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Date:         Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:22:11 +0000
Reply-To:     kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: Smart Car..Wow.. NVC
Comments: To: BJ Feddish <bfeddish@NETREACH.NET>

What I don't understand is why VW didn't bring their Lupo (RIP) over to the US? If the Smart Car has a market then surely the Lupo would have as well. It was a three cylinder TDI that got around 78 mpg! Take that "not so Smart are we now Car"! To me much of the debate over fuel economy could be handled effectively and easily by a really old technology, diesel. Hybrids aren't as frugal. Maybe plug in hybrids are more frugal but they are ten years away (battery costs). Electric cars (battery), E85 (gets less mpg in most flex fuel cars), etc. Diesel has been around since day one. The modern TDI engine is clean, efficient, reliable and can be serviceable for over 300k miles. Oh did I mention quiet and powerful (added bonuses for the Direct Injection technology). My parent bought a 2006 Jetta with the TDI engine. It seats four comfortably, it has all of the bells and whistles that you would expect on a modern car and gets between 40-50 mpg. So you get your fuel economy, and an actual car that is fun to drive to boot! I would much rather drive a Jetta than a Smart Car any day. And as we have noted several times there is a false economy of driving a two person car over driving a four place or larger car. You need to factor in not just mpg but also how many folks you are transporting at that mpg. If a Smart Car is only moving two people around town and getting 60 mpg and a Jetta is moving 4 and getting 45 mpg, the Jetta is actually more efficient and is getting almost double the mpg of the Smart Car!

Maybe instead of trying all of these new technologies that aren't going to be ready for another 10-15 years, we should just promote a technology that has been here for the last 100 years and the TDI technology has been around since the mid 90s. It would save the consumer money, reduce dependance on foreign oil (biodiesel is an option), and reduce emissions (since it is more efficient). Sounds like a win for everyone to me.

Ken Wilford John 3:16 www.vanagain.com

-------------- Original message -------------- From: BJ Feddish <bfeddish@NETREACH.NET>

> Some of you don't understand what I am saying. All you are getting out of > my Smart Car rant is that I'm somehow against the planet and love SUV's. I'm > waiting for Michael Moore to come paraphrase me in his next movie. > > I'm just saying that I think $17K for that car is ridiculous. I don't see > it as any new technology. They just made a regular car really small and > light with a small engine. Duh, yeah it's going to get better mileage. Yeah, > yeah, OK, they put a nice frame around it so you don't get crushed by a > Mercedes. > > What I'm saying I can go get a new Honda Civic that gets 40 MPG for the same > price. It's allot more car. And don't tell me years down the road the SC > will be cheaper because you spent less on gas. I'm saying the starting price > should be cheaper since I'm getting less car. > > It is my opinion that if gas all of a sudden dropped to $1 a gallon, Smart > Car would go out of business trying to charge $17K. If, however, they were > cheap cars, like $8K or something, it would not matter what the price of gas > was, they'd sell millions of them. Even here in the US. > > If in 10 years we're all driving those things because we have to then so be > it. I'm just not heading down a highway in Philly rush hour traffic with > that thing. I don't even feel safe in my Element on today's roads. > > Bryan > > (And since it's Friday I can't help myself > http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/opinions/frequently_asked_questions_a > bout_the_toyota_prius.php )


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