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Date:         Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:55:20 -0500
Reply-To:     Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: Our rigs ain't pigs (caution: major argument)
Comments: To: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=original

To get the advertised highest figures, you need to drive the Prius like a granny. The display can 'teach' you how to achieve the best MPG; kinda like the "upshift" indicator gimmick they used to put on the Rabbits.......

Mike B.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Joy Hecht" <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2006 5:44 PM Subject: Re: Our rigs ain't pigs (caution: major argument)

Your wife's echo gets 54 mpg? Geez, my Prius doesn't even get that! And as far as I can tell the Prius is basically an echo with a hybrid engine.

Joy

**************************************************************** Joy Hecht now living in a real house in northern Virginia and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon now living in the driveway and resting after two and a half years lugging Joy and her stuff around...

For musings about life traveling in the van or living in one place: http://www.joyhecht.net

****************************************************************

:::-----Original Message----- :::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf :::Of Nathaniel Poole :::Sent: Friday, December 15, 2006 3:19 PM :::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM :::Subject: Our rigs ain't pigs (caution: major argument) ::: :::I just read an very interesting article in todayıs Old and Male newspaper :::describing automotive trends since 1980. In the light of this article, it :::shows these archaic, underpowered rigs of ours really were not that far :::off :::the mark for their time. ::: :::It also shows how gradually, through the forces of marketing, we have :::been :::hoodwinked. I also think it shows that us VW van owners are actually more :::progressive than the general population, resisting a powerful trend. ::: :::What the data shows is that since 1980 average vehicle horsepower climbed :::85%, vehicle weight 30%, while MPG stayed mostly static at around 20. For :::light trucks as a category, acceleration has increased 4-fold. ::: :::There are several issues here. The most obvious is that if we still :::accepted :::the power and acceleration of our old rigs in modern vehicles, one can :::only :::imagine the MPG we would be getting. Drop engine displacement by half and :::imagine what fuel economy you would get with modern, powerful, fuel :::efficient engines. I know these things arenıt linear, but my wifeıs echo :::has :::a 1.5 litre @ 108 hp. It gets 54 MPG. If it had a one-litre motor in it :::what :::mileage would it get? In 1980 that would have been adequate power and :::displacement. ::: :::While these vans were never speedsters (who would expect it with a camper :::anyway) the engines were acceptable in their time. Remember, average hp :::was :::almost half of todayıs in 1980. It is our expectations that have changed. :::More power and speed and damn the economics and environment. ::: :::What would be really, really interesting, would be to take a modern, low :::displacement high efficiency engine and use that for a conversion. :::The Echo engine above I believe has 108 ft/lbs of torque which is close :::to :::the WBX, so you wouldnıt notice the power difference in a van, but I :::would :::bet you would get a hell of a boost in MPG. In my AC van I could put in :::an :::even smaller motor without noticing a power difference, but I doubt one :::even :::exists today. ::: :::Sometimes it worth the while to stop and think about these long term :::changes :::that happen without anyone asking if thatıs what we really want. :::If somebody came forward today and said it would be official policy that :::motor vehicle power would double over the next twenty five years with no :::improvement in gas mileage, I think there would be at least a lively :::debate :::about it. :::


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