Comments on: 100 Years of Improvement?

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:28:18 +0000

This is ridiculous. You can buy and drive a European style car that is a third the size of an American sedan. It gets great fuel mileage. You won’t survive any accident on an American highway and it will take you twice as long to drive wherever you’re going. You won’t have thick protective doors, enough power to safely accelerate onto ramps, a comfortable suspension, cockpit amenities, etc. etc. etc. The cars that are sold here cater to whatever people want to buy, and most people think convenience and safety is highly important. It’s a wonder with the speed, power, safety features and other things on a modern American vehicle that they don’t get three miles per gallon, that’s where the advances in fuel injection and other innovations come in. If all you care about is fuel mileage then you can stand on your soapbox and complain but at least know that consumers choose their vehicles for lots of reasons, not just because it saves gas.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:01:29 +0000

Another thought. Comparing tin lizies to SUVs is also apple to oranges. the tin lizzie is an economy car. An SUV is a TRUCK!!! The most maligned SUV, the explorer is based on the Ford Ranger which is a TRUCK!!! If you want to compare apples to apples, compare the tin lizzie to the most efficient economy car on the market!!! My little Ford Focus gets nearly 30 mpg. I know that there are others that do far better. That FOCUS blow the model T away in ALL respects, including mileage.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:56:21 +0000

Gas Mileage . . Gas Mileage . . .Bah, Humbug!!!!

We are a free society. It is nobody’s damn business what the other guy drives. If most American’s drive big gas-guzzling rigs . . so WHAT!!! If that creates a demand for more oil, then drill, drill drill and meet the supply.

Comparing European driver to American driver is every bit the apple to oranges to comparing the tin lizzie to an SUV. In spite of the EU, America still has a broader and more uniform market that allows for the economies of scale. Also this is a HUGE country with wide open spaces. Americans have always had a real need for larger more capable and capacious autos to conquers the wide open spaces.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:59:03 +0000

Brian Carr misses a number of key points:
hp/mpg ratio is much improved, by a factor of 10 or more, in many cases. The model t was a best seller because it was cheap and had no competition, not because of quality or utility – key reasons for popularity now. Also, there are many autos available now that get much better mpg than the model t and these sell well. Add elect. start, hydraulic brakes, safety glass, spaciousness for passengers, storage for belongings, heating, comfort etc.
He is correct in stating, however, this is not an apples to apples comparison…

By: Mikefromdtw

Mikefromdtw — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:35:24 +0000

Hey Morons…the 17 mpg model-T had no muffler and ran on pure regular gas…get rid of the all the polution controls and cars would see a 30 percent increase in fuel milage…however clouding the air…a little thing called friction and gravity limit power to energy ratio…

By: bob

bob — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:58:34 +0000

There is another large reason that can account for this trend in low mileage, technology suppression, it is unfortunate but quite true. I urge anyone reading this to do a little research on the subject the results of my own research was very powerful to me I feel like I have found a cause worthy of persuing.

By: My Name

My Name — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:00:44 +0000

and if you didnt notice it gave the car better horse power even though it was using less gas

By: My Name

My Name — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:57:12 +0000

the f150 has 21 for gas mileage D/A

By: Anomoly

Anomoly — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:54:46 +0000

they are FINALLY starting to open their eyes and sell more fuel efficient cars including diesel, hybrid, and other option vehicles –
of course that’s going to take another year or two

another thing slowing us down is people either un-educated on options or people who just DON”T care… they would rather save $7,500 on a Big Truck than at the gas pump.

Just because gas has lowered they think that it wont go right back up to where it was… sad, so sad.

By: Mahonri

Mahonri — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:48:11 +0000

I drive an early 80’s VW pickup, diesel powered. Winter with #1 diesel is 40+ mpg. Summer with #2 is 45-48 mpg.
Europe has VW models that get 70-90 mpg. What is wrong with bringing them to the USA? 70% of all cars sold in Euprope are Diesels. ALL get better fuel mileage than their gas counterparts… much better mileage.

What is wrong with the US that we can’t get these vehicles here?

I would think a small VW pickup that gets 60 mpg, will haul stuff and drives well would do very good here.