OT: how far we've come?, 35 years of non-progress Options

[lapuwali]

Hybrids are the buzzword now, and people marvel at how the latest Civic hybrid gets 50mpg.

Autoweek had a short article on the early Civics, which got 55mpg with a carb. 1.2L, 50hp, 1500lbs. Sure, they were slow, but they were described as still being fun to drive. The way most people drive modern Civics, I doubt they'd notice if they suddenly only had 50hp.

(yes, I know emissions are much better, it's quieter, it crashes better, yada, yada...)

[blitZ]

QUOTE (SoCal Driver @ Mar 7 2006, 12:26 PM)

I had a thought a while back.... If hybrid cars are getting 50mpg and running off of regular gas, why not build a diesel hybrid and get a lot more. If the diesel is already getting 40-50mpg on its own, why not mate up the electric motor and get 70 mpg. Just my thoughts, i know that there are more restrictions on diesels soon, so we wont see them as much in the next few years.

I agree with the use of diesel for economic reasons. Most manufactures produce a large variety of diesel cars and trucks for Europe and Canada, which you can't get here, yet. Combine the economy of diesel with the bio-diesel fuels should provide an economical alternative to gas and dependency on the Middle East.

Nissan has a diesel version of the pathfinder, with a 2.5 L turbo diesel with a 6 speed manual. It has a 6000 lb towing capacity and gets 35 mpg. It can be done, just the US market is not demanding it yet.

Bio-Diesel