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Comments
Guess you'd have to start a "Sort of High MPG Truck Club".
All it needs is 4WD and manual and it'll sell a hundred thousand extra units that they didn't count on in the first year alone. They don't care one iota about speed. They just want high MPG and something that's not built like a small toy. (ie - Ford Ranger, GM Canyon/etc) .
But when it does happen, the huge demand that the idiots in their corporate towers in Japan and Detroit will be suddenly facing (and never saw) will finally change their minds. We just have to keep pressuring these morons that there really IS a market for small diesel trucks in the U.S.
Because when trucks become available, cars always follow.
lol, diesels really are strangers in a strange land eh?
ie - it needs:
A frame. Not negotiable.
4 cylinder or diesel. Optimally 30mpg highway.
Mid-size or larger.
4X4 option.
Manual option. (this isn't offered in the U.S. and is a HUGE negative as the off-road crowd absolutely won't buy it without this option)
If they can make all of these options available, they'll own the market segment that's waiting eagerly for such a workhorse and off-road toy.
So for example (a tad off topic) , the Golf is really the "old" Rabbit platform. It was used in Europe long before it hit the US market as the "RABBIT". I had a 1978 Rabbit, so the platform is at LEAST 35 years old. I also would ask (point of discussion), what would be "enough call" for a small P/U?
VW Re-Opens American Chapter In Tennessee (AutoObserver)
I love all these Chattanooga pics. Need to see some in front of Rock City though.
That's about 17% better. So definitely a jump.
So with diesel at 10c more per gallon, that means that the cost to drive 10,000 miles is about 13% cheaper with the Passat.
So as long as the Passat is 13% or more cheaper than the TCH, you will do better overall.
Don't you mean if the TCH is 13% cheaper it will be an even comparison. Of course the handling in the Passat should be better. If they have neutered it to feel like a wallowing CamCord it will just be another POC appliance car.
And again - handling matters to very few drivers in the big picture.
The people who care about it REALLY think it's important.
And the people who don't care about it don't even consider it when purchasing.
I've never heard a "real life" complaint about Prius handling. Just auto reviewers and smarty-pantses who want to DIS the IUS.
I couldn't care less about handling. The "supposed thrill" of minor G-forces in my driver's seat just gives me motion sickness - no thrill at all.
Handling, Schmandling.
But my driving style just does NOT need a car with "German handling" at all. I take corners below the recommended speed, and I rarely drive above the speed limit.
Starting in 2000, when I got my last $150 speeding ticket, I wised up and "matured" my driving style.
That lasted a month or two and then I started driving it basically like the minivan. Whipping up and down the ski hill road tended to make me mildly queasy. My brakes last forever.
I had an old Miata for a weekend a couple of years ago. It was a hoot, but mostly because I enjoyed rowing the gears. I wasn't go-karting around the corners much.
The Prius II I test drove handled just fine, thank you.
Yeah, until you cannot get your Prius out of the way of "gin soaked sots" like my stepfather (who managed to collect a series of DUIs but who also had a very high priced lawyer and managed to keep his license through it all).
Of course from my perspective, one less Prius on the road is a good thing. :P
Now I do not know the exact chain of events and political situations that triggered Toyota going through the proverbial "gauntlet". It was more than apparent that Toyota was being set up for those events. They were also "cruisin for a brusin."
Even the bru ha ha about the issue of wild random acceleration has been confirmed by the safety agencies as being as one would expect, (mostly DRIVER error. I do not think the message was lost on Toyota, nor the other oems: TOE the invisible lines.
a couple offive hybrid Lexus models too, and the 200h is coming soon.Or maybe you want to get an LS 600h L with 438 horses. If you can handle it. :-)
In real life, though, that is about as rare as sighting an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker.
There was a Toyota diesel hybrid that was supposed to be here last year. Guess the numbers didn't pencil out. Or maybe I'm just reading between the lines and Toyota was going to introduce it elsewhere. (AutoBlog).
I would swag that Toyota took these issues as "idle" threats. You know too big to fail, etc. So the systems made pain (economic) a reality.
The cost of (model) certification is not even discussed, even the topic of grey market certification makes oblique references to the issues.
..."The United States continues to use a unique set of safety and emission regulations for motor vehicles, which differ significantly from the internationalised ECE Regulations used throughout the rest of the world. Vehicle manufacturers thus face considerable expense to type-certify a vehicle for U.S. sale, at a cost estimated to be upward of USD $2 million per vehicle model. This cost particularly impacts low-volume manufacturers and models, most notably the makers of high end sports cars. However, larger companies such as Alfa Romeo and Peugeot have also cited costs of 'Federalizing' their vehicle lineups as a disincentive to re-enter the U.S. market."...
Notice the issues are really MONEY related (aka TRADE)
Grey Market Wiki
Then I guess I've had at least a half of a dozen of such sightings in my driving lifetime because that's how many accidents I've managed to j-u-s-t b-a-r-e-l-y a-v-o-i-d in my cars that handle significantly better than a Prius, and which a Prius driver would have had zero chance of avoiding.
Is such an emergency maneuver required every day or even every year for that matter? No. That said, one happened to me just this Monday when I was tooling along at a nice sedate 40 mph on an otherwise empty road when a woman pulled up to the end of a driveway in front of me, looked to her right and quickly pulled out and headed directly at me in my lane without ever looking to her left. I just managed to swerve around her big [non-permissible content removed] SUV, threading the needle between her and the driveway owner's mail-box. She only saw me after I'd already cut hard to my right to avoid the impending head-on collision.
