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Old 03-16-2013, 11:48 AM   #12 (permalink)
Arragonis
The PRC.
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee View Post
I am fully aware of that. I realize that there have been advancements in auto tech over the last 100+ years. It is not news to me. What may be news to many, however, is that TODAY'S U.S. national fleet of crap consisting of SUVs, pickups, and maybe some cars here and there has an average MPG similar to that of the 100 year old "T". I find that pathetic and offensive.
If you take MPG alone then yes it is. Adding in the fact that those same vehicles are miles ahead in all other aspects seems to offset it somewhat.

I do agree though that the increase in efficiency that is possible these days has been concentrated on power and speed and less on improving overall MPG, which is a waste.

There are good MPG cars out there but they don't sell enough to drag the average up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard View Post
The Ford Model T weighs about 1,200 pounds. It is made of steel and wood and glass and rubber, etc. Totally impressive, and it had a small displacement 4 cylinder engine:
Is 2.9L small ? That larger engine meant more tax in Europe where it was based on engine size (actually more on bore size).

So if the Model T is an example of top efficiency, the Austin 7 (aka Bantam) must be considered stratospheric ?



It matched the Model T's performance (top speed 48 MPH), and far exceeded it's economy (40-50 MPimpG) with an engine of just 747cc.
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