bemeyer

Good point about bringing up speed at which we drive....big impact on economy obviously. Wonder if in search of green-ness our speed limits will once again be reduced????

I agree with fergy about cars simply becoming under-powered, quickest way to gain MPG. This is 1973 all over again. Grab your V8 muscle now and put her in the garage. Our 2+ decade long HP gains for US built cars will be coming to an abrupt halt.

 

cody6.0

In all seriousness the HP wars shouldn't have to stop when a 505hp LS7 and a 400hp LS2 get 30mpg. It is the manufactures bull**** of making gas guzzling trucks that mess things up.

9 out of 10 people that have a truck or SUV do not need them.

It is the millions of cellphone bearing soccer moms that are causing problems not the thousands of car nuts.

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2007 CORVETTE C6 Z51
2007 SILVERADO W/T X-CAB 5.3
2007 SUZUKI GSX-R600

GTO JUDGE

Man, .............ain't that the truth.

I am seeing more and more texting behind the wheel too.

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fergyflyer

Problem is Cody, You and I know a C6 gets 30+ on the highway. The EPA cycle though shows it at 26. It's blended CAFE is 20. GM is going to figure that a 320hp slightly lighter C6 that gets 32 highway on the EPA test and averages a CAFE of 27 is going to sell a lot better than a 400 hp C6 that gets current mileage. Why???? Because the lower powered one is going to be 50,000 and the higher powered one is going to be 65,000. That's the only way to make CAFE work and to avoid fines. Now that they have included trucks on the same regs as cars, watch the changes we get in them. If they exempt over 15,000lb GVW work trucks, that's what the next family hauler will be.

It's not the soccer moms fault either. She wants a safe vehicle to haul her 3 kids to the game in. That was the family station wagon. Then the Government decided that we needed better mileage mandated from above. So they decided that all cars needed to get a certain mileage. Only way to do that was to make the family truckster smaller or go away. But hey guess what, the feds put a loophole in for trucks and automakers drove very car like trucks right through the hole and got the American public hooked on a nice comfortable full size vehicle. Just like the beloved family truckster, except this one was a truck and had different emmission and mileage regs.

That is why we need to make sure the government never gets control of our healthcare. They will screw that up just like they do everything they try to regulate. When you make people do something other than normal human nature, it always causes more problems than it solves.

fergyflyer

I was behind a guy the other day. He had a DVD player on his dash and was texting while driving and watching a movie all at the same time. They need to make the penalties for DUI apply to people that text/DVD/ use a cell phone while driving.

cody6.0

I have always wondered if on of these phone talking/texting jackasses hits me if I can sue them for neglegence?

Because I know if I shove the phone up there ass it will kill them and that would be bad for me.

__________________
2007 CORVETTE C6 Z51
2007 SILVERADO W/T X-CAB 5.3
2007 SUZUKI GSX-R600

GTO JUDGE

__________________

President : SVGTO Tigers

Member

Good 2 go

I've even seen folks with a book or pamphlet on the wheel! Trying to read a map to get to where you're going is one thing, but out-n-out reading is sick!

aintmisbehavinn

Bob Lutz also told reporters at the Detroit Auto Show the U.S. government's 35 mpg CAFE standard will push car prices up by $4,000 to $10,000 per vehicle, or an average $6,000. (Yes 6K for 0-60 in just under 12 seconds or less and less which ever the government can hand you your a$$.)

"This is going to be a net average of cost of $6,000 per vehicle which will have to be passed onto the consumer," he said. "The good news is it won't come all at once, because 35 mpg doesn't kick in all at once."These new standards were approved by the newly elected democratic congress in December.

The new CAFE standards will be phased in beginning in 2011. The new law calls for automakers to achieve an average of 35 mpg across their fleets by 2020.

Lutz previously warned GM's future rear-wheel-drive lineup might need to be rethought if the government doesn't change its position. In April, he said small cars only count toward an automaker's CAFE average if they're built in the United States. At current prices, it's impossible to build small cars and sell them at a profit, he claimed.

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bemeyer

FYI
End of an Era? - MSN Autos