Posted on 05/30/2007 6:47:18 AM PDT by PissAndVinegar
Beginning this Memorial Day weekend, members of the auto industry are rolling out a comprehensive campaign to convince Americans to oppose proposed increases in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, and to pressure their elected officials to vote down such proposals.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) has launched a website (www.drivecongress.com) that encourages citizens to compose messages of protest against “unrealistic fuel economy increases” to be hand-delivered to elected officials. AAM represents BMW, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen.
The website allows users to insert statements provided by the AAM, such as “I value fuel economy, but I also want many other attributes in my automobile like safety, passenger and cargo room, performance, towing, hauling capacity and more” or “Rather than setting a harmful mandates [sic] like the one being proposed, the government should encourage the use of alternative fuels like ethanol, and provide incentives for consumers, like me, to purchase alternative fuel autos.”
The Detroit News reports that the campaign will also include at least a million dollars of radio ads in ten states that have a high percentage of truck and SUV owners.
The AAM’s efforts are bolstered by parallel campaigns from DaimlerChrysler and General Motors, each of which has brought a dedicated website online to help with the campaign.
According to GM’s website (drivingamericasfuture.com), CAFE standards “deter innovation”; “have no near term effect on oil consumption”; “foster competitive disparities that discriminate against US automakers”; and are “a 1970’s solution to a 21st Century problem.”
The website cites the steady rise in US oil consumption as an indicator that CAFE standards have failed, but does not calculate the level of consumption that might exist if such standards had not been enacted.
DaimlerChrysler’s password-protected website (www.grabdemocracybythehorns.com) is described as a “grassroots advocacy website, a legislative activation tool that provides employees, retirees, dealers and suppliers with a means to conveniently contact elected officials about the issues that concern you, your family and our company.”
CAFE standards were enacted in 1975, when Congress ordered automakers to more than double the fuel economy for passenger cars from 13 miles per gallon to 27.5 miles per gallon within a decade, which the industry achieved. Since then, Congress has regularly considered increasing CAFE standards, but has not approved a fuel economy increase for passenger cars. Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) increased fuel economy standards for SUVs by 2 percent per year, rising from 21.6 miles per gallon to 24 miles per gallon by 2012.
So, government force should be used to require the U.S. automakers to produce cars according to your tastes?
There’s a name for that.
I agree. Plus, while it still needs a lot of development to be practical, algae looks to be a promising source of biodiesel.
When those U.S. automakers fail it will be the U.S. taxpayer that will pick up the tab on some of their pension costs and most of their health costs....so yes, I want to see them offer a comparable product to their imported competition. I’m also a little sick of America relying on foreigners for its fuel also.
Yep, if the can get the algae created biodiese actually working, that will be a huge win. Can you see it now, people with their own glorified composting plants generating fuel for their cars? Amazing stuff if they can get it there.
I’ve noticed a tendency a lot of people have to take the best mileage their car ever delivers, like on a long highway trip at moderate speeds, add 10%, and then report that as the average economy. The EPA mileage loop already involved driving pretty much like a little old lady, and most people don’t even match its numbers in the real world. A real-world mixed-usage 30 mpg is pretty decent mileage.
That’s inaccurate; there is a 2.4 liter 4 cylinder 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible available that gets 20/29 EPA fuel economy. The 1996 equivalent got 18/26. The horsepower for the 1996 was 150; for the 2008 model it’s 173 hp. So, there have been some modest gains in efficiency and power.
Yep. The problem seems to be getting enough CO2 to the algae. But I think there are ways to do it. The question is: can it be done on a large enough scale?
True that. Detroit began lobbying Jorge Bush for nationalizing healthcare as soon as the Democrat Party took over Congress. You can guarantee that if a Democrat becomes president, you will see a renewed push for us to clean up Detroit's mess.
My sister trade in her Buick LaSabre for the new Lasalle and lost 2 mpg. My brother traded in his Chevy Impala for a newer Impala and lost 4 mpg. Newer comparable cars less gas mileage. Doesnt make sense.
