Full story here Once you've opened it, you'll see they have a little chart on the left listing some of the small cars that are really popular. Top of the List is the Honda Fit (or, as it is properly known in europe, the Jazz). Now, something is wrong here, look at the fuel consumption, 27mpg in town? My dad just finished his lease on the Auto Jazz he had, and the minimum he ever got, over two years, was 36mpg. he'd get mid 40's on the motorway. Can someone please explain this to me? I'm seriously confused, because the only difference I can see is that the Fit has a 1.5, and the Jazz has a 1.4!
Americans have different gallons to us! 1 US Gallon = 0.82 UK Gallons! Therefore 27 american mpg = 33 UK mpg
(the following may blow the minds of those people who have no idea of the metric system, beware) Both mpgs are just silly, everyone should use litres/100 km instead
Just the other day, I saw a commercial for a diesel VW Beetle. To my knowledge, this is the first time a major car company is actively advertising a diesel car here in the US. I can only hope that this an indication of changing times. Now, if MINI would just offer the Cooper D over here, it would be the next, and last, car I would buy. -monkey
Maybe this trend will finally push Ford to market their normal European cars in the US - I'd say the current Focus that we get in Europe would sell nicely with the 2.0TDCI - can't argue at 50mp(US)g on the motorways, 35mp(US)g around "town".
I've read about this, apparently it's going to be part of the VAG groups strategy now. Audi are using the success of the R10 diesel racer in the Le Man series (where it keeps winning at sebring) as part of it's marketing tool. Very good news for you guys out there. Out of interest, what capacity is the engine in the beetle they are advertising? Anything over the 2ltr TDi is not required for that class of car Edit: Had a look on VW America's page and found this press release, so you're getting the 2.0 TDi, which is brilliant. I've got the slightly older 1.9 in my Skoda Fabia vRS, it's an amazing engine, the 2.0 is even better, from what I could tell when driving a friends Audi A3
It is much, much better - much more powerful and smooth for a tiny drop in performance. I keep expecting VAG to drop the 1.9TDi with such a gem of a diesel.
I have to admit I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to engine sizes and general automotive engineering. I changed my own oil once, then I realized that it's much easier, not to mention cleaner, to just take it to the Jiffy Lube down the road. From what I understand, though, modern diesels are getting better and better, and they offer much better efficiency and emissions than the good ol' gas guzzler. I've read about a small, grassroots movement to convince MINI to offer the diesel stateside, but I don't think it's gaining much ground at the moment. -monkey
I want a car again In 10 years the US will be driving 4 pots, trucks diesels and micro-wagons like the UK Then your parking spaces will be barely wider than the car itself, the roads will be so full every interstate will be a parking lot between 7:30 and 9:30 and bottled water will be cheaper then gas.
