
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Linky no worky...

    Bob
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    may have to wait for a while, as "official" SMART (via Penske) won't begin sales here until early 2008.

    Bob
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    And by then who knows where gas prices will be. I bet I'll be buying lunch if gas is $4 per, but if it stays level or drops then yum yum!

    -juice
  • robr2robr2 Member Posts: 8,805
    What?? Too good to type??

    http://www.think.no
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    Nope, it's very slow to load, and is getting hung up. My internet connection has been slow today, so maybe that's the problem?

    Bob
  • rshollandrsholland Member Posts: 19,788
    http://www.smartusa.com/

    There are a couple of neat videos on it.

    Bob
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