[tjts1]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

There are some differences between the ECE tests and the us EPA ones, but the general cycle of official vs real world tests holds true. Diesels and hybrids tend to do better in reality than government ones, and petrol tends to do worse. (Mrs A's Prius in my garage is due to zero hypermiling...)

There are a lot of cars available in Europe which have US equivalents but are not offered there. You can pretty much go through the alphabet and choose every letter where there is a maker on both sides of the Atlantic and there will be a smaller and more economical one in Europe compared to the ones in the US.

The federalization rules prevent manufacturers form selling every engine option. Each engine/transmission/body combination has to be emissions tested, FE tested and have 4 separate crash tests done.

The makers come from everywhere - Europe, China, Korea, Japan - loads of those, India even.

Reasons given so far :

"Americans need so much more performance that Europeans"
Every time I have driven in the US I have driven at European speeds (where possible) and every time I have passed others more than I have been passed. I have had to undertake SUVs on US freeways just to make progress.

What can I say, we're suckers for cheap horsepower. I can drive off a dealer lot with a new 300hp mustang for $22k. Fuel economy be damned, I want to have some fun. You guys want to suffer in some 1.0 punishment box? Go right ahead. Every time they jack up the fuel taxes in Europe and average consumption drops, the more cheap fuel I can buy here. Isn't globalization great? So thank you. Tonight I'll do a smokey burnout in honor of your sacrifice.

"Americans won't buy Diesels"
But VW, Mercedes and BMW are selling loads of them. Oh and there are loads of Pickups with Diesels in them - old and dirty ones mind.

Diesel fuel costs 10% more than gasoline in most of the US. Diesel cars account for less than 1% of total US sales. The only truly popular diesel engine is the Jetta wagon at 80% and that only because the standard 2.5 engine is crap. Theres plenty of gasoline and hybrid competitors that make that TDI looks pathetic.

"Americans won't buy smaller cars or smaller engines"
How many GEO Metros were sold ?

Not nearly enough to sustain the brand. The only reason it even made it to the US was to help GM meet its CAFE requirements. Most were sold at a deep discount.

"Americans need trucks / SUVs every day"
Nonsense, sheer nonsense. People who haul stuff or tow every day as part of their business or job maybe, but Mr Suburbs commuting to the office and back really needs a Suburban (which is a carp vehicle by any definition BTW).

Nobody buys a truck because they 'need' it. Its a toy. Good luck convincing Americans to give up pickups and SUVs.

"Americans can only drive autos"
EM'ers seem to be able to manage changing gear themselves, and those who can't (either because of their cars or what they know) lament this "advance" all the time and want a manual so they can take control. Those with manuals already do a very good job at it

Again, good luck convincing Americans to switch. Besides everybody knows autos are more efficient than manuals these days.

"Americans need A/C"
Yet, Europeans near the Med or the Adriatic have equally high temps to deal with an quite a few have managed with no A/C for decades. They have a longer life expectancy too (than us northern Europeans too) - healthier way of life, better diet...

This just sounds like a rant. Have you had your fiber this morning?
I'm not giving up AC. 75f and my AC is ON full blast. I don't care how much gas it uses, I don't want to sweat in my car.