My wife’s old Buick Roadmaster gets 26 on a trip and that’s better than either my brother’s or sister’s new cars.A big 350 V-8 getting as good as their V-6 front wheel drive new cars. Its crazy.
Yep, it is insane..... Roadmaster was a BOAT of a car, insane that gets better gas mileage than smaller newer vehicles..
I learned the lesson about fuel economy the hard way, (used to believe smaller/lighter was what it was all about). Forced to trade in a LeSabre that DIED on us in the middle of a trip... replaced it with a Mazda Protege... tiny little car, 4 cylinder engine.... You’d figure much improved fuel economy... but that thing couldn’t even get 300 miles to a full tank of gas (~12 gallons!) My VW Fox at the time wasn’t much smaller, several years older, and would get nearly 500 on the same 12 gallons of gas.
The mazda had a horrible gear ratio, and burned way way way too much gas for as small of a car and engine as it was. Never would have bought the thing other than I was stranded 500 miles from home with a dead car and a 10 day old infant.
Fuel economy has not remotely been on the radar in Detroit for a long time, and it clearly shows based on most of their products. Finally getting some out the door now, but that’s after a few years of high gas prices.
I’ll never understand, there will ALWAYS be a market for a low end fuel efficient car, regardless of gas prices... Asians have build many brands from scratch now starting with this segment, and then moving outward... yet detroit continues to effectively ignore this segment, touching it only as an afterthought, even though study after study shows, that people generally remain brand loyal.
If you sell them that first car out of college or HS, and your car is reliable they will likely buy your brand for life.
And what have the big 3 put in this segment? The NEON, the Cavalier and the Escort... with the latter two now been replaced with what the Calibre? and the Focus. Focus seems like a decent enough car, cavalier was always crap, will see if the new replacement is any better, and the neon is what now? 12 or 14 years old?
Hell, I’d really like an old school ride: Fiat 500, Renault Caravelle or Citroen 2CV. The latest Alliances got nearly 30 in the city. But those were interference engines (as the Honda). I really don’t want this to turn into a hobby so interference engines are pretty much out (except the Honda which I can have serviced).
I save the nice car for trips or weekends.
Fiesta? Alliance? Paseo? Tercel? They haven’t made the first two of those for about 20 years, and the last two for about 10 years now. Good lucking findind a decent example that still runs well. Even the Escort’s been gone the better part of 10 years, and the last ones were really just Mazda 323s, anyway.
Here’s a tip, for what you want: The Nissan Sentra from two generations back (’96-’00, or so) had a fairly economical 1.6 L engine, with chain driven cams. They do tend to eat an alternator every 60,000 miles or so, though.
The other day I read about a guy who has developed a six-cycle gasoline engine that increases fuel efficiency by forty percent. It actually works. Will Detroit listen?
I have one still although I almost never drive it because of its lack of power and lack of air conditioning. It gets about 38 mpg - not bad but still not 50 mpg. It's best for fumigating joggers and bicyclists.
Might want to read your owners manual.. 1980s Diesel rabbits explicitely told owners, if your mileage is under 50MPG have it serviced....
Given you are only getting 38, and smoking hard, I’d bet you have an issue. Unless its an automatic or something.
What is a 6 cycle engine? A four cycle has
Stroke five injects a shot of water into the 1500 degree cylinder. The water instantly goes to super hot steam which produces stroke five, a power stroke.
In the way back up the steam is pushed out into a condenser where it goes back to being water and is reused.
Never got more than 38 and didn’t say any such thing in the owners manual is 1980 model. There may be an injector problem in one cylinder since it eats a glow plug every so often, but it only smokes hard when I step down on it (specifically when there are joggers and bicyclists to enjoy the smoke)
Make that stroke six, the steam power stroke.
A waste heat recapture engine then? I suspect that this only works on really small engines.
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