LexFather

Contrary to what you may read and what some people want to tell you, V-8s, V-10s, V-12s and big engines are good for the Earth. As a matter of fact, they are shining examples of what is good of the world. V-8s and these big engines are so "bad", well they have pushed car companies to make these new V-6s that kick a lot of ***. BMW, the new Audi engine in the S4, Lexus, Nissan all come to mind, including the new Ford SHO....V-6s with V-8 power with better fuel economy. Thank V-8s for these wonderful new V-6s.

There is also some logic missing here from "greenies" hating on big engines. Big engines simply DO NOT SELL. They are rare. They are for people that WANT that extra. . The funny thing is most people won't even push the vehicles that hard and get the WORST MPG possible. A big engine is so smooth, you might just cruise in it instead of being in that strung Honda you have to Rev to 7000 RPM getting 6 MPG in the process so you can get 10 lbs of peak torque. The end result is that V-8 is getting better fuel economy than the ricer/boy racer in the 4 cylinder. The bottom line is 1 million 24 MPG vehicles are FAR worse than 100,000 20 MPG ones.

Oh dear, what have I started writing.

I was reading an article about the Lambo CEO recently where he basically said "look you dimwits, we have only sold 25,000 cars in 40 years, most drive less than 2500 miles a year, we are NOT the global warming/emissions Carbon footprint problem". He is absolutely right. We should EMBRACE and CELEBRATE exotics, not hate them and bash them for getting 10 MPG. They are exotics, rarely driven and when you do see one, it brings a smile to your face that no 40 MPG Corolla can bring. It might make you work some O.T and be more productive b/c YOU WANT that exotic.

No grown adult sees a 40 MPG Civic and gets a hard on. No man tells his son "when you grow up, you can drive that Kia Forte someday". Unless his name is Al Bundy and the car is a Dodge. They probably leave work early and become less productive. Another win for the V-8 guys.

I've said many times and years ago we don't need 270 and 280hp Altimas, Camrys, Accords. WTF is the point? Lets expand a bit. The bottom line is, MAINSTREAM CARS are the WORST offenders here, getting their still crappy 20 MPG or so in their Fusions, Taurus's, Mazda 6s, Honda Accords, Toyota Camrys. Since these cars selling in the MILLIONS combined, their asses need to be BY FAR the most fuel efficient cars.

Don't worry about me in that 01 GS 430 with the V-8 making 20 MPG. Its not even driven daily. Worry about that numbnut doing 500 miles a week doing 18 MPG driving 80 MPH in that Chrysler. This is where we have to give Porsche engineers a coupon for free handjobs at Hooters. If you read how the Flat 6 engine continues to deliver more power with more MPG with less emissions, it is quite frankly amazing. That new 911 can get near 30 MPG cruising in 7th gear with the PDK. If you think all cars need are 5 gears in a transmissons, please go back in time and stay in the year 1996.

Below are two months with the top selling cars for the month. One is a CFC month and the other a regular month.


July 2009 Top 10

* Ford F-Series: 36,327
* Toyota Camry: 33,974
* Honda Civic: 30,037
* Honda Accord: 29,774
* Toyota Corolla: 29,593
* Chevy Silverado: 27,617
* Ford Focus: 21,830
* Ford Escape: 20,241
* Nissan Altima: 19,252
* Toyota Prius: 19,173



Top 10 Best-Selling Cars April

* Honda Accord: 29,212
* Ford F-Series: 28,757
* Chevy Silverado: 26,437
* Honda Civic: 26,252
* Toyota Camry: 25,324
* Toyota Corolla: 18,534
* Ford Fusion: 18,321
* Dodge Ram: 17,903
* Chevy Impala: 17,532
* Chevy Malibu: 14,665


The Prius is the only model that gets OVERALL something efficient. For the most part too, drivers will try to get their 50 MPG and not boy race the vehicle (though I swear I want to tell you I see Prius's in the fast lane like I see 4 cylinder Hondas, which is all the time and annoying). The hybrid Camry/Fusion etc don't sell in large enough quantities to make much of a difference. In August Toyota sold what 54,000 Camrys and 2,500 were hybrids. Not much of a dent. The Prius hopefully continues to make headway. Its the first Hybrid that is a legitimate "family car" and sell in amounts that could truly "help" (please I am not going to go into the Hummer is more efficient than a Prius).

The other vehicles include a bunch of trucks and regular family cars. They are not V-12 Twin Turbo BMWs and Benz's so stop hating on them. I believe they sell 100 combined last month. Save the energy. However, your neighbor driving that Altima like its a wannabe 911 Turbo, yeah he is getting around 18 MPG, the same as those V-12 turbos cruising. Go scream at him.

Many of us have spoken about how the media seems to pit the less well off against those doing well. Screaming about how bad luxury cars are and how bad their MPG is and how they are "evil". All the time ignoring the driving habits of the people watching it in their I-4 Camry that is in need of an oil change (not recommended either lol). Yup the people that can't afford to maintain the car, thus getting WORSE MPG than the vehicle should. Their supposed 28 MPG car now gets 22 MPG b/c well, it needs a new air filter, the tires are shoddy and the oil is old.

