Top 10 Fuel Efficency Surprises

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: QurazyQuisp
however I think everyone will get 09's.

hopefully with the diesel -electric hybrid

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: Ktulu

Originally posted by: mooseracing

Originally posted by: Mermaidman

Originally posted by: mooseracing
edit: I don't get why they have the Tahoe on there. The 10yr old version can get 20mpg on teh highway all the time and only a couple less in the city. GM's hybrid technology is shit in this case.

1998 Chevy Tahoe 2WD: 13 city/17 hwy

2008 Chevy Tahoe 2WD hybrid: 21 city/22 hwy

Very good, IMO, for a 6000 lb box.

It's a 4-5k lb vehicle depeding on which model. Which gears were those mpg test from.

My mom's gets 23 on the highway at 70mph, 4wd, 5.7, 1996 model.

My dad only gets 18 and staying at 65mph, except same otherwise.

The only difference is rear diff gears.

Like I said though, the hybrid sucks ass, I would expect alot better inprovement. It seems like cadillac with the 4-6-8 all over again.

http://www.hybridcars.com/news...ybrid-first-drive.html

The first was a highway drive from Cape May, New Jersey to Falls Church, Virginia. The 238-mile stretch ate through a little more than three-eighths of the 24.5 gallon gas tank, and yielded just over 21 miles per gallon, right on par with EPA estimates.

The second drive loop was comprised of mixed suburban driving in and around the Baltimore metropolitan area. Here, we tested the Tahoe hybrid in the type of traffic that 90 percent of Americans experience everyday. The result was surprising. The 151-mile drive test gave us 24.8 miles per gallon, beating GM?s numbers by 15 percent. Again, driving style was very conservative.

24.5 city/21 hwy real world, sounds pretty good to me. I doubt there's another 3 ton SUV that can achieve anywhere close to those numbers. I'm sure it's possible to get even higher on the highway. But I do agree with you that you don't really need any hybrid tech with a good SBC. I'm currently getting 17 city and ~23 hwy with my '04 Silverado.

The Landcruiser 200 we get sold here, with the 4.5 V8 TurboDiesel (195kW/650Nm), gets 10.3l/100km combined, which is apparently ~23mpg.

It's just shy of 3 tonnes.

 

[Pariah]

It's not the highway mileage that's impressive, it's the city mileage that is. 21MPG in the city for a 6000lb vehicle is outstanding. Hybrids are optimized for stop and go, not high speed cruising. In the city the hybrid can make use of regenerative braking, shutting off the gas engine while slowing down and while idling, and running completely on battery power because of the low speeds. None of these work for highway cruising eliminating most of the advantage of the hybrid engine. The Prius actually has a higher city rating than highway, how many all gas engine vehicles can claim that? If you spend most of your timing driving on the highway, don't buy a hybrid.

21 mpg is a 50% improvement over the most efficient non-hybrid Tahoe rated at 14mpg. The highway mileage is only 10% better at 22 vs 20.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: LS8
None of those cars are surprising.

The fact that they have two diesels on their list and it surprises them reconfirms that they are just another paid auto-rag.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Ns1

Originally posted by: mariok2006
To me the most impressive is still the Corvette. Offering 436hp/400ftlb while getting nearly 30mpg on the hwy (in some cases more) is truly impressive.

I can assure you that you will not get 30mpg if you use 436hp/400ftlb

Who uses 436 hp to cruise on the highway?

What the Corvette gives you is the capability to use 436 hp while still offering the capability to get nearly 30 mpg. The choice is yours.

 

[StageLeft]

The Tahoe with 21/22 really is impressive.

What no BMW's?

The check must have bounced this month.

Agreed, C&D ar ethe biggest fvcking BMW whores, I don't respect anything they say about BMW because of their shameless bias in that direction, although I just recently cancelled my subscription anyway. I found I didn't need more reviews of pickup trucks and econoboxes and I was spending only about 12 minutes per issue anyway.

Nice tangent :d

26/32 for the matrix is not impressive.

That VW TDI is pitiful, especially with diesel so much pricier than gas, complete waste of time.

 

[LTC8K6]

The Landcruiser 200 we get sold here, with the 4.5 V8 TurboDiesel (195kW/650Nm), gets 10.3l/100km combined, which is apparently ~23mpg.