I've driven co-worker's Prius models enough times to know with absolute certainty that I would not have been able to avoid such an accident in such a car. True, it would have been her fault, but that isn't much consolation.
Thanks
Just checked today and it's 15 cent difference today.
I just went by my local station , which has been lower than most, and here they sell diesel for 4.19 and unleaded for 3.59.
Talked to a friend in LA and there he pays 4.02 for unleaded and diesel is 4.72
05/23/11 3.997 4.011 4.161 4.138 3.943 3.942 3.935 4.101 4.201 4.287
05/16/11 4.061 4.075 4.207 4.210 4.005 4.015 3.996 4.134 4.248 4.371
05/09/11 4.104 4.117 4.218 4.248 4.052 4.066 4.022 4.156 4.307 4.459
05/02/11 4.124 4.128 4.231 4.269 4.059 4.086 4.060 4.156 4.328 4.465
_____California is far right column
Here is the link if you'd like more info:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp
Even better, here is the DIESEL page which shows Californians getting gouged quite a bit on diesel prices:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel.asp
U.S. Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Prices, 05/23/11
Gasoline (Dollars per Gallon) Diesel Fuel (Dollars per Gallon)
05/23/11 Change from 05/23/11 Change from
Price Week Ago Year Ago Price Week Ago Year Ago
U.S. 3.849 -0.111 1.063 U.S. 3.997 -0.064 0.976
East Coast 3.859 -0.093 1.067 East Coast 4.011 -0.064 0.972
New England 3.977 -0.068 1.127 New England 4.161 -0.046 1.063
Central Atlantic 3.912 -0.081 1.084 Central Atlantic 4.138 -0.072 0.973
Lower Atlantic 3.784 -0.109 1.036 Lower Atlantic 3.943 -0.062 0.962
Midwest 3.817 -0.157 1.123 Midwest 3.942 -0.073 0.957
Gulf Coast 3.710 -0.113 1.012 Gulf Coast 3.935 -0.061 0.958
Rocky Mountain 3.733 -0.024 0.879 Rocky Mountain 4.101 -0.033 0.994
West Coast 4.036 -0.081 1.027 West Coast 4.201 -0.047 1.069
California 4.121 -0.097 1.072 California 4.287 -0.084 1.125
This would give a more accurate retail imprint of diesel vs. gas.
I travel around 58,000 miles per year and the averages they post are far from what we see at the actual pump.
It would be interesting if they actually posted the locations they got their survey information from or if they actually did more than put in bogus numbers.
Kinda like Obumheads birth certificate that doesn't match historical events .
And their is an Edmunds forum for JUST that information, called:
Report Your Local Gas Prices here
When you get the other web look at the pump calculations. they seem strange to me.
they show diesel crude being cheaper than gas crude. Crude is crude. Why th variation of cost?
Also shows diesel refining costs higher when they ar actually less per Chevron Oil information.
Given that Europe refines enough raw crude to provide for all of their diesel powered cars (roughly 50% of the population), that means they are left with roughly twice as much light crude (i.e. gasoline grade) as the consume, and typically they sell that "gasoline" portion of crude to the U.S. Hence, "crude is not crude".
Diesel A Rising Tide Or High Water Mark?
Nothing new to those who pay attention....:)
I do know that their are various grades of crude. But if you believe the top half of a barrel and the bottom a different crude, I would like to sell you lake front property in the Sahara desert.
Fuels are measured by barrel but rarely are stored in a barrel until after refining to the grade fuel or lubricant it is destined.
There are varying amounts of paraffin in crude oil and mostly it is a geographical situation.
As explained to me by a Chevron engineer, unleaded gas requires more refinement than diesel as does almost any lubricant and/or fuel. Coal oil, diesel and tars are the least expensive to refine and thus tie more profit to the refinery.
He also said crude comes by pipeline, truck,ship(tanker) etc. Not shipped in barrels as the cost and logistics would make it impossible.
This said please send link to your statement(s). So I can understand where the information was received.
the average well drilled for oil produces more than crude.
It also can produce water,methane,propane, butane, ethane and natural gas all from the same well. There are a few others but these are the most prominent.
Carbon Chains in Petroleum Products
The different chain lengths have progressively higher boiling points, so they can be separated out by distillation. This is what happens in an oil refinery -- crude oil is heated and the different chains are pulled out by their vaporization temperatures. (See How Oil Refining Works for details.)
The chains in the C5, C6 and C7 range are all very light, easily vaporized, clear liquids called naphthas. They are used as solvents -- dry cleaning fluids can be made from these liquids, as well as paint solvents and other quick-drying products.
The chains from C7H16 through C11H24 are blended together and used for gasoline. All of them vaporize at temperatures below the boiling point of water. That's why if you spill gasoline on the ground it evaporates very quickly.
Next is kerosene, in the C12 to C15 range, followed by diesel fuel and heavier fuel oils (like heating oil for houses).
Next come the lubricating oils. These oils no longer vaporize in any way at normal temperatures. For example, engine oil can run all day at 250 degrees F (121 degrees C) without vaporizing at all. Oils go from very light (like 3-in-1 oil) through various thicknesses of motor oil through very thick gear oils and then semi-solid greases. Vasoline falls in there as well.
Chains above the C20 range form solids, starting with paraffin wax, then tar and finally asphaltic bitumen, which is used to make asphalt roads.
All of these different substances come from crude oil. The only difference is the length of the carbon chains!
As for links; is the EPA a good enough resource for you?
http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6en/xp/longhorn_nepa_documents/lppapp6a.pdf