So do the numbers, its not that hard. Millions of mainstream owners in that Camry/Accord/Jetta/Golf/Altima/Malibu/Fusion etc etc etc are doing FAR MORE DAMAGE that the guy in the;
15 year old Supra
Firebird
ZR-1
Lambo
Ferrari
Chevelle SS
GS

I am hoping that people really open up their eyes to the issues with MPG and fuel economy and emissions instead of just pointing the finger at sports car, luxury car and exotic car owners like they are the bad guy.

You might be saying "hey SICK didn't you buy a hybrid"? Yes, I did for ME and b/c I liked the "win/win" of performance and fuel economy. However I am not telling people to go live in igloos and only drink rainwater and cars are evil. You might say "well SICK you do believe luxury cars should get better MPG"? The answer is yes, I don't think most have tried hard enough to mix the best of both worlds. The vehicles are better than ever but I still feel luxury brands should LEAD with MPG and I am glad Lexus has some of this attitude.


Thanks for reading

llamaboiz

hmm... makes sense...

Och

iTrader: (3)

I quite honestly couldn't care less about mpg ratings. Sure some cars are a little better, some are a little worse, but it all comes down to your driving style. Like you said yourself, you could get 6mpg in a dreadful 1.5 liter Honda, because you have to keep the pedal on the floor constantly to get it to move it out of its own way.

I don't even know why people are so hellbent on fuel economy. Maybe I have an irresponsible perspective on things, but I don't even look at MPG as MPG, I view it more like $PW (dollars per week). If I fill my car up and it costs me around 50-60 bucks and it lasts me a week, thats all I care about. And if I decided to be all responsible and green, and got myself a more economical car, it still needs to be filled up. So I'd save 10-15 bucks a week, but frankly I just dont care.

nthach

IMO, Honda's a bit too happy on the green/MPG argument - my neighbor says her Pilot with VCM(Honda's take on displacement-on-demand) gets marginally better MPG than the Odyssey it replaced. My 18 year old LS400 gets 2mpg better without any fancy technologies. My friend is reporting subpar MPG in a Civic, while we're getting nearly 54mpg with a Prius.

And Hondas aren't that green as they would like you to believe. Save for the Si, S2K, and their hybrids, their whole product line only has a ULEV Tier-2/Bin-5 rating, while Toyota has the Prius and Camry as a PZEV, while the Corolla and Yaris are still ULEV T2/B5. Honda relies on VTEC and external EGR to make up for smaller displacement and the higher NOx levels created during lean-burn that they do for fuel efficiency. However, the Fit is creating the false illusion that smaller=better. It drinks more than the Civic, it's smaller than the Civic, and it's not as safe as the Civic in a crash. It pollutes like the LS460. It's a horrible value proposition if you ask me.

Nextourer

Well said.

Nextourer

Yeah but I can think of worse. An Aveo with a 1.6 litre gets worse mpg than a Civic or a Corolla and it's one class below. However, Honda cars are more fun to drive and maybe people don't mind the 1-2mpg penalty for a car that handles better.

nthach

Daewoo was never able to their act together IMO - they depended way too much on GM for technical assistance. They sourced their powertrains from Suzuki or Holden.

IS-SV

And you bring up a good point. Cheap gas in America often results in people wasting gas driving to and from bland tract homes (bedroom communities with no jobs, zero planning), driving to hell and back in economy cars, driving over 500 miles per week for what.

TripleL

1SICK, that was a well thought out, fact based, reasonable and presented in an easy to understand manner. Thank you.

What do you think it would take to at least get in front of the general public and be heard? and what do you think their reaction would be?

IS-SV

I really don't see much finger-pointing around here at sports cars, luxury cars and exotic car owners, these kinds of cars are almost universally liked.

The vehicles that continue to get negativity are the usual including Hummer, Escalades, Navs, Excursions, Expeditions, Suburbans, lifted pickups with stinking diesels, etc. Big Range Rover, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche SUVs get little negative attention despite fuel economy ratings.

nthach

Because those are driven by the hoi polloi who shops at Wal-Mart and are (stereo)typical Americans, while the Range/Bimmer/Benz is driven by some some yuppie, rich soccer mom or Kim Kardashian wannabe who can't be separated from their Nordstrom and Starbucks

<VENOM>

Very well said, infact after your other blog about the Supra TT verse the 335, I realized most cars since 1996, the year I started driving and really been a car fanatic, the cars in general have not had real improvements in gas mileage, new smaller car have come out with better ratings but the mass produced and average midsize car still gets crappy gas mileage.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Well, the one reason new cars aren't getting better mileage is because they are getting more powerful and heavier. Todays 4 cylinder Camry is almost as powerful as a 6 cylinder Camry 10 years ago.

But the bottom line is that internal combustion engine design isnt changing either. Those who work on their engine will tell you that they are basically all the same. There are little tricks here and there to squeeze an extra mile or two per galon, but in the end what matters a lot more is weight, gearing, air dynamics, and most of all, your driving style.

whoster

this is how i feel about big engines.

By consuming more fossil fuels, we push the need for alternative energy sources at a quicker pace, thus driving the research and development into these ventures an urgent need.

this is why i also adore my GS400.

mmarshall

See what you get yourself into with these threads, Mike. Even ACURA now has a 300 HP V6.