IS-SV

That's for sure. And not a good way to treat a car (1-2 mile trips). Walking is a viable option when weather is moderate

mmarshall

In that case, take it out at least once a week, get the engine to normal temperature, and run it at least 10 miles of so. That will keep the battery charged, the oil/anti-freeze/transmision/final-drive fluids warm and circulating, and help prevent contaminants from getting into the fluids.

And.....IS-SV has a point. You need to walk or excercise regularly to keep in shape......God didn't give us two legs for nothing. But, on the other hand, one of the worst things you can do to a car is NOT driving it for significant periods.

mmarshall

Back on the 4-cylinder issue....I hope that Buick at least keeps the 3.0 V6 (or the 3.6) for the AWD LaCrosse. This car, with AWD, IMO, is too large and heavy for a N/A 4-cylinder, and GM turbo-4s are usually unrefined and noisy.

IS-SV

Yes, I don't want to make assumptions about her exercise routine, she may crosstrain in other and even more effective ways.

And 1 or 2 mile trips exclusively are far worse for the car than not driving it at all on weekdays (but still driving it properly on the weekends of course).

IS-SV

Agreed and exactly my point, "the 4 bangers better be very good" if they are the only engines offered (meaning no 6's).

Most 4 cylinders do not have the smoothness and refinement at higher revs, and lack the broad/even power bands of the better sixes. Sound quality to the driver and passengers in the cabin is often poor. This problem with 4 bangers is not exclusive to GM, very few 4 cylinder engines meet the criteria I described in the previous 2 sentences.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Hey, my wife is in pretty good shape, so thats not a concern

Her driving routine consists of going to the stores, and dropping our daughter at the train station to go to school and pick her up from the same station, then taking her to volleyball practice and back. So she makes 4-5 short trips a day, and we cant really help that.

mmarshall

Honda 4-cylinders traditionally rev with the smoothness and refinement of an electric motor, but, also traditionally, lack torque.

But like you said, very few 4-bangers meet the criteria. I can't think of very many others besides Honda.

IS-SV

Agreed, a few of the Honda 4 bangers and some balance shaft Toyota 4 bangers meet the criteria. But the better 6's and 8's (ignoring output) are still a bit better.

IS-SV

No surprise, that's why I did not want to make assumptions about conditioning.

UDel

If you are right in New York city then that is the culprit for the poor gas mileage especially if your wife is only driving 1-2 miles. The car never has a chance to warm up to optimal running temp driving such short distances and the whole time it is just stop and go on crappy roads full of potholes and cracks. I have not heard of anyone getting good or even decent gas mileage driving in New York City. Take the 335i out on the highway on long trips and your mileage will go up drastically.

If it is only the 335 getting that bad of mileage while your other vehicles get much better with the same type of driving/conditions then there is something wrong with your 335i.

I do agree with you that EPA fuel economy ratings are often not that accurate and many makes and models are notorious in real world driving for getting either significantly better or significantly worse fuel economy that what the EPA numbers suggest. The Nissan VQ is one of those engines that was often reported as getting much worse real world v8 like fuel economy then the EPA ratings. Many Honda cars tend to get better real world fuel economy then their EPA numbers suggest. Hybrid engines tend to be all over the place depending how you drive them and not very consistant.

UDel

I do find it funny that most manufactures are focusing mainly on getting better fuel economy for sedans. Some have changed their minds about high performance coupes and sports cars saying they are not right for the future because of not being "green enough" yet they continue churning out gas guzzling SUVs, crossovers, and pickups that are bigger, more wasteful, sell in much higher numbers in the US, and get much worse fuel economy then sedans, coupes, and sports cars. I don't see nearly as much focus on getting SUVs and pickups to be more "green".

It appears auto makers don't want to mess with their high volume SUV/Pickup cash cows too much and would rather demonize low volume sports cars by giving them the ax or only considering them if they have some new "green" powerplant.

LexFather

I don't see why they don't invest in hybrids more. The Prius gets a legitimate 50 MPG and nothing can touch that. The Sonata hybrid and Fusion hybrids are 40 MPG cars and not just on the highway. The HS is a 35 MPG car and not just on the highway.



Agreed. You can't beat the layout of having more cylinders for better balance and smoothness. I have extensive seat time in the Camry and Altima 4 cylinder and while they are more than ample they are louder, slower and rough as MPH increases.

Honda gets power at higher speeds as they have no low end power but who wants to rev at 6,000 RPM with the engine buzzing like a lawn mower all day long? It might make for a fun sporty car but it makes for a PITA average family sedan.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Here's a thought that I am very surprised that no one has brought up yet...

what the hell does cylinder count have to do with it? sure, 6 and 8 cylinder engines tend to run smoother because there is more balance to the motor, but, what matters isn't how many cylinders the car has, its what the displacement of each cylinder is... More displacement = more fuel to burn (in general)

Why not keep with V6 and V8 engines, but drop the displacement down - you will keep the smoothness, but lose some power - hopefully gaining fuel mileage...

now, that being said - turbo cars get as good a gas mileage as the driver will allow... the most recent turbo car I have experience with is my buddies old EVO... made just under 500 hp at the wheels, but would get 30 mpg on the highway, 20-25 around town, so long as you didn't drive it like an *******... drive a turbo car ****ty and it will get ****ty fuel mileage, but drive it nice and it will reward you...

same goes for bigger naturally aspirated engines as well, but they seem to be more forgiving too...

LexFather

The First Ferrari had a 1.5 liter V-12

http://www.carfolio.com/specificatio...car/?car=88858

Och

iTrader: (3)

Yes, I'd rather have say a 2.5L V6 vs a 2.5L I4.

I think the IS250 vs Acura TSX make a very good case. Both are similar sized sedans, with similar power, similar displacement, and similar MPG, yet only one of them feels like a cheap 4 banger