On 7/20/07, Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@comcast.net> wrote:
> What I don't understand is why VW didn't bring their Lupo (RIP) over to the US?  If the Smart Car has a market then surely the Lupo would have as well.  It was a three cylinder TDI that got around 78 mpg!  Take that "not so Smart are we now Car"!  To me much of the debate over fuel economy could be handled effectively and easily by a really old technology, diesel.  Hybrids aren't as frugal.  Maybe plug in hybrids are more frugal but they are ten years away (battery costs).  Electric cars (battery), E85 (gets less mpg in most flex fuel cars), etc.  Diesel has been around since day one.  The modern TDI engine is clean, efficient, reliable and can be serviceable for over 300k miles.  Oh did I mention quiet and powerful (added bonuses for the Direct Injection technology).  My parent bought a 2006 Jetta with the TDI engine.  It seats four comfortably, it has all of the bells and whistles that you would expect on a modern car and gets between 40-50 mpg.  So you get your fuel economy, and
>  an actual car that is fun to drive to boot!  I would much rather drive a Jetta than a Smart Car any day.  And as we have noted several times there is a false economy of driving a two person car over driving a four place or larger car.  You need to factor in not just mpg but also how many folks you are transporting at that mpg.  If a Smart Car is only moving two people around town and getting 60 mpg and a Jetta is moving 4 and getting 45 mpg, the Jetta is actually more efficient and is getting almost double the mpg of the Smart Car!
>

but...I look around and I notice that instead of two or four
passengers there is mostly one person in the car......

--
Karl
'81 Westy "Jenny"
Wilmington, DE