For me, I believe the high price of diesel fuel would make the hybrid Tahoe the winner of such a comparison.

Diesel fuel would have to come down, or the diesel I'm considering would have to get so much better mileage that it also offsets the high cost of the fuel.

Even if it does get enough mileage, I would still have to consider the increased cost of the diesel engine when considering the overall costs to determine whether it makes sense to buy a diesel. Probably increased maintenance cost as well for a diesel, although that may not be true for the newest ones.

Same goes for a gasoline hybrid, or any other form of vehicle.

It's not just the fuel economy that I have to consider.

For me at this time, a gasoline powered car that gets decent fuel economy still seems to be the best option.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6

The Landcruiser 200 we get sold here, with the 4.5 V8 TurboDiesel (195kW/650Nm), gets 10.3l/100km combined, which is apparently ~23mpg.

For me, I believe the high price of diesel fuel would make the hybrid Tahoe the winner of such a comparison.

Diesel fuel would have to come down, or the diesel I'm considering would have to get so much better mileage that it also offsets the high cost of the fuel.

Even if it does get enough mileage, I would still have to consider the increased cost of the diesel engine when considering the overall costs to determine whether it makes sense to buy a diesel. Probably increased maintenance cost as well for a diesel, although that may not be true for the newest ones.

Same goes for a gasoline hybrid, or any other form of vehicle.

It's not just the fuel economy that I have to consider.

For me at this time, a gasoline powered car that gets decent fuel economy still seems to be the best option.

Depends what you primarily use it for too. If you're doing a lot of highway work, the 'cruiser will probably come out on top by a lot in terms of fuel savings. If you're doing a lot of town driving, the Tahoe should be miles ahead in fuel consumption.

 

[LTC8K6]

Right now, it just doesn't look like the payoff is there for purchasing a new diesel or a new gas/electric hybrid in the US.

It looks like it will take a long time just to break even on the initial investment.

The new Jetta TDI EPA highway numbers are disappointing. Hopefully it will do better in reality.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Right now, it just doesn't look like the payoff is there for purchasing a new diesel or a new gas/electric hybrid in the US.

It looks like it will take a long time just to break even on the initial investment.

The new Jetta TDI EPA highway numbers are disappointing. Hopefully it will do better in reality.

That has already been proven by third-party testing although the highway gain was "only" 10% compared to the city 31%. Even with the recent premium for diesel, the savings from fuel economy is still greater than the cost differential by roughly 15%. Whether the premium for the engine is offset is a factor of that and said maintenance but also greater longevity. So, the more it is driven the more likely for savings. They may also optionally be converted to use waste oil. In the meantime the diesel engines tend to sport superior driveability -that is, the low-end torque makes them preferable to base gasoline engines.

Yes, I have a TDI but am not in the habit of justifying my own decisions. It just makes sense when factoring everything in. 🙂

 

[LTC8K6]

Well, right now I own 2 older paid off cars in good shape with fairly low mileage (under 50K) that get near or above 30mpg on the highway.

The price of the new Jetta TDI does look like it will be lower than I thought, though.

Dealers are probably salivating and readying the markups...

 

[Auric]

I am glad I got a TDI in 2004 before they were put on hiatus in NA and while the MKIV was declining in sales due to the aging design and fuel cost not being a pop concern (hence I got it on the cheap).

It does seem probable that they will now demand a premium.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: Ns1

Originally posted by: mariok2006
To me the most impressive is still the Corvette. Offering 436hp/400ftlb while getting nearly 30mpg on the hwy (in some cases more) is truly impressive.

I can assure you that you will not get 30mpg if you use 436hp/400ftlb

Who uses 436 hp to cruise on the highway?

What the Corvette gives you is the capability to use 436 hp while still offering the capability to get nearly 30 mpg. The choice is yours.

This guy

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: Ns1

Originally posted by: mariok2006
To me the most impressive is still the Corvette. Offering 436hp/400ftlb while getting nearly 30mpg on the hwy (in some cases more) is truly impressive.

I can assure you that you will not get 30mpg if you use 436hp/400ftlb

Who uses 436 hp to cruise on the highway?

What the Corvette gives you is the capability to use 436 hp while still offering the capability to get nearly 30 mpg. The choice is yours.

This guy

I had to watch that a few times to see the brake lights. Thought it was an Aston :laugh: