SteVTEC

I wasn't going to mention that, because that would be letting facts get in the way.

Correct, the X5d and 335d were indeed introduced as 2009 models at the end of 2008 before Obama even took office and long before new fuel regs were coming into play. Sustained high fuel prices created consumer demand for more efficient vehicles, and the free market system delivered them complete with innovative selective catalyst reduction systems to help get the diesels 50-state emissions compliant.

It's currently on hiatus. The loaner I have now is the previous E90 335d sedan. I thought I read a confirmation that BMW would be bringing back both the 335d and a new 320d to the U.S. on the F30 platform, but haven't been able to find where I read that.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

Its doable but the question is what features are going to be sacrificed and how badly is the car going to be neutered, or how much more expensive is special equipment going to cost in order to meet these requirements? You really think we can still have nice luxury and sport cars @ 40 mpg? Wouldn't auto companies have done that already? But hey the people that gave us Solyndra, GM bailouts, and cant even deliver a piece of mail profitably know best right?

My commute is a mere 8 miles to work yet I would be tossed under this one size fits all blanket standards. What if I wanted to buy a weekend car, why do I care what MPG that gets when it barely gets driven? BS regulations like this diminish consumer choice. Our oil consumption has plummetted back to 1997 levels, we export gasoline, yet the govt thinks we are "using too much energy" At the same time they wont let us extract the gigantic amount of a energy are are all sitting on. Another funny thing is they keep trying to squeeze the mpg out yet its the per gallon tax that pays for the roads. Then the govt complains they don't have enough money to fix the roads.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

a glimpse of future vehicles on the highway...

LexFather

I assume you didn't see the 2 posts I made (I posted twice just in case it was missed) with multiple press statements from car makers and experts. Seems only VW is pissed and they have one V-8.

Again we have more 500hp cars today then ever before with gas never higher. Its not like car brands have just dropped making powerful cars. Surely they could have but there is a market for it and will continue to be a market for it.


There is an "Out" clause. Do people read or just complain? Again 55MPG Cafe could be 40 MPG EPA. Big difference.

Every law change, every regulation, every decade has not limited choice. We have more 500hp cars today then ever before. We have more turbos then ever before. We have more sports cars and sport sedans then ever before. We have more powerful trucks then ever before.

And they are all amazingly more efficient. This regulation simply puts some fire to these brands to KEEP innovating and not rest on laurels in regards to MPG.

But hey listen to the same people that crapped on Ron Paul ,one of their own this week.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

Ron Paul would have the same position, where in the Constitution does it say the Feds can regulate vehicle mpg? Nowhere.

T0ked

iTrader: (2)

So much fear mongering. Why do our auto companies need so much protection? Without these goals, the rest of the world will slowly but surely pass us by... again. The US companies are just now able to match the imports in fuel efficiency, style, and quality. Fuel prices are not going back down. No matter what phony politicians promise. I prefer advanced engines where efficiency is maximized via technology and engineering. Even with the current CAFE standards, There have never been more powerful vehicles on the road as there are today. I have a 400hp sedan that gets 24mpg on the highway. And there are more powerful cars with betters numbers out there now. All this "we can't" nonsense is pretty ridiculous. Imports will do it, and I'm pretty sure US Auto will be able to do it , too. Aren't these the same idiots who were vehemently against the bailouts of US Auto, and now they are trying to protect them?

SteVTEC

Who is saying we can't? We can. Except that no one will be willing to pay for it. And apparently some of you don't remember the 1970's. Sure we have plenty of powerful cars today, except we're not talking about today. We're talking about 2025. Today it's the 1960's. The 70's are right around the corner. How long do you think these 400-500hp cars are going to be around for? Will they survive these new regs? CAFE regs will dictate that they'll be able to sell only so few of them that it will make them cost prohibitive to even market at all. Few will still be around, and those that are will be prohibitively expensive.

Vladi

It's called setting standards, kind of like goverment regulating drinking water contamination.
Where does it say they can regulate food as well? Nowhere but they still do and to some degree goverment is responsible why we are not eating pure poison. Do not get me wrong we still do eat lessero portions of poison, after all officials love money in their pocket but it's lesser evil than having "competitors" control the market.

T0ked

iTrader: (2)

The "we can't" I'm referring to is building fuel efficient cars that meet those numbers for a reasonable price, the whole package. Today is most definitely not the 60s nor the 70s. Technology has advanced leaps and bounds in the last couple of decades. And advancements have been coming faster and faster. Yes it gets complicated and yes it'll force the companies to spend more in R&D. Today we have 4 cylinder engines that make more power than the V8s from that era. And get 3 times the mileage. And are more reliable. And are cleaner. That's progress. And i'm sure the auto companies will do fine. They won't do it quietly, though. And if they aren't forced to, they won't do it at all. That's why the 70s happened. US auto companies were not prepared. They were content building huge gas guzzlers and laughed as Honda and Toyota entered the market. Then the crisis hit and it took the US auto companies 30 years and multiple bankruptcies to just catch up.

Today's IC engines have efficiencies around 25-35%. There is plenty of room to realistically improve. It's going to take a lot of smart people to squeeze more out of it and even smarter people to make it affordable. but it's doable.

Just as the 35mpg goal was too high and ridiculous and it would spell the death of the high powered sports car, here we are.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

funny how some people say we need the govt to "force" the auto makers to innovate. Yet from the 1990s to present there have been huge gains in vehicle efficiency, power, quality WITHOUT GOVT MANDATES.

another person clueless on the Constitution

Bdubs

Right on. I suppose those against higher standards would like to drive some of the unregulated cars of the 60's. Not many of those that can hold a candle to today's cars. So called sports cars of that era would have a hard time keeping up with a Honda Accord. Not to mention that the smog with today's number of cars would be unbearable.

gengar

What is your justification for this statement? Surely you are not suggesting that the history of the automotive industry supports this....?

mmarshall

It's based (supposedly) on the Commerce Clause, though, like you, I don't necessarily agree with that view. The CC has been used as a Catch-All phrase to try and justify all kinds of legislation and regulations.