Quote:
Originally Posted by Lazarus
Not everyone can afford a insight. Lots of folks but 5-10 year old cars so it will be awhile before the trickle down hits. We need to reduce oil consumption now not 10 years from now.
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Funny how not everyone can afford an Insight ($20K new), or for that matter a 10-20 year old Civic or CRX that will get ~40 mpg, but they could afford $30K or more for that jacked-up pickup or SUV they're driving now :-) There are cars out there that get decent mpg, and they've trickled down all the way to the bottom of the used car market.
As for the 55 mph speed limit, why? Not only has it been tried, and rejected, there are lots of places/situations where it's counterproductive. For example, in hilly terrain I can get better mpg at 75 than 55, simply because I have to downshift a couple of gears to climb at 55 (which shifts the VTEC, and cancels lean burn). On downhills I can go 75 mph using zero gas, which conserves momentum for the next uphill. (It really irritates me when the cars in front brake on downhills.) Maybe 55 works in the flatlands, but in my experience with the Insight, I often get worse mpg at 55 than either 45-50 or 60-65.
Now if you really want a legislative change that will affect gasoline consumption, simply require that all cars have real-time fuel consumption displays. Let people see their real fuel economy, instead of shoving dogma down their throats.