Recent Comments:
smart cdi coming to the UK in 2009 {Autoblog Green}
Jun 23rd 2008 10:17PM I would seriously doubt that the Smart Cdi emits the pollution of 50 petrol cars. That's just ludicrous. There's no way that could be from such a small engine with only 33kw. You're talking out your ass Stan. If that's so, then a diesel Jetta must be like 500 petrol cars. Being from Mercedes it would have all the necessary filtration and diesel clean up before going out the tail pipe. Plus it's a very safe car, safer than quite a few modern sedans Stan.
You're an idiot, simple as that. Pretending to know what you're talking about is a really bad idea. Your apparent hatred of Smart cars only shows that you probably hate them because of what they embody and that it's not an F-250. You're probably just like all those ignorant fools, except that you want to sound moderately educated as opposed to just mouthing off.
Volkswagen Golf Mk VI not U.S.-bound? {Autoblog}
Jun 15th 2008 9:52PM Re: Graham June 15th
What other American markets are there besides the USA? Is there another continent we don't know about?
I can't imagine why the next Golf wouldn't be sold here in Australia. The Australian dollar was slightly stronger against the Euro but not by much and now at the moment the Aussie dollar has dropped slightly, getting 60 euro cents to the dollar down from 63-ish....
Smart could start testing lithium ion ForTwo in 2009, possibly in LA {Autoblog Green}
May 2nd 2008 5:45AM How is the fuel economy of the Smart 'relatively disappointing' because relatively, cars like the Honda Jazz (Fit) obtain figures of around 5.6l/100km at a weight of around 1000kg. The smart weighs about 800kg or maybe a bit more and obtains 4.7l/100km for the naturally aspirated 1.0 litre 3-cylinder engine and 4.9l/100km for the turbo model. Relatively I'd say that's quite good, wouldn't you? It would be naive to think that the Smart would get something like 3-4l/100km...it's just not gonna happen. The Prius only has an official rating of 4.4l/100km anyway - it's not a seriously heavy car and it's a hybrid. If you want serious highway fuel economy you're better off with a small capacity diesel like the new Peugeot 308 HDi which got something like 3.5l/100km in various tests...but for normal driving, fuel economy is never going to be astounding.
Happy New Year! Saturn Astra goes on sale Jan. 2nd {Autoblog}
Feb 6th 2008 6:35PM I wish people would stop bagging French and Italian cars...none of them are sold in the US so how would you know? Just because you drove an Alfa 20 yrs ago, doesn't mean you know what they're like. Italian cars in the 80's were crap and even in the early 90's they weren't so good but they've been working steadily to improve their cars. My uncle owns a new Fiat Punto Grande and his fiance has an Alfa 159 2.4 JTD Sportswagon and they're both really good cars. Solid and reliable and without a doubt no worse than the vast majority of cars on the market today. My parents as I said in another post have a Peugeot 307 HDi...so far trouble free motoring and it's been almost 2 years...
Naggs I bet you just randomly picked a selection of European cars that you thought were crap but actually probably have no idea. The C5 is another good car especially with the HydraActive suspension and the new model is set to be even better. The Skoda Roomster is basically a Volkswagen so it's no worse than any VW on the market.
I most definitely wouldn't choose a tacky, poorly designed, grotesque vehicle like the Silverado...even the 300 has it's limits. At the very least whatever the limitations of French or Italian cars, you certainly can't accuse them of not injecting a little emotion into their cars like the Italians, or quirkiness like the French.
I'd choose them any day over a big, bland, ugly uninspired piece of American design. American cars have never sold well in Australia, on account of their brashness and cheapness.
Probably not all European cars are better, but most of them are.
Twingo Renault Sport debuts alongside new F1 car {Autoblog}
Feb 1st 2008 3:46AM I think French unreliability is largely becoming a thing of the past. My parents have a Peugeot 307 HDi Diesel and it's a great car. Goes like a rocket too - not from standing start but on the move it's very quick with 320nm on tap. It's not any worse than Mercedes or VW, in fact you see a lot of older Peugeots and Renaults here in Oz and in Europe still soldiering on especially 405s and the like. Like most manufacturers it's usually the electrics that give problems - I think however that that is the nature of electronics as they become more advanced and prone to problems and not specific to any particular manufacturer.
It's funny that you find the 207 that small Mattias. Here in Australia it's considered quite large for it's class, especially compared to the previous model, the 206 which my sister owns...it's lighter and noticeably smaller than the 207. I would take a small premium car over a big Falcon or Commodore any day. I'd rather pay for features over size...
