Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:15:16 -0600
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: .................... and vanagons
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---- Robert Fisher <garciasghostvw@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> --snip--
> Wonder what a full size Murikan car gets, mileage wise, now a days?
> --snip--
>
> My Dad has a maybe four-year old Buick LeSabre and once told me he'd be
> pissed if he got less than 34 on the highway. I've never had one but I've
> heard Buicks have always been up there in mileage. Makes you wonder why GM
> couldn't do that with the rest of their lines.
>
> Cya,
> Robert
EPA web site lists Buick La Cross/Allure, 6 cylinder, auto at 27 mpg hwy for 2010 and 28 mpg for 2006. No LeSabre is listed in either year. I don't know Buicks, so don't know how equivalent the two vehicles are, but apparently LeSabre was discontinued before 2006. Hummers are listed at from 14 to 16 mpg hwy. Mercury Grand Marquis, 8 cylinder, auto is listed at 23 mpg hwy for both 2010 and 2006. Toyota Avalon, 6 cylinder, auto, is listed at 28 mpg for both 2010 and 2006.
My brother has two Grand Marquis and claims 30 mpg hwy, but drives max 60 mph. I have always been able to get 3 or 4 mpg above the EPA hwy mileage for just about any vehicle I've owned, but I drive within the speed limit and judge traffic and conditions to maximize mpg. With my Prius I get 50-51 mpg hwy (EPA says 48, and around 60 mpg in town (EPA says 51). For my '97 Honda Accord (4 cylinder, 5 speed manual) I get 35 mpg hwy, EPA says 29. When I drove a '93 Toyota Corolla (4 cylinder, 1.8 L, 5 speed), I got 38 mpg hwy, EPA says 32.
BTW, my Prius has never run away with me, but I believe I have sense enough to get it into neutral and to squeeze down hard on the brakes if such a thing happened. And there really is no braking problem with the vehicle. What is claimed to be a problem is because for a split second as the car switches from regenerative to friction braking, braking power is off. During that time, it travels, according to NHTSA, 50 cm (about two feet), which increases the stopping distance by that amount over what it would be if that instantaneous lapse were not there. That is while traveling around 7 mph. Perhaps some drivers perceive that, and stop braking? THAT would be a problem. I perceive it, but just keep pressing the brake. The car slows and stops normally. Never has seemed to be a problem to me.
I am getting a little impatient with Toyota, however, because technically my Prius is subject to the accelerator/floormat recall but all I have gotten from Toyota is a card stating that I should remove the floormat and wait to hear from them concerning when to take my car to a dealer.
For large cars, GM and Ford are comparable to Asian. For small cars, Asian was beating the snot out of American, but recent figures from EPA seem to be similar.
DMc
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