Recent Comments:
VW of America: Golf VI is heading to the U.S. {Autoblog}
Jun 19th 2008 5:39AM 5-banger - 4 banger, fuels efficiency... etc. Question is, how much power (HP) do you need to drive 70 miles an hour on the freeway and how much power do you need to pull up with a reasonable acceleration? They drive a 1.4 4-cylinder engine in VW's home country. It easily gets 35 miles to the gallon. And it's fast enough with a top speed of just over 100mph.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a car enthusiast and love to drive fast, on a circuit. But I don't see the point of a GTI with 225 HP to commute to work....
Detroit 2008: AutoblogGreen Q&A: Tom Purves CEO of BMW-NA {Autoblog Green}
Jan 27th 2008 4:42AM Mirko, good point.
It's something I just don't understand. Bringing the 335 diesel over while in Europe they drive the 318 diesel and 320 diesel as well. Sure, the six cylinder 335 engine sounds awesome and it's performance if phenomenal. But if you just drive from point A to point B, then what's the point? It's strange that BMW does not give consumers the option to buy the 318 or 320. Would it be because a 320 diesel is considered not powerful enough??? They drive it in Germany as well, where some parts of the freeways do not have speed limits.....
Lutz says gas prices will need to go up if Americans are to embrace small cars {Autoblog Green}
Jan 25th 2008 7:23AM ChrisH,
Good point and I can understand where you are coming from. And I would almost agree. But what we tend to forget though is that the world is not big enough to give everybody the same lifestyle. If everybody in the world would live their lives like we do, we need to have more than 5 planet earths (usage of resources. I recently bought a Macbook, it was USD$1200. Affordable, because it's produced by people who don't life the same life we do. If the Macbook would completely be produced in the US, that thing would probably not be affordable at all!
I'm not saying we shouldn't buy it, hey, I just bought myself a Mac, but I do think about the huge differences in this world and try to be "conservative" in my usage of resources.
Lutz says gas prices will need to go up if Americans are to embrace small cars {Autoblog Green}
Jan 25th 2008 4:04AM Why do most of our cars have engines that aren’t necessary? Of course it’s nice to have a car that does 0-60mph under 6 seconds. But what’s wrong with a car that takes 10 seconds to reach 60mph. Take for e.g. the Honda Accord, the smallest engine is a 2.4 with about 170 bhp. They drive the 2.0 version in Europe and the speed limit on highways is about 70-80 mph.
It’s good to see more cars with smaller engines, although there always seems to be this unnecessary want for power. BMW introduces the 535 (5 series, 3.0 liter engine) diesel 286 bhp and loads of torque. It’s a great car really, but I’ve driven the 520 diesel (2.0 liter engine) (0-60 under 9 seconds, top speed of about 140 mph). So why would I need the extra power??? Could somebody explain?
