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Why no 55 MPG cars?

Old Jun 9, 2008 | 04:38 PM
  #31  
jg95z28's Avatar
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From: Oakland, California
Originally Posted by HuJass
Actually, I didn't do the math but I'm just thinking about the price difference between, let's say, a diesel Rabbit and a gasoline Rabbit. Isn't the diesel version like $2,500 to $5,000 more than the gas version right out of the box?
And then the difference in diesel vs. gasoline. Diesel is around $4.69 a gallon here while gas is $3.89 per gallon.

And for what, an 8-10 MPG difference in fuel economy?

Without doing the math, I'm not sure you could make the differences up. Well, at least in the length of time most people keep their cars.
I'm not sure about the Rabbit, but from the EPA's website on the 2009 Jetta, the Diesel gets 30/41 vs. 21/29 for the gas version, which works out to 12mpg average. (34v.22) The prices you're paying are below the national average, but plugging them into the same website, works out to roughly $583 savings annually for the diesel on 15,000 miles with a 55/45 split.

I'm not sure that the MSRP delta is on the two, but as gas prices continue to raise (National average on 87 was $4.02 yesterday), the fuel savings for the diesel will continue to go up.
Old Jun 9, 2008 | 09:10 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by indieaz
I was thinking adding two feet or so to the length of he car for storage...I can't imagine that would impact drag that dramatically?
Would you want to drive a 16+ foot "compact"?
Old Jun 9, 2008 | 09:30 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by DvBoard
Would you want to drive a 16+ foot "compact"?
If it got 200mpg? Sure.

Maybe one day parking spaces will be half the width, but 50% longer
Old Jun 9, 2008 | 09:58 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by indieaz
If it got 200mpg? Sure.

Maybe one day parking spaces will be half the width, but 50% longer
Possibly. I guess technically adding length isn't as big of a deal (if you could stand the fighter pilot seating) since frontal area is your big killer IIRC. Good luck getting many people to drive it though. Turning radius, what?! XD
Old Jun 10, 2008 | 03:13 PM
  #35  
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From: Modesto, CA
Originally Posted by HuJass
Well, if you take a look at the new thread in this section about the Chevy Beat and how it gets 56 MPG and will probably cost less than $12K, you can see how the manufacturers can do what I suggested.

So there are no worries about such a car costing $35K as you suggested.
Ill PM you asking for an apology when the thing comes over here getting 36 hwy because they had to add safety weight and a bigger motor.
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