US manufacturing can't compete with China mostly because of wages. But GM can still sell cheap cars with old engines with no cats to other countries with no emissions just like China can.

Also a lot of the countries you mentioned are still in the industrial age while we are in the information age.

You assuming American ingenuity is dead. I guarantee you GM could build a 40mpg hwy Corvette. The Vette now gets just about 30mpg with out Direct injection, DoD, and the 2 stage hybrid setup. Add all those things to a 5.3L V8 and there you go, a 375HP Vette that gets 40mpg hwy. And that is just with current technology. Who knows what new technology the future holds.

...also check out http://www.teslamotors.com/ Tesla makes a 0-60 in 4 sec. sports car that is all electric. Performance cars aren't dead just gasoline is a dying fuel. People will always want fast cars and as long as they are willing to pay for them someone will build them.

 

I don't necessairly disagree...my point is that US industry, especially the auto industry, doesn't need additional restrictions that cost money and offer very limited (if any) benefit and that concurrently give and additional competitive advantage to other countries that don't and will not impose such restrictions on its industry.

"Controlling" Carbon Dioxide strikes me as about as silly as some scientists a few yeas ago who wanted to find a way to control livestock's "methane" emissions.

 

Think of the plants people! Think of the plants!!

 

Damn skippy! Who are we to starve the needy plants of the world!

 

You think it's silly; 166 countries feel otherwise.

There's a big honkin' difference between worrying about cow farts and having an honest concern over the effects of releasing several million years' worth of carbon into the atmosphere in the span of about 150 years.

 

Yes, Eric...I do think it's silly and frankly, I don't relly care how many countries feel otherwise - a lot of those "other" counturies are very "concerned" and happy to encourage restrictions and regulations on the US so long as those restrictions and regulations don't cost them anything and/or they get an exemption from them. It's easy for them to be "concerned" about such things as CO2 levels if doing something about it doesn't cost them anything.

I also think it's silly (and dangerous) to dump billions of dollars of mandates and regulations on our intudtry and our public in the name of controlling a "green house" gas to stop what is, at its very best, an unproven and questionable theory of "global warming" especially when that "green house gas" is naturlaly occuring and very needed by the environment for life to exist.

There are echo-freaks out there who would "regulate" us back to the middle-ages if they could simply becaue they "feel" that's a a better way of life - I expect any day now that some group of scientists will be asking the EPA to regulate the release of oxygen.

 

Does anyone actually get just about 30mpg with a Corvette today? I know the best I've done with my A4 Camaros is about 22, and 20 is more typical. So if I define 40mpg as 40mpg in normal driving, versus 40mpg at 55mph on the highway running on a non-oxygenated fuel, this gets a lot harder.

Yes, well the Tesla won't have a V8. Also, I'll believe it when I see it in production available for $30K or less. Remember, I said cheap V8 performance. Even if you weaken that to cheap V8-like performance, I don't think Tesla will be cheap. It'll be expensive V8-like performance.

 

I saw the Tesla at the SF auto show and one of their reps told me they were going for $90K

 

"Does anyone actually get just about 30mpg with a Corvette today? I know the best I've done with my A4 Camaros is about 22, and 20 is more typical. So if I define 40mpg as 40mpg in normal driving, versus 40mpg at 55mph on the highway running on a non-oxygenated fuel, this gets a lot harder."

wow! I could get 19 sverage with the TH350 and 3600 converter!

23-24 w/ the stock auto in a loaded ttop car...

 

I got just under 40mpg in my 98. That was blasting down the highway at 70-80mph and bit of city/tolls too.
































In my neon

 

In Mississippi where your gasoline probably doesn't have an oxygenate. Hmm, probably not a lot of traffic lights either. So figure that Joe Average in the survey would need 45 in your type of driving.

 

Don't forget the lack of interstate highway, lol. A good part of my drive is on very curvey (and not well thought out) 2-lane state highways. Right off the top of my head, my commute has about a 10 Stop signs and 3 traffic signals. Just fyi..

 

With the morons we just voted in........what are we surprised?

 

How many miles?

2 stop signs, 10 traffic signals, 9 miles.

 

Now on this, I couldn't agree more! Why don't those 166 countries go clean up their own back yard, then come see US? I'll tell you why, because anything they can do to **** up our economy, or just screw with US in general, is a good thing for them. Look at us, we're pushing around the big bad US of A! It's a load of BS, that's what it is. These countries are not our friends, and we want to let them dictate our policies. WTF? Some of US, are complete morons! Down with the press, they are also not our friends! Pond- scum the lot of em', I hope they go out of business. People, wise up and cancel your subscriptions to the NY Slimes, the *** rags (you know who they are), they don't deserve to be in business!