"At top speed, the tyres of the Veyron will only last for about fifteen minutes, but it's okay because the fuel runs out in twelve minutes". (James May, Top Gear)
"The Metric System is the tool of the Devil! My car gets 40 Rods to the Hogshead and that's the ways I likes it!" -Grandpa Simpson
Adding lightness is nice, but the minimalist title is quite moot seeing as it's still a damn sight heavier than the original Mini.
I'm dropping out to create a company that starts with motorcycles, then cars, and forty years later signs a legendary Brazilian driver who has a public and expensive feud with his French teammate.
I think modern cars should produce more lift at speed so they are lighter, and thus more efficient.
There is no other solution.
You need to be massaged while looking through cameras to verify your rear-parking radar is working correctly. It is necessary weight.
"Kimi, can you improve on your [race] finish?"
"No. My Finnish is fine; I am from Finland. Do you have any water?"
Benvingut!
I don't think the Fiesta sales will suffer, they are simply for a different audience. The 500 maybe, but then they'll get the 900cc turbo twin later this year, so we'll see how that turns out.
Even more impressive than this is the new S, which despite having 184bhp and doing 0-100km/h in 7 seconds it still only uses 5,8 litre of fuel every 100km. That's downright amazing.
Lack of charisma can be fatal.
Visca Catalunya!
Thats precisely my Point Ferrer. BMW especially are masters of getting their STANDARD vehicle range to have bloody fantastic real world fuel economy figures, using their "efficient dynamics" concept.
The only reason you should crow that your vehicle is green is if there is genuine improvement, now increased gear ratios and ugly hubcaps. it's still got the Aerodynamics of a newborn Gnu.
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Indeed, they could just put those improvements (in a nice way) in all of their cars, but tis all marketing and getting more money from less. In the end they are still a bussiness...
Some of those green cars makes sense, others don't. It's up to the (intelligent) customer to decide which is which and what should he or she buy and with what should stick to the normal car.
Lack of charisma can be fatal.
Visca Catalunya!
The intelligent customer is swayed easily by the promise of a brighter tomorrow.
Essentially carmakers have become politicians
<cough> www.charginmahlazer.tumblr.com </cough>
For a minute there I thought it might be a stripped down version, really light, no AC, no cupholders, no extras, no anything.
That's minimalism enthusiasts would like. Add skinny tires and it should get the mileage this thing promises.
EDIT: Calling these "trends" green is starting to chap me a bit too, IB4R. The Jetta diesel and Honda CRX of 20 years ago
got twice the fuel economy of what's promised by the "new" tech cars.
Last edited by csl177; 01-13-2010 at 10:04 PM.
Never own more cars than you can keep charged batteries in...
Those two cars weren't particularly designed to be "green". IE; with flowery badges and great marketing.
They spoke of great fuel mileage as a money saving thing, not as a pious "planet saving drive".
To me, thats a horrible "trend" that, given 5 years time will be out of date, and speed will be preferable again.
<cough> www.charginmahlazer.tumblr.com </cough>
What do you think gas prices will be like in 5 years when the economy is humming along again rightly and the Chinese are sucking back tons and tons of black oil?
I think they are going through the roof and I think that mileage will be king.
The horsepower wars may not be ending, but the displacement wars may well be ending.
People will continue to pay whatever for petrol is necessary. Does this mean that the days of the unconcious consumption are over? probably, but there will be some who will simply write it off as a cost of driving what they want to.
As I've said, the BMW way of doing things (EfficientDynamics...IE actually making the entire range fuel efficient without sacrificing driving pleasure or performance) is a much more effective and long term view of things than the simplistic "lets slap some decals and ugly hubcaps on it, lengthen the gears and charge through the eye for it!". It smacks of profiteering.
Consumers will demand fuel efficiency and buy accordingly, so there is obviously a market for this sort of thing. I just prefer that consumers (and companies) stop kidding themselves that their doing this for the environment and start acknowledging their back pocket has a say.
<cough> www.charginmahlazer.tumblr.com </cough>
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