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America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

bloomberg.com

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Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#111

Post by komali2 »

old-gregg wrote: post #84

I suspect that people of the future will look back and be amazed that for more than a century we've been legally allowing our slow-reacting bodies [1] to ride around at 80mph in a 2-ton hideous mechanical equivalent of a horse, killing ourselves [2] and simultaneously destroying our cities [3]. I myself used to be a "petrolhead" my 20s and it's quite amazing to observe this awakening when looking in the mirror. I sus…

I don't think people should generally be driving day to day, but as a passionate driver and motorcyclist, it does make me sad to think that I won't be allowed to tear rubber up and down, say, Highway 1 sometime in the future. Tracks are great and all (and where the real speed belongs) but nothing beats bendies next to the ocean.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#112

Post by timelol »

gambiting wrote: post #58
vlucas wrote: post #17

I have a 2016 Ford Mustang GT/CS and consistently get 23-24 MPG with mostly highway/freeway driving. It's unreal that a 5.0L V8 with 435HP (stock) gets that good gas mileage. The materials and fit & finish is better all around too. We are truly living in the middle of another "golden age" of automobiles. Watch out though - here come the EVs :)

On the other hand, I drove a VW Passat 2.0TDI Bluemotion over last weekend - did 450 miles and averaged.....60mpg. That's insane. I mean, I'm super happy that my 2.0L petrol 381bhp beast gets 30mpg on the motorway, but we can still do a lot better.

You can't compare diesel and petrol cars on a fuel-volumetric basis. You have to use mass because diesel is more dense. There is 15% more fuel in a gallon of diesel than in a gallon of petrol.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#113

Post by fiblye »

valuearb wrote: post #103
old-gregg wrote: post #84

I suspect that people of the future will look back and be amazed that for more than a century we've been legally allowing our slow-reacting bodies [1] to ride around at 80mph in a 2-ton hideous mechanical equivalent of a horse, killing ourselves [2] and simultaneously destroying our cities [3]. I myself used to be a "petrolhead" my 20s and it's quite amazing to observe this awakening when looking in the mirror. I sus…

In the US only about 1 out of every 70 deaths is from an auto accident. As a single cause of death, it's not even in the top 10. Less than 1 in 3 accidental deaths is auto accident related. More people commit suicide (42,000) than die in auto accidents (40,000). http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929.php Deaths per mile driven have plummeted over time. From 24 per million miles in 1921, to 7 per hundred mill…

1 out of 70 is pretty damn huge. We have global campaigns about preventing cancers that are less dangerous than car accidents. There was panic over Ebola, which killed essentially nobody compared to car accidents.

Yet the general response to 1/70 people deaths being because of cars is "meh, oh well."

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#114

Post by r00fus »

DamnInteresting wrote: post #73

A few weeks ago I bought a Chevy Bolt EV...according to the dealer it was the first one sold in my state (Utah). I'd been on a waiting list for almost a year. Sure, ICE engines are getting better, but EVs are rapidly gaining and will soon surpass. The Bolt is a bit expensive for a car of its body type, but "gassing up" at home is amazing, the 200+ mile range is great, and the sharply reduced emissions are a weight of…

The Bolt EV 0-60mph is rated at 6.5s. That's amazingly fast.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#115

Post by komali2 »

cglace wrote: post #48
whalesalad wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't buy a 5 liter V8 to be quiet.

I'm the guy in the car over wanting it to be quiet. I'm saying I find those cars extremely annoying.

shrug you can't always get what you want, man. If he's tearing up and down your local neighborhood street that's one thing, but it's hard to feel sympathy for someone annoyed by a loud car when its out and about among hundreds of other cars.

Can't you just roll the window up till he's gone? It's not like it's hard to avoid a loud car.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#116

Post by komali2 »

loco5niner wrote: post #98
cglace wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm the guy in the car over wanting it to be quiet. I'm saying I find those cars extremely annoying.

I'm more annoyed by the ridiculous "mufflers" kids seem to think are a good idea.

I think it's posing in the extreme. I recently got an SV650, and no matter what pipe you put on the thing, it's just not going to sound like a Harley or Busa or whatever. Mildly disappointing but then again, if I tried to get it to sound like a bigger bike, I'm kinda just lying.

Nothing amuses me more than a riced out camry with a glasshatter pipe hitting high revs and then just kinda putting off the line. All bark no bite.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#117

Post by derefr »

YSFEJ4SWJUVU6 wrote: post #101
old-gregg wrote: post #84

I suspect that people of the future will look back and be amazed that for more than a century we've been legally allowing our slow-reacting bodies [1] to ride around at 80mph in a 2-ton hideous mechanical equivalent of a horse, killing ourselves [2] and simultaneously destroying our cities [3]. I myself used to be a "petrolhead" my 20s and it's quite amazing to observe this awakening when looking in the mirror. I sus…

Yes, and of course they will do from the comfort and safety of a confinement bubble such as seen in the Matrix... because absolute safety trumps all. I sure hope I don't live long enough to see a world full of people scared shitless at moving at 80 mph on a road designed for that; and I quite would like to live some time, too.

I'm not scared of moving at 80 mph; I'm scared of what arbitrary human beings can do (by accident or on purpose) with their vehicle, in the opposite lane of non-divided highways, when we have 160 mph of relative velocity (i.e. ~100k newton-seconds of impulse on impact, assuming 2tn vehicles.)

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#118

Post by timelol »

chadgeidel wrote: post #108
perryh2 wrote: post #9

The chart makes me sad. My Subaru BRZ (2013-) "sports car" comes with only 200hp. Many people looking for more power install aftermarket superchargers.

A nearly perfect car. I say "nearly" because of the slight torque dip in the mid-range. It's too bad no one is buying them because they don't have "enough power". I am waffling on either a BRZ or a MX-5. I'm leaning towards the MX-5 because it seems like the BRZ/GT-86 may not be around much longer.

Those are both great cars in their element. When the MX-5 debuted in 1989 it had IIRC 110 horsepower, and for many motorsports purposes was utterly dominant. There is something to be said for balance in a sports car.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#120

Post by acchow »

jstelly wrote: post #92
mikeash wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own a Tesla S85 and recently had a Cadillac ATS rental for a few days. It was an interesting contrast, since the official 0-60 times of the two cars are almost the same, yet the Cadillac felt like an absolute slug by comparison. I think a lot of it is that there's a great deal of lag in traditional drivetrains, and we rarely do 0-60 in actual real-life driving. More typically we're doing 0-30 or 30-40 or 55-65. Onc…

I also have a model S, but I have owned a couple of other high performance gas cars that are much more responsive on the 55-65 or 40-70 acceleration test (passing at highway speeds). That's the only common case where the tesla loses to gas vehicles, and then only high performance gas vehicles (e.g. 300HP+ coupe/sedan models). But the 0-30 thing is exactly right in my experience. Even more powerful vehicles don't have…

This is due to the rising power curve of ICE.
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