I just realized something. They have a 'reader survey' that asks how much more efficient the new TDI is vs. the previous version. There is no option for the truth, which is that the EPA combined FE is exactly the same! (City is a little worse and highway is a little better.) They might have just asked "How ignorant of this product are we? 10% ignorant? 40% ignorant? 90% ignorant?"
Prius Hybrid 388 (59%) Clean Burning Jetta Diesel 263 (40%) Votes so far: 651 Days left to vote: 5 :rockon:
Well the government has basically botched everything that has an alternative source when they thought they could get away with it. If the prius didn't run on gas, they would botch that too.. but they can't target the prius without targeting all the other vehicles that run on gas and cause a revolt. Speaking of volts.... the only thing that gives us a chance to go electric is that they cannot target that either without affecting everything else that uses electricity. Now, speaking of volts and "revolts".. if the truckers would just stick together, they may could get the price of diesel down too. Now back to topic... Diesel was supposed to be cheaper and always has been until now. Its cheaper to make, but when they feared everything was going to go to diesel.. guess what happened? Same thing with propane.. it was supposed to be our savior!.. Clean burning... water as a byproduct and we have so much of it, we can't even measure how much we have!... but how many propane rigs do you see running around? If Diesel was cheaper or even the same price as gas, it may be a consideration.... But as long as your part of the minority, they try to keep you under their thumb and control. If a car company wants to excel... they need to steer away from fossil fuels and go electric along with ways to generate it free at your house. I understand electricity is made from fossil fuels too... but as long as your car runs directly off of diesel, you are screwed. Lets see... crude oil is how much a barrel? and how much refining does it take to make diesel compared to gas?...... not much! And how difficult has the so called eco people made it to buy cheap diesel by adding agents?.... allot!
Well, They might be actually trying to botch cars that do "sip" the gas. I'm not one to believe that this will ever go into effect, but if they keep looking into taxing people by the mile instead of by the gallon, we're all screwed. And those trying to conserve get punished. =( But like I said, I doubt that would ever happen, but you never know *LOL*
voted prius! i watched some of those videos and those guys really irk me. tossing a smart key at someone and saying figure it out is stupid. i have nothing against vw, i do however feel insulted by stupid. i've owned a few bugs and i still to this day want a rabbit pick up. i saw other vids on this same subject and i think it was the same people that produced the stupid. i will give them credit for not doing a versus on a smog test though HA!
I'm not sure what the deal is and the specifics, but I used to have a very sharp mechanic when I lived in Washington state... he not only worked on cars, but diesel caterpillars, boats, and even airplanes.. along with hobbies of racecars and tournament racing boats etc.. and he would not work on a Jetta... claiming they were made so cheap that he couldn't warranty them. He would fix one thing and something else would go wrong soon after and he would get the blame. Although the internals of the prius are quite complex, the externals are all user friendly and easy for the owner to maintain. At any rate, internals or externals.. seems other than routine maintenance, you rarely have to worry about a mechanic with a prius.
In reality, the mechanical workings of a Prius are incredibly simple. It's just a planetary gearset with something connected to the sun gear, ring gear, and carrier. Simpler than a manual trans, far simpler than an automatic transmission. Electric motors are simple, the gas engine is typical enough. The battery is just a big version of something we see every day, but higher quality. Big copper wires? Simple. Put it in drive and go. The only place the car gets complicated is the control system that decides where to get the energy and how to route it. And even that, once the clever engineers have put it together, is really nothing exotic. And that's the story of Prius reliability.
I think it is a very good idea that the procedure to startup Prius is not totally obvious to the uninitiated, even the owner of a VW dealership. 1. This acts as yet another security measure to protect the vehicle 2. If you know how to start the Prius, you are part of an elite but growing club I don't know why people want to drive a vehicle that sounds like a small school bus.
Ultra-Low Sulphur Diesel is required to allow Lean NOx catalysts on diesel cars, to reduce NOx emissions. That's not an additive, it's a reformulation of the fuel. Sulphur in the fuel poisons catalysts and makes them ineffective, in addition to causing sulphur dioxide emissions (a contributor to acid rain). Diesel fuel costs 10-15% more than petrol in the UK. They are taxed at the same rate. Passing a fuel station tonight I noticed ULS 95 RON petrol at 90.9p/litre, ULSD at 99.9p/litre. The fuel duty is currently 52.35p/litre for both, and VAT is applied at 15%. Applying those numbers: Petrol: VAT 11.86p, duty 52.35p, retailer + fuel + profit = 26.69p Diesel: VAT 13.03p, duty 52.35p, retailer + fuel + profit = 34.51p After taking away the tax, diesel is 29% more expensive.
Maybe thats why its so trouble free... and the engine is the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkinson_cycle"]"Atkinson" type[/ame] thats been around a very long time too, since 1882.
o man what a comment. -------------------------------------- The "key" looks like a flash drive, it goes in the slot, but it doesn't turn. There's a start button, but pushing it once doesn't do anything, you have to push it twice. But pushing it twice doesn't work unless you have the it in the right gear. And having it in the right gear doesn't work unless you have your foot on the brake. Sure, it all seems easy after you figure it out the first time. -------------------------------------- i want to make a video about us prius drivers that dont now what a key is anymore haha and then have trouble starting the jetta..... where is the start button..... OMG you still need to turn a key??? whats this a old model with a new body around it??? o yes its the new jetta..
Yea, that just make them look dumb. Newer expensive cars now come with some sort of Smart Key System with push start button. Nissan Altima Hybrid, Infinity, BMW, Mercedes, etc..
Yeah, talk about ridiculous. I didn't even bother watching the video. Actually, the smart key system isn't specific to the NAH either and it's not limited to expensive cars either. All current gen Altima trims have it except for the most basic 2.5. The other 4, including the hybrid version have it standard as do both coupe trims. It's even available on some Sentras and Versas.
Prius Hybrid 429 (60%) Clean Burning Jetta Diesel 283 (39%) Change your vote Votes so far: 712 Days left to vote: 2 http://www.greenhuman.net/