Hybrid Porsches, One 100 years old and one "new".... Options

[neo914-6]

Electric "hybrid" Porsche


Tesla's comparison to their new roadster, Porschius. Not sure what the aircraft above it represents...

[LarryR]

I am not sure about the rest of the country but in California the gas prices have gone significantly high enough to draw my attention to alternative fuels. So if for no other reason than daily cost I would consider diesel, hybrid, or an electric car.

A plesant side effect of these efficient vehicles is a lower emission of green house gasses.

30 mpg is not so attractive any more. It is really not so hard to hit this mark. My 74 911 with a 3.6 will hit close to 28 if I baby it around (much worse if I am having fun) It is not a daily driver so I suffer my 20 mpg jeep on a daily basis.

At 20 mpg and a 100 mile round trip commute I am still looking at 20 dollars just to go back and forth to work. While this is not a crazy amount it is money I would rather spend elsewhere.

Since I have owned my jeep since 1996 I have put off buying something and just make my car payments at the gas pump.

The thing that drives me insane is the rediculous standards that are placed on diesel cars. The rest of the world has tons of cars that get 60+ mpg. The polo (European golf / rabbit) gets 62 mpg, the diesel mini cooper gets 72! Is the epa protecting the environment or are they in bed with the oil companies. I would buy a 62 mpg polo tomorrow if it was available here. Considering the rabbit is only a 14K car and the bump for diesel would be about 2500 - 3K I could almost make the payment on gas savings alone.

One last point, oil independence would do a lot more than free us from foreign oil it would shrink the trade deficit by billions of dollars(I have not done the math but it could possibly create a trade surplus). If we lower the trade deficit then US dollars become stronger. So not only would americans be saving more on gas the money they earn would be worth more. Since almost every electronic gadget is produced elsewhere people should really be paying attention to the recent downturn of the dollar. On a global scale we are now earning about 30 - 40 percent less than we were 6 or 7 years ago. You may not feel it immediately due to purchase contracts but this could all hit in the 6 month to a year time frame.

.... I will go ahead and wind this down since I can see I am about to go on a really long rant (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

[mudfoot76]

The thing that drives me insane is the rediculous standards that are placed on diesel cars. The rest of the world has tons of cars that get 60+ mpg. The polo (European golf / rabbit) gets 62 mpg, the diesel mini cooper gets 72! Is the epa protecting the environment or are they in bed with the oil companies. I would buy a 62 mpg polo tomorrow if it was available here. Considering the rabbit is only a 14K car and the bump for diesel would be about 2500 - 3K I could almost make the payment on gas savings alone.

Enviro regs against diesel cars are only partly to blame. We don't get Polos, MINI Ds, or any of the Japanese Kei cars mainly because the companies that make those cars don't believe they will sell to the typical USA buyer (and I would presume they spend $$$$$$ on their market research to continually justify their beliefs). The mere fact that you are hanging out on 914world with the rest of us makes you a non-typical consumer and there are simply not enough of us. I too would buy a MINI D. Three years ago I almost ended up with a TDI Jetta. I also think that there are problems with passing the crash testing for those little cars. Notice how long it is taking for the SMART cars to arrive? Maybe Detroit is also lobbying the Feds against diesel cars and the like, but I really think it boils down to "A'muricans" not wanting to spend their dollars on a MINI D when instead they can buy an Escalade E85 Hybrid (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)

[smontanaro]

I too would buy a MINI D. Three years ago I almost ended up with a TDI Jetta. I also think that there are problems with passing the crash testing for those little cars.

The crash testing for diesel versions of Jettas and Minis, which are, after all, cars we already have in the US, should not be much of a barrier to importation. They'd probably have to crash a few, but that's small potatoes compared to importing a never-before-seen car.

Skip

[mudfoot76]

The crash testing for diesel versions of Jettas and Minis, which are, after all, cars we already have in the US, should not be much of a barrier to importation. They'd probably have to crash a few, but that's small potatoes compared to importing a never-before-seen car.

I was more specifically referring to the Polo with that statement on crash testing because you are right, the Jetta, MINI, etc are already certified in gasoline trims...