PurdueGuy

awesome

+1, let the high-speed rail development begin (well, in some areas development already has, but development has happened here & there for decades... implementation, not so much. I hear there's supposed to be a new high speed route being setup going south from DC...

It'll be interesting to start hearing some real world mpgs from these.

I find it funny that so many people cry "the gov't is bloated, corrupt, and inefficient!", then turn around and cry "national healthcare!" Personally, I think what this country needs is major INSURANCE INDUSTRY reform. That's a major part of why healthcare costs are bloated, along with a great number of other problems from that industry. I don't think the gov't needs to get its hands into yet another industry and show us what a lackluster job it can do with it.

it's not really that hard to get super high mpgs if you remove all concerns of performance, safety, comfort, or convenience...

What do I do about gas? Wife & I drive Saturns, no need to do anything. Not sure what she's getting (it should be a little better than me), but I'm getting 36mpg mixed, zippy driving. If gas gets up in the $5/gal range, I might just have to start thinking about buying a 3rd Saturn (already sold the '94 SL2) and do an electric conversion.

Pretty much granted that Saturn won't get it, since they don't get the regular Corsa yet. I'm also not sure it'd sell well here anyway, not if it's expensive, as it sounds it is.

87% of all statistics are made up.

lol @ no meaningful conclusions comparing a 1.8L car to a 2.5L car. It makes the conclusions MORE straightforward and meaningful. CarA & CarB are the same size CarA has 2.5L, is faster, doesn't get as much fuel economy CarB has 1.8L, is slower, gets better fuel economy That's pretty darn meaningful.

I'll say it once again. 138hp in the Astra is sufficient... but not that much fun. Last time I made that statement, your (aatbloke) reply was that it would be plenty fun on a twisty road. You turned a power argument into a handling one, a pretty lame tactic, IMO. What you seem to fail to realize is that, while you may feel that there is no need for more power than that, there are PLENTY of American consumers that disagree with you, and as long as they are speaking their American opinions with their American money at American dealerships, their opinions will matter much more than yours. 138hp is a good base engine, but people want options, including more power.

overhauling the railroad system so it's more cost competitive with tractor trailers would be helpful too. Locomotives pulling trains are waaaay more efficient than tractor trailers.

I agree, and this goes with what I've said before about automakers should maybe look more toward new materials for weight reduction instead of just technology when it comes to improving economy. Weight reduction doesn't increase the cost to maintain or repair as much, and may make more of a difference in vehicles that are already on the lighter end of the scale. A lightweight car can also make use of a smaller engine, so it's a double gain (less car to move = more efficient, smaller engine = more efficient. Or, same engine but lighter weight = more fun).

Yup. Sad thing is, so many people whine that GM didn't do a similar car at or nearer the same time that Toyota did. What most don't realize is that whole thing where the Japanese gov't paid for Prius development. It wasn't much of a gamble for Toyota, where it could've been the difference between bankruptcy or better profits for GM. Had gas stayed cheap, a similar GM car may have never paid for itself, and even if GM had made one & sold it just as well as the Prius, I don't know if it would have paid off by now, simply because the high technology means low profit margin, but high development cost. Of course, we can "what if" all day long on this type of stuff.

Heck, slap an arrowhead on it as-is, don't even bother with a new fascia. Personally, I think the twin nostrils could be considered similar to the pontiac grill, yet also tell that there's something different going on with the brand. Making Pontiac into "Holden USA" is better than letting it rot & wither away.

exactly. It's enough money that they fought it, but at worst they'll raise the price of the Prius $25. Whoopty doo.

I was just at an ANS meeting Thursday discussing this very thing (recycling reactor fuel), and there are a number of newer processes that have different material outputs to address the proliferation concerns. The other issue that comes up is that nuclear fuel is so cheap right now, recycling adds about 10% cost to the process, and results in a fuel that is more likely to have problems in the reactor than once-through fuels, so right now the utilities would rather just use once-through fuel anyway. It's going to have to happen eventually anyway, though, as storage and fuel costs go up. Kinda crazy that 95% of "nuclear waste" is uranium, and it just needs the 5% that's not removed to be ready for the next go-around. Nuclear can, should, and will grow, and recycling will happen eventually as well. It would be pretty cool to see the day that Yucca Mt sees a negative material flow.

9 4

I've gotten 36mpg out of the last few tanks of gas in my '99 SC2, in a mix of town & highway driving, and I drive zippy. A car half the size getting the same economy is just sad.

I have 3 car forums I'm on regularly, each for a different purpose: Saturn-specific forum: www.sixthsphere.com Local forum: www.idahomotorsports.com And here for general industry news & discussion, and more of the latest news on Saturn stuff than sixthsphere, which tends to be more tuner talk than stuff about new models.

is she feeling resentful about having to cut back, and maybe got feeling like she just couldn't do it, then went overboard? Maybe a less aggressive payoff plan if she's feeling like she can't have any fun or something?

That's really rough, especially because it sounds so unfair, but getting into a blaming game generally makes things worse. The things she spent the money on, can any of it be returned or sold for a reasonable price? By the way you describe it, it's all been stuff for her, not really anything you can/will get enjoyment or use out of?

perhaps the two vertical lines in front of CAFE should be made into 5 lines... with the center line taller than the others...

Malibu

Olds Aurora

GM could use an answer to sync as well. I'm sure that's a big pushing point for the otherwise underwhelming Focus.