tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 (edited) That's all the mpg Smart Cars get?!?! Shit, my daughter's Toyota Tercel gets 43hwy, and the new Corollas are rated 42! Nah. The 2008 Corolla manual gets 28/37 = low 30s average: Toyota.com The 1998 Tercel gets 29 average: EPA mpg site Edited November 18, 2007 by tvashtarkatena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 (edited) Hmmm. My wife was looking at one last year and I was sure the sticker read 42hwy. But 37 claimed ain't too bad. About the same as the Smart Car and twice/thrice the room. Still not sure why Smart Car doesn't do better. Your Tercel numbers are flat wrong. We go round trip Tacoma to Bellingham on 5.9 gallons. 244 miles r/t. 1995; automatic trans. OK...41.3. Edited November 18, 2007 by Fairweather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 (edited) Nah. The Smart Car averages 40 mpg, rather than 30 for the Corolla, a substantial difference. The Corolla also sells for about $3K more; another substantial difference. The Corolla is also longer, and therefore does nothing to mitigate congestion or parking space shortages. Finally, at 2400 lbs, the Corolla requires considerably more resources and energy to produce than the 1600 lb Smart Car. The Smart Car is designed for 1 or 2 people who don't want to buy more car than they need, which is pretty much the primary problem in America right now. Most car trips in this country have one person and no cargo on board. Personally, I could get by with a Smart Car for about 80% of my car trips, including those to the mountains. Cargo capacity is 12 cubic feet; more than enough for 2 full packs. Edited November 18, 2007 by tvashtarkatena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high_on_rock Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 my 91 miata got about 35-37 hwy for years, but now with 250,000 trouble free miles, is a mere 29-30 mpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 (edited) I kind of doubt that. We have a 92 Miata, in excellent condition, and its always got 23 mpg average consistently; about what it's rated for. 92 Miata mpg (EPA site) Edited November 18, 2007 by tvashtarkatena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 my 91 miata got about 35-37 hwy for years, but now with 250,000 trouble free miles, is a mere 29-30 mpg i had an 89 Escort for 10 years which got 30 mpg all the way to the end - about half hwy/half city. 35-37 sounds high... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 (edited) I checked into this last time I looked for a car about 2 years ago. From memory: the only non hybrid cars sold in America that ever got 40 mpg or better highway were the Honda CRXs and Geo Metros of the early 90s. It's pretty common for folks to think they get close to that with their smaller cars, but they just don't. MPG across the board went down after that. One data point: A friend has a Prius. She did a road trip to Utah with 2 people and camping stuff. 50 mpg average on the nose. Edited November 18, 2007 by tvashtarkatena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 They are cute, but 40 mpg for such a little car doesn't make sense. There are diesels that get higher mpg, with all the room of a station wagon (Volkswagen Passat, and burns bio). These make sense for city use, but the top speed limitation keeps 'em off the freeway (hopefully this'll be addressed soon). Check out the mini hummer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 My 2007 Toyota Tacoma 4.0ltr Prerunner is getting 22mpg hwy. EPA mpg is only 19. Either Toyota is low balling, or EPA is establishing ratings pre break in period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 (edited) I checked into this last time I looked for a car about 2 years ago. From memory: the only non hybrid cars sold in America that ever got 40 mpg or better highway were the Honda CRXs and Geo Metros of the early 90s. It's pretty common for folks to think they get close to that with their smaller cars, but they just don't. See above. 1995 Toyota Tercel. 5.9gal - 244miles. Rechecked about 30 times in past 3 1/2 years. I'm glad you're here to tell me what I think I know. Par for the course. Edited November 18, 2007 by Fairweather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 They are cute, but 40 mpg for such a little car doesn't make sense. There are diesels that get higher mpg, with all the room of a station wagon (Volkswagen Passat, and burns bio). These make sense for city use, but the top speed limitation keeps 'em off the freeway (hopefully this'll be addressed soon). Check out the mini hummer! I was just thinking today about when I first moved to this area from California. I flew into Sea-Tac to visit the UW where I had been admitted to the CSE department as a grad student. Waiting for my SuperShuttle, I was struck by the number of SUVs that drove by, and kept thinking WTF? Why does everyone drive these friggin' trucks. Back in Cali there were far more sedans and smaller cars both in the Bay Area and San Diego. Of course this was back in 1992, and things have probably changed down there (for the worse), but definitely it struck me as different about Seattle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 (edited) They are cute, but 40 mpg for such a little car doesn't make sense. There are diesels that get higher mpg, with all the room of a station wagon (Volkswagen Passat, and burns bio). These make sense for city use, but the top speed limitation keeps 'em off the freeway (hopefully this'll be