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Lotus Elise = green car

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HAL9000 said:
In that case 40 US MPG is even less impressive, making my argument even more so.
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You're right, I got that backwards, 48 mpg in the UK = 40 mpg in the US. An imperial gallon is about 1.2 normal gallons. Look at the difference in ratings for that TDI Jetta I posted though, same car and the UK rated gas mileage is significantly higher than the US rated gas mileage. It's pretty clear that you can't compare the UK rating system directly to the US rating system.

I'm getting corrected by neckbeard, what is this world coming to?
 
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zinfamous said:
this may seem odd to you, but people have to haul stuff.
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Really? Does the typical use of your vehicle involve you hauling stuff most of the time? Because 90% of the time I'm driving my car it's just me in it. A motorcycle could do that...and frequently does in fact. I drove my car to work once this week.
 
HAL9000 said:
But even given all of that, surely we share technology, so you guys should have the same cars as us, and therefore the same fuel economy...
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Gas is cheaper here, has been for a long time and it's been cheaper by a wide margin. As a result we could afford 8mpg gas guzzlers in the 60's. If you look at the fuel economy ratings in conjunction with the price of fuel, you'll see the correlation. Now our prices are getting jacked up and we are paying a little more than half what UK does for a gallon. The result? Our fuel economy on average is going to be a little more than half what a UK car is.

Pretty simple when you think about it.
 
HAL9000 said:
But even given all of that, surely we share technology, so you guys should have the same cars as us, and therefore the same fuel economy...
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That's why I showed you a comparison of the same car's ratings under the US system and the UK system. For the exact same car the US ratings were FAR lower which says that the rating systems are different enough that you can't compare the mpg for a car in the UK system directly to the mpg for a car in the US system.
 
if you've ever seen those on the road you'd know why, it gets dwarfed by a honda civic for crissakes... suicidal on american roads.
 
wait, your company has special parking spaces for Prius drivers? this doesn't sound like an EoE company to me. in fact, this sounds like discrimination against SUV drivers.
 
disappoint said:
Doesn't the corvette which has an 8 cyl. engine get close to 30mpg hwy?
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Only in the real world. It still weighs 500lbs more than the Elise.

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0roo0roo said:
if you've ever seen those on the road you'd know why, it gets dwarfed by a honda civic for crissakes... suicidal on american roads.
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What a bunch of scared little panty wastes we've become. Ooh, I'm afraid to drive a small car because I might die!

Driving a Lotus Elise on American roads isn't suicidal. I know, I've driven one, and FTR it averaged 27mpg. I'd buy one in a second if I had room to keep a third car in my stable. It is a tad impractical but it isn't suicidal.
 
SandEagle said:
wait, your company has special parking spaces for Prius drivers? this doesn't sound like an EoE company to me. in fact, this sounds like discrimination against SUV drivers.
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My company has special parking for motorcycles all around the building and close to the entrances. 😛
 
HAL9000 said:
But even given all of that, surely we share technology, so you guys should have the same cars as us, and therefore the same fuel economy...
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a) the test cycle isn't the same so even if it was the same equipment it wouldn't necessarily get the same rating
b) the US requires much more strict emissions equipment than europe does, which decreases fuel mileage (which of course increases emissions per mile :shrug: )

Strk said:
Not exactly. Up until recently, you couldn't get a new diesel in five states, which meant car companies wouldn't sell diesels in this country (may have only been five, but you're talking a large chunk of our population). Even today, I think you just have VW and Mercedes selling diesels in the states, except for large trucks/commercial vehicles. We're primarily stuck with regular gas engines.
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california and anyone following CARB's emissions scheme was too strict for any diesel for a while there. the new emissions technologies (bluetec, etc.) combined with better quality fuel available have gotten diesel into compliance.


during CARB's diesel ban i heard an ad on the radio for a diesel MB with the disclaimer "not available in california new york massachusetts and connecticut. but what do you care you're in texas yeehaw!" 🙂
 
disappoint said:
Doesn't the corvette which has an 8 cyl. engine get close to 30mpg hwy?
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A lot of modern V8 cars get great gas mileage on the highway. All that low end torque means the engine doesn't have to spin very fast in top gear. My Eclipse hums at ~2800 RPM at 60mph. I imagine a Corvette is probably at half that. Of course the 4cyl cars typically get a good deal better economy in stop and go traffic as well as your average mixed driving.

As an example I average about 23.5mpg in my Eclipse over an average week driving to work in traffic. My wife's 300C (which is a pretty big car) barely got 18mpg.
 
Fritzo said:
Yeah, if you barely use the gas pedal and be VERY careful:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/4320856

The Lotus will average in the low to mid 20's no matter how you drive it. A more realistic average MPG for a Vette is in the mid teens.
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Thanks for the article. Pretty impressive for a 400hp world class sports car.

Yeah I definitely agree, I mainly posted it because it is by far the best mpg/power car out there.

If I drove my vette gingerly I'd average 24mpg, most of the time I'd get around 21-22mpg driving it like I stole it. On long trips I'd get closer to 27mpg.

My S2000 on the other hand has a tiny 2.2L engine and gets slightly better gas mileage, but it doesn't fluctuate nearly as much as the corvette did, because of the small displacement.

Once GM implements the C7 with a lower displacement V8 ~5.5L,bdirect injection, and lower the curb weight some more, I think they won't have any issues adding 10-20% to the current EPA figures.

Here's a better example of how driving hard can affect economy.

2.2L S2000 - 23.3 mpg

6.0L Corvette - 12.9 mpg

1.8L Elise - 19.2 mpg

8.3L Viper - 10.0 mpg

http://www.roadandtrack.com/content...4/file/CT_Best-All-Around-Sports-Car_data.pdf
 
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