Well, you can take the boys out of the shop but not the shop out of the
boys!  Where's the wife, mistress or Vanagons in all this.??

hehehe ;-)

On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 8:15 AM, Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@cox.net> wrote:

> ---- Robert Fisher <garciasghostvw@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> > --snip--
> >   Wonder what a full size Murikan car gets, mileage wise, now a days?
> > --snip--
> >
> > My Dad has a maybe four-year old Buick LeSabre and once told me he'd be
> > pissed if he got less than 34 on the highway. I've never had one but I've
> > heard Buicks have always been up there in mileage. Makes you wonder why
> GM
> > couldn't do that with the rest of their lines.
> >
> > Cya,
> > Robert
>
> EPA web site lists Buick La Cross/Allure, 6 cylinder, auto at 27 mpg hwy
> for 2010 and 28 mpg for 2006.  No LeSabre is listed in either year.  I don't
> know Buicks, so don't know how equivalent the two vehicles are, but
> apparently LeSabre was discontinued before 2006.  Hummers are listed at from
> 14 to 16 mpg hwy.  Mercury Grand Marquis, 8 cylinder, auto is listed at 23
> mpg hwy for both 2010 and 2006.  Toyota Avalon, 6 cylinder, auto, is listed
> at 28 mpg for both 2010 and 2006.
>
> My brother has two Grand Marquis and claims 30 mpg hwy, but drives max 60
> mph.  I have always been able to get 3 or 4 mpg above the EPA hwy mileage
> for just about any vehicle I've owned, but I drive within the speed limit
> and judge traffic and conditions to maximize mpg.  With my Prius I get 50-51
> mpg hwy (EPA says 48, and around 60 mpg in town (EPA says 51).  For my '97
> Honda Accord (4 cylinder, 5 speed manual) I get 35 mpg hwy, EPA says 29.
>  When I drove a '93 Toyota Corolla (4 cylinder, 1.8 L, 5 speed), I got 38
> mpg hwy, EPA says 32.
>
> BTW, my Prius has never run away with me, but I believe I have sense enough
> to get it into neutral and to squeeze down hard on the brakes if such a
> thing happened.  And there really is no braking problem with the vehicle.
>  What is claimed to be a problem is because for a split second as the car
> switches from regenerative to friction braking, braking power is off.
>  During that time, it travels, according to NHTSA, 50 cm (about two feet),
> which increases the stopping distance by that amount over what it would be
> if that instantaneous lapse were not there.  That is while traveling around
> 7 mph.  Perhaps some drivers perceive that, and stop braking?  THAT would be
> a problem.  I perceive it, but just keep pressing the brake.  The car slows
> and stops normally.  Never has seemed to be a problem to me.
>
> I am getting a little impatient with Toyota, however, because technically
> my Prius is subject to the accelerator/floormat recall but all I have gotten
> from Toyota is a card stating that I should remove the floormat and wait to
> hear from them concerning when to take my car to a dealer.
>
> For large cars, GM and Ford are comparable to Asian.  For small cars, Asian
> was beating the snot out of American, but recent figures from EPA seem to be
> similar.
>
> DMc
>

--
Neil2
'82 Diesel Westfalia (USS Tinosa)
'86 Vanagon/Westfalia Wannabe (SaVannah)
Nunquam Pendite Divendium