I was referring to waste vegetable oil. I agree that biodiesel from crops is going nowhere, in fact it's counter-productive. And the effectiveness of the Chevy Volt in regards to CO2 emissions largely depends on the area. We need to build more nuclear power stations. 0-60 in 8 sec is acceptable for most people though, and the high torque from an electric motor is ideal for stop-start driving.
Just found out that the European version of the Volt will be the Opel Ampera: http://www.opel-ampera.com/english/index.php?page=##fallback_page## 1.6l/100km in range entender mode and less then 40g/km (not that i care about the CO2 but it is impressive). They use a 1.4, 82hp gas engine as the generator. That is one big generator. And it suits the European market perfectly. But it only comes in late 2011.
and how did they do that? By making them absolutely useless when it comes to doing any level of basic maintenance on them. Vauxhall or GM; the new Corsa is a total turd to work on. The driver side head lamps can't be reached by any human hand on this planet. The Ford Fiesta needs to have the entire bumper removed just to get anywhere near the head lamp bulbs on half of the new Fiestas. Astras need you to remove the bulbs from the wheel arch which is fine except they have used the sh*ttest piece of crap plastic I have ever seen as a cover, even the god d*mn French managed to get that right with the Megane. Toyota, Fiat, Alfa, VW all are a breeze to do basic work on but the new range of America cars are total cr*p. The Japs can make a well built car that is easy to work on the Americans need to stick half a ton of big iron under the bonnet to get the same result and decided to use design software that used mouse hands as the base line for component access. I will NEVER buy an American car, that's Ford or GM basically.
Lol... so... are you a mechanic or something ?? It seems you have dealt with all those cars. All I hear from friends is that most American cars suck mainly due to the bad reputation big American engines with crap efficiency got. Nice to see someone in touch with it.
I'd have to disagree to a certain extent. Cars Ford/GM build for the European market are entirely different from their US/AUS range, making a blanket statement about those companies as a whole is contradictory. In fact, Ford commercial vehicles are incredibly easy to work on, from what I've seen of their consumer vehicles there's not a lot of difference in design layout.
That's one thing I loved about my civic. Soooo easy to work on. but it was a gutless FWD 1.6 liter :/
electric cars are so wrong way to go! fuel cells on other hand... really when i think about the electricity needed to load up millions of cars... HOORAY FOR NUCLEAR!
My 1.9Ltr turbo diesel has 215BHP and 460Nm of torque (340 Lbs/ft) and still does 43mpg stop start in town.
It's a diesel alright... Compare that to the 5.7L V8 with 210hp and you get why people make fun of American cars
It's only contradictory if you assume I am making a blanket comment about ALL American cars, since I don't have access to cars that are only exclusively made and avaliable in America chances are I am passing comment on American cars that are readily purchased in this country in which case my statement is is perfectly valid. Fords and GM, Opel, Vauxhall used to be easy to work on because they were so cheap you had nothing but air under the bonnet. Then as the 'build quality' got better the difficulty in doing simple repairs on the cars got much higher. Almost all the other manufacturers have taken in to account that humans have a certain hand size and leave enough room to do work on them. Everyone except the Americans. Some world beating examples of stupidity. How about the 52 onwards Ford Mondeo that has the air con recharge port and the power steering fluid top up and reservoir located DIRECTLY behind the driver side lamp access panel in effect making it impossible to remove the cover in the way Ford has designed it? What about the Vauxhall Corsa 51 - 55 that requires you remove the wiper blade arms just to change a battery, seriously remove the wiper blade arms to do a battery change. The only other car that I can think of that is as annoying as these two is the Toyota Avensis. It's not that hard to work on but it requires the removal of so many bits of useless plastic trim to do the work. The two above are two of the stupidest designs I have seen but Fords and Vauxhalls time and again are the hardest cars to work on because they have been idiotically designed. I would debate that, I was working on a Transit today, the rear light cluster requires the removal of three bolts, all of which are obscured by the rear access door. Once these are removed you have to then try and unclip the light cluster, this involves putting your fingers in to the gap where the rear door closes, VERY dangerous because it will only take one person to knock the door and it's going to close on your fingers. Yeah under the bonnet it's pretty easy to work on but it still has flaws and the one with the potential finger trapping door makes it yet another highly stupid design.
Mk thanks for the support of America. Personally I have had 0 issues with American cars (here in America), and I know plenty of people (my dad whos been a mechanic 30+ years) who swear by American cars. Though some things are engineered a bit screwy, I have yet to encounter a car where something was impossible to do.
Ok, I learned something then (what the heck l/100 is), as I had to look it up. However, 30 (US) mpg is not that bad if you ask me. It's not amazing, but 30 (US) mpg is pretty good. I still consider your post and this subject trolling. It basically is an Oil related thread and should have been closed on the spot. Since it hasn't gotten out of hand tho I guess the mods are willing to let it stay open.
Someone's never worked on a last gen passat. The funny thing is this isn't true in the US. The average American car is a breeze to work on. Lots of room, fairly simple designs, etc. Wa, wa, wa, American stereotypes. Do you want me to get into Portuguese stereotypes here? We have a lot of them. It isn't like the Prius isn't one of the best selling cars in the US or anything. ------ Finally anyone who cites HP/L as meaning anything is ****ing stupid. It means nothing. A 6.0L vette making 400 hp can get 30mpg on the highway. My 2.5L making 300 hp would love to make that. Further, the measure doesn't take into account weight or dimensions. For example: BMW 90 degree V10 500hp at 7750rpm 383lbft at 6100rpm 4999cc 8250 rpm max 40 valves Bore x Stroke (mm) 92 x 75.2 12.0:1 CR 528lb dry weigth LS7 90 degree V8 505hp at 6300rpm 470lb/ft at 4800rpm 7000cc 7000 rpm max 16 valves Bore x Stroke (mm) 104.8 x 101.6 11.0:1 CR 458lb dry weight I think I'll take the 7 liter one even if it doesn't have the HP/L.
as a reply to the first post, i agree and i find it annoying that more cars dont get better milage. i would love to have a tiny 90hp car with over 50mpg, because you can lighten it up and make it fast. though i currently have a 2954cc 3.0L I-6 engine in my 92 toyota, i think it gets around 190hp. i get around 25-30mpg on it, pending on how i drive. it can go from 0-60 in under 10 seconds(have not tested.). its not a big deal right now since i dont have to pay for my fuel, but when i start having to i really would not like to have a fuel sucker like most cars(thats relative to the fact that i dont like paying alot of money for fuel...).
210hp and you laugh at the power. 400+ and you laugh at the emissions so drive what you drive. Americans can never say/do anything to make other countries happy. Lets be honest here. I drive a loud, gas guzzling, 300hp 89 mustang. because i like to go fast and i like getting pussy. sorry but over here no girls gonna suck your dick for giving her a ride in your corsa. Non Americans can talk all the smack you want, but if you have to ask why then you will never understand. And this 1970s myth about American cars not handling is just that. I'll take any of you guys out on a windy road in my car and you will ask me to slow down.