addressed soon). Check out the mini hummer! Diesel, bio or not, produces significantly worse global warming emissions than gasoline (fuel efficiency taken into account, etc) due to particulates: (25 to 400 times more than for gasoline). The EPA consistently rates higher mileage gasoline vehicles as being more environmentally friendly than diesels. I think 40 mpg AVERAGE is pretty damn good for any conventional car, considering that's about what my motorcycle gets. Daimler could probably easily engineer a higher mpg gas car, but HP/performance might quickly fall below acceptable levels for the American consumer to snag those last few MPGs. Considering the success of the vehicle in Europe and Canada so far, it seems that they did a pretty good job of balancing competing design criteria. Edited November 18, 2007 by tvashtarkatena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 I checked into this last time I looked for a car about 2 years ago. From memory: the only non hybrid cars sold in America that ever got 40 mpg or better highway were the Honda CRXs and Geo Metros of the early 90s. It's pretty common for folks to think they get close to that with their smaller cars, but they just don't. See above. 1995 Toyota Tercel. 5.9gal - 244miles. Rechecked about 30 times in past 3 1/2 years. I'm glad you're here to tell me what I think I know. Par for the course. Well, as they say, your mileage may vary. I wouldn't claim that 1995 Tercels in general get that kind of mileage, however. Perhaps your commute is downhill and downwind both directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 They are cute, but 40 mpg for such a little car doesn't make sense. There are diesels that get higher mpg, with all the room of a station wagon (Volkswagen Passat, and burns bio). These make sense for city use, but the top speed limitation keeps 'em off the freeway (hopefully this'll be addressed soon). Check out the mini hummer! I was just thinking today about when I first moved to this area from California. I flew into Sea-Tac to visit the UW where I had been admitted to the CSE department as a grad student. Waiting for my SuperShuttle, I was struck by the number of SUVs that drove by, and kept thinking WTF? Why does everyone drive these friggin' trucks. Back in Cali there were far more sedans and smaller cars both in the Bay Area and San Diego. Of course this was back in 1992, and things have probably changed down there (for the worse), but definitely it struck me as different about Seattle. When I visit my family in California (OMG - I FLY there, too!) I get the same impression. Washingtonians seem to have the need to drag a shitload of pig iron around with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 I think 40 mpg AVERAGE is pretty damn good for any conventional car, considering that's about what my motorcycle gets. What if your motorcycle got 20 mpg? Yeah there's still a lot of room for improvement in domestic diesel burning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 I'm glad you're here to tell me what I think I know. Par for the course. Dude, he was there. You didn't notice him in the back seat, but he was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 What if your motorcycle got 20 mpg? What if you actually posted something that made any sense? 40 - 45 mpg is about average for any mid sized (750 - 900cc) motorcycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Check this one out: It has a 5.14 rear axle ratio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 What if your motorcycle got 20 mpg? What if you actually posted something that made any sense? 40 - 45 mpg is about average for any mid sized (750 - 900cc) motorcycle. You know, you might just have to be one of the ummm slowest on the uptake know-it-alls I have encountered here, and that says alot; is it the afternoon martinis? Oh wait, it's not afternoon yet.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 It would be really cool if Smart Cars were faster, cheaper, and got 100 mpg, and gave you a blow job while stuck in traffic. I guess Daimler's designers were just too stupid to think of making them that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted November 18, 2007 Author Share Posted November 18, 2007 (edited) Oh wait, it's not afternoon yet.... Maybe not in your planet's time zone. Meanwhile, back on Earth.... PS you might want to slow down on the intake. Edited November 18, 2007 by tvashtarkatena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 I give up. Even when we try to engage you in civil discussion, your personality defect rises to the surface. You have a disorder. Time to face it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 It would be really cool if Smart Cars were faster, cheaper, and got 100 mpg, and gave you a blow job while stuck in traffic. I guess Daimler's designers were just too stupid to think of making them that way. Daimler. What can you expect. Maybe next time they'll get it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Maybe not in your planet's time zone. Meanwhile, back on Earth.... I come from planet Anthea, and I am here to help you. PS you might want to slow down on the intake. Please do not say this. Please bring more gin. More gin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 40 - 45 mpg is about average for any mid sized (750 - 900cc) motorcycle. What if it was pulling an elk? would you still get 40-45 mpg? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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