Corolla v Civic v Hyundai/Nissan moeds

Civic

 

If one is "stuck" paying the AMT, the price shouldn't be that big of a
deal to them... ;-)

 

I don't disagree. It remains that the tax break is not for everyone, and
more folks need to know that then know it today.
Tomes

 

My understanding of the tax incentive is that it is limited to the
first 60,000 cars of each model, or maybe the auto maker. The Prius
has gone over that so there is no more incentive.

 

That's correct, the Corolla and Prius are similar, but if you pile
things high in the Prius it has more space for cargo.
I would not do that due to the safety concern of luggage flying forward
in a fast stop.

The Prius has a lot of passenger Cu Ft. forward of the dash, which is
unusable.
Having been a passenger in both, with two & three others, I suggest
they are similar for practical purposes.
As for the driver the previous Corollas didn't fit me comfortably; I'm
5'-11". A similar height friend of mine who has the previous Corolla
confirms that it wouldn't fit me very well as a driver, his shorter wife
drives his.
I've not tried the new Corolla for size.

 

CVTs.

 

I doubt it's engine would have enough torque for less revs at 80 mph.
That's not a legal speed anyway.

 

I had three VW Beetles, two 1.1L and one 1.3L; '55, '56, '61.
I've keep very accurate mileage records.

My '95 3.3L Concorde of twice the weight gets the approx. the same
city/hwy MPG as I got with the VWs and of course at a much more
consistent and higher speed, particularly up hills and against the wind.

The VW Beetle had a top speed of about 65mph, it took some time to get
there, couldn't maintain 60mph into a medium head wind, but with a
strong tail wind it could maintain 75-80mph.

 

Yes, those batteries are expensive as well as being dangerous in an
accident.

In spite of the weight hybrids do very well. There are many reasons for
this, and some of the technology can be applied to mild hybrids to get
much of the fuel savings, without having a huge battery.

I live 1km from Ballard, a fuel cell developer.
A few years ago a tanker delivering H to their plant developed a leak
and fire at the hose fitting. The area 0.5km around was shut down for
12+ hrs until it burned off.
Fuel cells need much further development and then there is the high
cost, plus a required refueling network for this dangerous fuel.

IMO the new diesels, developed in Germany will be the next fuel saving
hot vehicle. Over 50% of people in Europe are now buying them.
The 2L VW diesel performs very well in the small mid size cars.

 

That depends on where you are. There are a few states with speed
limits of 75, which means 80 would be a pretty normal speed. In some
parts of Texas, the posted limit is 80.

I'd agree, though, that the engine would be able to provide enough
torque to keep the car going 80 @ 2000 RPM. Just not a big enough
engine.

 

The point wasn't that anybody (except VW) claimed that the Beetle
got great gas mileage; it was that VW used fuel economy as a selling
point. As I noted earlier, the Beetle was pretty unimpressive in the
fuel economy department. It was better than the big American cars, but
no better than many faster, larger imports. I'm sure it was worse than
some of them...

 

I would have agreed with you in the past, but diesel is selling for $1 a
gallon more than regular right now. At current prices, a gas engine at 40
mpg costs the same in fuel per mile as a diesel at 50 mpg. I don't know if
it has changed in Europe, but gas and diesel were just pennies apart per
liter last year, diesel was 1.16 Euro gas was 1.22 per liter.

Fuel oil cost was exactly the same as diesel too. In milder climates it is
not uncommon for homeowners to buy 5 or 10 gallons at a time at the filling
station as needed.

 

Thanks for the report.

Ha!

 

I agree with you that if diesel is selling for too high premium, using
diesel doesn't make sense.
Here in Canada diesel has recently crept a bit higher than regular
gasoline, but I believe it's more of a supply situation as diesel use is
increasing. In the USA you seem to be facing more variability in fuel
pricing than here in Canada.

For urban driving a properly sized diesel gets about 30% more MPG than
an equivalent performance gasoline engine.
The Jeep Cherokee 2 wd EPA figures are:
Gas 3.7L- 15/20
Gas 5.7L- 13/19
Diesel 3L- 18/23 Performance is close to the gas 5.7L.