Now before you fall over laughing (FOL) remember than many people said the AW11 was like the classic British sportscar but without the puddle of oil under the engine (or the inevitable road-side assistance).
Anyhow, turning from the land of the rising sun to the land of interminable gloom, we have this:
A gtr will not do 69mpg unless if falls out of an aircraft with the engine idling. In any case, a gtr may be one of the best value cars on the market and a truly amazing machine, but it looks so "rice boy".
In any case I was mostly tongue-in-cheek. The sad truth is there is no real prospect of an affordable mid-engine sportscar in the foreseeable future.
@Jared. For some reason diesel motors are not popular in America, but in Europe the technology is not only accepted, it's been refined to the point that the mileage puts most hybrids to shame, and at the same time the performance is very decent. A VW Passat in Europe (Diesel, stick shift) can easily average 42 mpg (mix of freeway and town driving). Compare this to a Toyota Prius V (2012) which for the same duty cycle only manages 40 mpg. The Toyota only wins in city-only driving. Once you have to switch to the gas motor for longer stretches, the diesel easily wins.
yeah but those numbers are in line with tractor trailer type numbers but with insanely better fuel economy in a much lighter smaller size. That industry wold be all over technology that can increase mpg
Lots of reasons. We have traditionally had much lower fuel prices here than in Europe, making fuel economy a far smaller factor for the American car buyer than it is for the European. Combine that with some very poorly made diesel products (in the early days), poor power compared to gasoline engines (again, moreso in the early days of passenger car diesels), and American buyers', dealerships', mechanics' (et al) reluctance to try anything too new or different or exotic or "foreign"... basically, it doesn't take much to sour the American consumer for a very long time. And now we supposedly have very different emissions requirements than what the rest of the world faces. Given the complexity of modern cars, building a diesel for the US market is a lot more costly and probably a lot less attractive than it is for other, more receptive markets.
I think its more of the mere fact that if cars get better fuel economy or use alternative fuels... Well that's not putting much change in uncle sams pocket... There are so many ways to achieve incredible fuel mileage or so many alternatives that are equal or less expensive than a standard engine, yet they aren't being built. Why? I think we can all assume some real truth behind it...
you realize that if fuel was suddenly 1/2th the price, or we got double the energy from it, "uncle sam" would get a whole lot more in his pocket because the entire economy would go gangbusters, increasing tax revenue everywhere and for everything.
I'm not one to put a lot of faith in the integrity of our government or any other that runs so openly on bribery, but let's not line our hats with tinfoil just yet.
The funny thing is, you can produce more gallons of diesel from a crude barrel of oil than you can gasoline. It seems as if demand was higher, diesel could become cheaper to american consumers rather than it is now, as expensive if not more than than high test 91-92 or 93 gas.
With an engine that big, it won't handle corners at all. A 6.6L duramax diesel engine weighs 835 lbs. The car looks to be about the size of a miata which has a 290 lb engine. That extra 545lbs is going to ruin it. Why not just use a bmw 4.4 D turbo?
Nah, more sophisticated than just gears. This thing is on the cutting edge of technology. Maybe a switch-pitch torque converter from some long forgotten General Motors leviathan...
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