Ecodrive vs Normal Drive

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

The main difference between Europe and US cars is engine size.
[...]
The usual reason for this is that Americans demand more performance, but having driven there a few times I didn't notice traffic going any faster on freeways and on country roads I was being held up more than holding up others.

Maybe in the US it's not about going faster, but about haulling more. On average, American cars have more options than European (P/S, electric everything, automatically openning doors, etc.) which have a weight penalty. Add to that an automatic trans and you need a larger engine to get decent (by a certain standard) acceleration.

As for highway ramps: "too short" is a relative term. Maybe the speed you have to accelerate to is too big?

Originally Posted by Arragonis

I think it should be taught as part of driving school, it would reduce fuel consumption quite a bit as well as wear and tear. It would have also made my journey in the passenger seat a lot more comfortable.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by comptiger5000

This is why more vehicles should have diesels, at least as an option. You can have the extra power without killing mpg like you do with most gas engines.

I think people should be taught how to merge and how to let others merge and how having someone in front doesn't mean you have lost in some way. Competition is good but not in everything, it gets in the way sometimes.

TDs are not too good 0-60 but for in gear acceleration they are superb. Apparently BMW detuned the 335d because it would outrun the M3 in some measurements. Of course you can chip it and it will do 40 MPG all day and then do the M3 embarassing thing when you want it to.

I intended to have my Fabia chipped before decided to EM it which is why it has the SMF and uprated clutch. My friend has a similar car with a chip and a Cupra intake rolling road tested to 186 BHP and 312 lb/ft. 0-60 hasn't changed much but he can outrun a BMW 330d in a rolling start and supercharged MINI Cooper S's are no challenge at all.

The really amusing thing is that he built it from two cars, a crashed (rearended) VRS where he got the engine and gearbox, and a normal 1.4 petrol which is normally a boring retirement persons car but was unmarked. He sold the trim and seats from the VRS and build it the rest into the boring car so it has plastic wheel covers, dull grey interior and basic model badges.

The wheels may have to go though to allow bigger brakes.

[ShadeTreeMech]

I suppose Mrs. A is a touch more aggressive than my missus, although mine does drive a bit too fast for my tastes. Problem is I taught her to drive, but when I taught her i drove much faster than i do now. Guess I just have to wait for her to get older.

I've ridden with my brother and he love to tailgate WAY too friggin much. Normally I dont' say much about it, but when he was driving my car and nearly rearended someone while talking on the cell in stop and go traffic, I nearly reamed his arse for that. I told him if he can throw a rock and have a good chance of hitting the car ahead, he needs to back off.

Watching him drive while on the phone was a lesson in why you should NEVER drive and chat on the phone. As he drove i could see his reaction times increasing in length and I nearly had a heart attack before I told him to slow the *(&% down.

Mind you I'll scare him while driving on a twisty deserted road, but there's no traffic, and I'm allergic to the brake pedal

And on a smaller displacement being worse, I think it's due to the perponderance of lazy automatics that are hungry on the fuel. that and many autos will start off in second unless you force the tranny to go into 1st. I've a 3L Villager weighing in @ 2 tons and I haven't a problem accelerating from a stop. Now passing close to highway speed and going uphill, that's a different story.

To be quite honest, a lot of these small modern engines outdo their larger less sophisticated american counterparts by miles.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

I suppose Mrs. A is a touch more aggressive than my missus

I suspect that Lewis Hamilton would have an easier time overtaking Jensen Button than Mrs A

[robchalmers]

Well Arra, I've given up on the monitoring the Missus' FE it depressing when I know exactly what he scenic can manage!

AFAIK you're right right about the 2.0tdi on the skoda and the jetta, cogs will be too.

I think it'll be the same with the polo it won't be offered with the decent TSI/TDIs when it goes over the pond.

As for the bigger engine more performance etc. the US cars I've driven 3.0litre V6s etc were slow as hell, my 1.9D polo could out run them! why? the slush matic of course! stick in a close cogged manual with a long 6th

[ShadeTreeMech]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

I suspect that Lewis Hamilton would have an easier time overtaking Jensen Button than Mrs A

So Mrs. A would be an excellent candidate for star in a reasonably priced car then?

I had a similar problem with my missus and the 4 L Explorer that was our daily driver. I sabotaged the throttle body to where she couldn't get to WOT. I did a similar thing to my Buick when my brother drove it. I gaffer taped the snorkel so very little air could go through the intake. He then complained about the car not being able to climb hills, which in Arkansas is a VERY bad thing! You can't throw a rock without hitting a gradient of some sort!

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

I had a similar problem with my missus and the 4 L Explorer that was our daily driver. I sabotaged the throttle body to where she couldn't get to WOT. I did a similar thing to my Buick when my brother drove it. I gaffer taped the snorkel so very little air could go through the intake.

Sounds like ecosabotage!!

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Maybe in the US it's not about going faster, but about haulling more. On average, American cars have more options than European

Not sure this is a valid reason any more. Look at a top spec Euro car vs an American one and its quite similar, especially (possibly ironically) the French cars such as the C6. A new Mondeo is a pretty fully optioned car compared with the US equivalent Fusion. There is no Hybrid Mondeo but there are superb TDCi ones. Ford have worked hard here.

Originally Posted by robchalmers

As for the bigger engine more performance etc. the US cars I've driven 3.0litre V6s etc were slow as hell, my 1.9D polo could out run them! why? the slush matic of course! stick in a close cogged manual with a long 6th

The slushmatic is the key. I had a long discussion with a US friend who said that US makers had worked out how to make the Auto as efficient as the manual. And then I last visited he had bought a manual pickup to save gas.

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

So Mrs. A would be an excellent candidate for star in a reasonably priced car then?

I AM THE STIG

(and I have the Fathers Day card to prove it)

So no.

[ShadeTreeMech]

The stig is an ecomodder? maybe. Clarkson certainly isn't though.

I wonder how much the average weight of an American wieghs in when discussing the need for American cars to have more power

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

The stig is an ecomodder? maybe. Clarkson certainly isn't though.

I wonder how much the average weight of an American wieghs in when discussing the need for American cars to have more power

Clarkson for PM

We had a couple of American friends, sisters, on holiday with us in Spain a couple of years ago. We rented a villa and the entrance was on the side of a hill with an electric gate. Sounds we are kind of like Dr Evil, I wish... It meant the entrance was a kind of stop - wait for gate and then a hill start (1 in 5) to get through the gate. Anyway after a week of hill starts to get through the gate with the sisters in the hire car, Opel Zafira diesel, it started a knock when we set off or braked.

Why? Broken engine mounting.

Wonder why. Hmmm.

Being of the 'chunky' persuasion myself I have some sympathy for them, and of course the car was more or less brand new so it may have had some other issue which caused the problem.

Of course in response I do like cold beer (sometimes) and my teeth are clean.