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As I stated,it is interesting to see what constitutes a 'gas guzzler' by peoples standards.
It is isn't it.
My Suburban averages about 15mpg. It's a gas guzzler and it pi$$es people off. But I think it's absolutely hillarious when I hear that some sedans average 20mpg.
If I'm looking to buy a car based on fuel economy it better get 25mpg average or better otherwise it's not worth my time.
BMW and Mercedes cars of this ilk are not optimized for low-speed American cruising. They actually get pretty good mileage *considering* when cruising at 100-120 like they do (or did, anyway) on the Autobahn. I would expect the 540 to get almost the same MPG at Autobahn speed as at 55. That was my actual experience in 1995 when I rented a 316 and drove on the Autobahn near Frankfurt - looking at the analog MPG (well it was liters per 100 Km but you get the point) gauge, I would say the 316 only burned about 10% more fuel at the ton than at low speed.
Most Detroit offerings will be in open loop at triple-digit speeds, and will burn a lot of fuel, partly just in richening up the mixture to protect components like exhaust valves.
That said, not *ALL* of Detroit's offerings will be doing this, the Corvette, for example, won't. The 'Vette does not get all the respect it deserves, it's *not* a guzzler, not by law, and not in real world use. It does have "only" 2 seats, but it's not intended to be a bus, it's a sports car FFS, besides that for most American commuting, 2 seats are twice as many as are being used anyway.
Not all people buy a car strictly as an appliance. For some of us, it's also a toy. Depending, some people do track days, autocross, drag race, whatever, and then drive the same car as transportation. For most of us enthusiasts, most or all of the cars owned need to have some entertainment factor.
For the devotees of "car as appliance", the Japanese makers do offer plain-Jane models that are Spartan and relatively cheap to buy, cheap to fuel, etc.
Steak costs more than hamburger. Same with cars. Some of us can tell the difference, and are willing to pay for what we want, and I think that's a superior situation to having some sort of commissar tell us what they think we "need" in terms of a car, a house, a mate, etc.
That said, not *ALL* of Detroit's offerings will be doing this, the Corvette, for example, won't. The 'Vette does not get all the respect it deserves, it's *not* a guzzler, not by law, and not in real world use. It does have "only" 2 seats, but it's not intended to be a bus, it's a sports car FFS, besides that for most American commuting, 2 seats are twice as many as are being used anyway.
Completely agree with you. Some Corvettes can get close to 30mpg range on the hwy.
As I stated,it is interesting to see what constitutes a 'gas guzzler' by peoples standards.
the mazda 6 does not get less 20, ours gets around 27 average. best facts are the ones you obtain from experience.
anyways, i agree the vette is pretty good mpg wise, the 5th and 6th gear helps alot in that area.
My Suburban averages about 15mpg. It's a gas guzzler and it pi$$es people off. But I think it's absolutely hillarious when I hear that some sedans average 20mpg.
If I'm looking to buy a car based on fuel economy it better get 25mpg average or better otherwise it's not worth my time.
Do the math:
15,000 miles/yr @ 15 mpg = 1,000 gallons/yr x $2 per gallon = $2000 yr on gas
15,000 miles/yr @ 20 mpg = 750 gallons/yr x $2 per gallon = $1500 yr on gas
SAVINGS PER YEAR: 250 gallons @ $2.00 per gallon = $500 yr saved on gas.
Keep the car for three years and you save $1,500 on gas. Hardly a reason to sell one car and buy another... but if you do need a new car it is worth consideration.
This is also less gas purchased from the middle east and less fossil fuel burned... two other pluses.
As I stated,it is interesting to see what constitutes a 'gas guzzler' by peoples standards.
I have to agree with the 20 mpg minimum, better to have 25 or better though, simply because of the high gas prices. The higher the gas prices get, the higher mpg my definition of gas guzzler gets. I drive a Ranger pick-up, and it gets around 28 mpg. And I think that's not good enough!
I wasn't really in the market,just looking at what is available.
Thought it was pretty interesting how poor its fuel economy was considering it is a marvel of German engineering...
That marvel of German engineering isn't quite as marvelous as it used to be. BMW and Mercedes have lowered their standards when it comes to manufacturing quality vehicles.
15,000 miles/yr @ 15 mpg = 1,000 gallons/yr x $2 per gallon = $2000 yr on gas
15,000 miles/yr @ 20 mpg = 750 gallons/yr x $2 per gallon = $1500 yr on gas
SAVINGS PER YEAR: 250 gallons @ $2.00 per gallon = $500 yr saved on gas.
Keep the car for three years and you save $1,500 on gas. Hardly a reason to sell one car and buy another... but if you do need a new car it is worth consideration.
This is also less gas purchased from the middle east and less fossil fuel burned... two other pluses.
Yeah. When gas started getting above $2/gal I sat down and started doing the same math you just did. $500/yr is nothing in the grand scheme of things. That breaks down to less than $10/week (or a trip to Subway).
What's also a factor is how royally screwed you get when you go to trade in the gas guzzler. Being that it is a low-demand vehicle due to high fuel prices the actual trade in value sucks. Forget KBB and NADA. Dealers won't touch those prices because they don't want to trade for something that's just going to take up space on their lot unless they can get it for an extremely low price. So basically I'm talking about losing $3-4K on trade in below what the recommended trade-in value is. It would take 6-8 years to recover that loss alone with a 5mpg fuel saving. And oh yeah...gotta pay taxes on the new car. Lets say $1500...theres another 3 years worth.
That's why I say I'm not going to touch it unless the fuel savings are substantial. It's just not worth it.
But....as fuel prices and mpg go higher the situation changes. Lets say fuel went back to $4/gal and I got a vehicle that averaged 30mpg instead of 15mpg.
(good estimate on mileage btw...I drive about that)
15,000 miles/yr @ 15 mpg = 1,000 gallons/yr x $4 per gallon = $4000 yr on gas
15,000 miles/yr @ 30 mpg = 500 gallons/yr x $4 per gallon = $2000 yr on gas
$2000/yr in fuel savings is starting to look significant. That's nearly $40/wk.
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