Upcoming Economy Cars

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

Yeah, they look like 12" wheels. This thing seats four (skinny?) people. And the Aero looks halfway decent.

It may well become the largest selling car. Ever.

[Christ]

Yeah, and due to it's sales, we may also find that the $15-20k price tag on the average car isn't engineering costs... it's greed. Go figure.

[igo]

2011 ford fiesta. It is new to the us. I wouldn't expect steller mpg out of it tho.

[NeilBlanchard]

What was I thinking?! I have not mentioned the Toyota/Scion iQ yet on this thread!

[Christ]

Is it me, or are all these new cars starting to look like a work boot?

The CR-Z looks like it too, just lower and longer.. more like a hiking boot, I guess.

[Unforgiven]

I highly doubt the Tata vehicle will be sold here in the US. If memory serves it is an India production vehicle... will have to dig to research that later.
I have to laugh at all the folks that grab a Toyota Prius, and then drive down the highway doing 80+mph and then whine that they are not getting the expected fuel economy. Hello dumb@$$.
How many others find the lack of good fuel economy to be sad? Come on, a vehicle like the Toyota Yaris - at first glance at the size and layout, in my mind it should be able to compete with Geo Metro's on the FE side of things... but nope, not even close. Chevy Malibu hybrid - sadly understated FE numbers, and from what I can tell you really have to work to get the great numbers that I saw on the one that the owner let me look at.
Chevy Cobalt XFE - come on, the Cobalt gets lousy mileage for what it is, and the XFE is only expected to get 2mpg better? grrrrrrr...

[some_other_dave]

Originally Posted by Unforgiven

Come on, a vehicle like the Toyota Yaris - at first glance at the size and layout, in my mind it should be able to compete with Geo Metro's on the FE side of things... but nope, not even close.

"Should"? Perhaps if you said that "it ought to be engineered to be able to". But I don't think you can make much of a case that a car with all of the features of the Yaris should be able to get Geo Metro FE. Check some of the more interesting differences between the two.

Yaris: 1.5 liter 4-cylinder; 106 hp and 103 lb·ft
Metro: 1.0 liter 3-cylinder; 49 HP (early XFi model)

Yaris: 2300 lb curb weight
Metro: 1620 lb curb weight

Yaris: • Child Seat Lower Anchorage • Adjustable Upper Belt - Front • Pretensioner
• Energy Management Feature [AKA "lots of well-designed crumple zones"] • Rear Center Lap/Shoulder Belt • Advanced Air Bag Features • Side Airbag - Front • Head Airbag - Front • Rear Seat Head Restraint • Trunk Release • Tire Pressure Monitor
Metro: Some crumple zones; possibly rear-seat headrests

The Yaris is a more luxurious-feeling car than the Metro. It is faster. It has lots more "features" of all kinds, from safety to comfort to... Its suspension pickup points won't rust away within 10 years.

In every way (except one!) that "most" consumers care about, the Yaris is an infinitely "better" car than the Metro was. We are the exception, in that we care about that one way (the fuel economy) much more than most consumers do. Until enough people start putting FE above elbow room, or cupholders, or six-layer crash protection, or the need to get to 60 MPH before that guy in the next lane, chances are slim that we'll see anything like the Metro again.

-soD

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by some_other_dave

"Should"? Perhaps if you said that "it ought to be engineered to be able to". But I don't think you can make much of a case that a car with all of the features of the Yaris should be able to get Geo Metro FE.

In every way (except one!) that "most" consumers care about, the Yaris is an infinitely "better" car than the Metro was.
-soD

There are many who say that manufacturing methods for carbon fibre should be scalable to make it cheaper to use than current sheet metal methods.

On this logic it should be possible to have your cake and eat it too, there is no reason the Yaris needs to weigh 600lbs more than a metro, its just engineered that way.

Get the weight and shape under control and you can have your "luxuriousness" along with FE.

That coming from me with my Comutacar and my 920lb Subaru 360

[NeilBlanchard]

Wow!

The new Prius is able to put up some very impressive numbers! One of the worst was 64.5mpg. About half of the journalists did better than 70mpg; a median was ~75mpg, and the best was 94.5mpg!

First Drive: 2010 Toyota Prius puts up BIG numbers

[Wilden]

That's quite impressive, from what I had heard the new peius was rated for around 50-60mpg.