Recent Comments:
Cutting room floor: The 2009 Dodge Ram that could've been {Autoblog}
Apr 18th 2008 9:33AM the new truck is too boring, conservative for me. looks too much like an F150 with a charger grille. it just doesn't have the impact that the original '94 BR rams had. what's the deal with the high beltline/short windows on the sketches? after test driving a charger, I HATE that trend, you get poor visibility, and it makes the cabin feel real small, and makes me claustrophobic. they should have just taken the '99 power wagon concept as is to production for the full sized trucks in '02. visually, that truck was perfect IMHO....
Nissan Pathfinder may return to CUV roots, ditch body-on-frame again {Autoblog}
Jan 9th 2008 10:35AM the story is wrong. the frontier/Xterra/Pathfinder are the same platform. I used to work for the company that makes the pedals for this platform, as does an autoblog contributor.
Lutz tells Forbes: the car business "ain't for sissies." {Autoblog}
Dec 31st 2007 11:58AM re: fuel economy RWD vs. FWD. looking at the dodge charger SXT with a 3.5L, 250 HP V-6, it's EPA rated at 17/24. to look at a comparable impala, you should be looking at something with comparable HP, like the LTZ, which has a 3.9L, 233HP V-6. it's economy rating is 17/25 (from the highlights on the LTZ page. it states these are GM estimates, and EPA ratings are not yet available). there should be no appreciable loss in fuel economy between FWD or RWD.
and as far as FWD cars being lighter than RWD, realistically, the weight difference in negligible. the base curb weight of the charger SXT is 3800 lbs, where the impala LTZ is 3730.
feature creep is the biggest reason for weight gain, not drivetrain layout. look at the base curb weight of a stripper accord LX vs. a fullly loaded EX. there's about 350lbs difference. electric motors for power windows/seats/mirrors/locks add quite a bit of weight.
7,500-mile oil change becoming new standard {Autoblog}
Dec 4th 2007 8:49AM we don't put too many miles on our cars in a year, so I go by time-- twice a year, which works out to about 3-4000 miles per daily driver car. my summer car gets it oil changed once a year, when it goes to sleep for the winter, which ends up being about 2500-3000 miles per change.
Hillary Clinton calls for 55 MPG fleet average by 2030 {Autoblog}
Nov 6th 2007 12:29PM well, even if toyota only made the prius, it's CAFE would still fall 9mpg short of this proposal....(prius gets an EPA rated combined 46mpg)....in a world where some people need the capability of a 3/4 ton truck, or a 7 passenger minivan, or a 11-15 passenger van, there's very little chance of doubling our CAFE in 23 years...maybe if we all went to plug in hybrids, but then what would that do to our aging and marginal electrical grid? where would all the extra electricity come from? you can only dam up so many rivers and harness so much wind and solar energy. it'll have to come from coal, natural gas, or nuclear, which either moves the greenhouse gas generation from mobile to stationary sources, or opens up a whole other can of pollution worms. as a car guy, I hate to say it, but adding taxes to fuel it the best way to foster conservation. but don't funnel that money to government bloat, or a folly of a war, but funnel it to infrastructure improvement and R&D. maybe change the income tax code to offset the regressiveness of the tax (poorer people typically have older, less fuel efficient cars, and have to live further from work).
Nice CD player, Grandpa: Blaupunkt unveils SD card-based car stereo {Autoblog}
Sep 25th 2007 9:16AM really want to impress me? make a unit with an SD or USB or aux jack on the old 2-post form factor, so I can put a nice stereo in my classic car without cutting up my dash or having to mount it remotely (glove box or under seat) so I can throw out my crappy radio shack cassette deck and casette adapter that I use for my Ipod.
Hyundai: Tau V8 will produce 380 HP in Genesis {Autoblog}
Aug 29th 2007 8:42AM HP/L is kind of a nothing stat, since HP is a function of torque and RPM. yeah, honda gets 100+ HP/L from the S2000 engine. they do that by tuning it with a stratospheric HP peak RPM. Torque/L or torque/CID is the great equalizer. 1.5 Lb-Ft/CID is about the highest specific output I've seen any engine, and that's a purpose built race engine not hampered by drivability concerns or emissions compliance (the S2000 makes 162 LB-ft out of 135 CID, for 1.2 lb-ft/CID) 380HP at say 5500 RPM means you'd need 363lb ft of torque at 5500 RPM. 4.6L=approx 280 CID. 363/280=1.3 lb-ft/CID, which would mean that the torque at 5500 RPM would have to be at or very near it's torque peak, which means it would probably not be tuned for a lot of low end grunt like the aforementioned hemi (1.1lb-ft/CID, BTW) who's torque peak is 4000 RPM with 90% of peak torque produced from 2000 RPM.
To kill a minivan: kid-haulers a dying breed {Autoblog}
Aug 14th 2007 12:08PM as an owner of an '06 grand caravan SXT with the 3.8L, I can honestly say that it has more than enough power to get out of it's own way, even through the rockies with passengers and luggage. we get 26-28MPG on highway trips, and 18-20 around town. unless you're towing something big, I don't see why anyone would buy a SUV over this, it has more interior volume than a suburban, and ours was a tick over $24k with 0% financing, and insurance on it is the same as my wife's old 2000 escort ZX2. so far we have 22,000 trouble free miles.
They want more: CA petitions to raise automaker fleet standard to 40 mpg {Autoblog}
May 24th 2007 12:20PM then how come the document you link to says this:
"2.5. Japan
The Japanese government has
established a set of fuel economy standards
for gasoline and diesel powered light-duty
passenger and commercial vehicles, with
fuel economy targets based on average
vehicle fuel economy by weight class. The
targets for gasoline vehicles are to be met
by 2010, while 2005 is the target year for
diesel vehicles. The regulations were
revised in 2001 to allow automakers to
accumulate credits in one weight class and
use them in another weight class (although
with many limitations). Table 4 and Figure 4
illustrate the improvements required by fuel
economy standards for gasoline vehicles.
Assuming no change in the
vehicle mix, these targets imply a 23
percent improvement in 2010 in
gasoline passenger vehicle fuel
economy and a 14 percent
improvement in diesel fuel economy
compared with the 1995 fleet average
of 14.6 km/L. According to the
Japanese government, this
improvement will result in an average
fleet fuel economy of Japanese vehicles
of 35.5 mpg21 by 2010. The regulations
include penalties if the targets are not
met, but these penalties are very small.
Furthermore, the majority of vehicles
sold in Japan in 2002 were already in
compliance with the 2010 standards."
? if it represents a 23% increase in fuel economy over 2002 levels to get a fleet average of 35.5mpg, then how could 2002's level be 46mpg+?
40mpg mixed driving is asking A LOT with today's gas engine technology, especially given the demands of consumers for convenience (power windows/locks/brakes/steering), comfort (a/c, etc) and safety, which all add weight & power consumption (accessory drive for PS & AC, increased alternator drag from electric accessories) as well as demands for
performance (it's not the evil automakers thrusting 240+ HP V-6 sedans on us that are quicker in the quarter mile than a '66 GTO, it's consumers buying them).
Jeep employees pissed about Chrysler sale {Autoblog}
May 15th 2007 2:07PM "Employee ownership is a powerful thing, which has sucessfully happened elsewhere. It's too bad they did not get the opportunity, it would have been a great experiment."
seems to have worked out OK for Harley Davidson after the AMF years.....
