This is old news, and the thing is still just a concept. BTW, I think carmakers should quit the gas guzzlers and make more cars like the prius. The thing is, most people dont care for muscle cars anymore, since with the new speed regulations and controls you cant go beyond 60MPH in most places. So basically, unless you live near the autobahn that porche of your isnt going faster than a civic. Back with the prius, the success of that car is simple: is not a "car" but a big ass gadget, and most of the buyers are from the computer generation, thus they like gadgets. After all, the rest of the hybrid cars out there are unsold and hidden in the back of most car dealers. They could slap a 3-cylinder engine to a car, I dont care. As long as they fill it with stuff I'm really going to use and they keep the MPG low then is all good for me. This URGE concept is really cool and I hope they release it someday...
Yeah but what about efficiency? The last week my brother got one of those Dodge Chargers with an Hemi engine and it was all fun for some days until we checked the money we been expending on gas. Is that, we've been going from gas station to gas station with that car, mostly due to its 6-liter engine which eats gas faster than a hummer. Anyway, lets just say with oil prices going up, we change our cars or we'll have to walk all the way home soon....
Although its ok for consumer cars to be hybrid, the hybrid cars cant tow worth of shit. An otto/wangel engine gives you more watts than any electromotor or hybrid combination. Professional vehicles can't be hybrid for the same reason any time soon. Its true however, american cars, and especially older ones had no fuel efficiency, but they were designed for an age that the galon was dirt cheap and people wanted the horsepower.
I think you mean the Wankel engine and yeah is pretty good, althought not that efficient as some say. I heard they couldnt get it to the market due to the intense vibrations inside the engine. and yeah, hybrids are more hype than anything. Shit, I'll rather had a diesel, but sadly hybrids here are the only option besides the always popular gas engine.
sorry, typo :S Wankel engines are a one-off thing. they were marketed with the japaneze taxation scheme in mind. A 1300 cc Wankel can output almost the same power as a 2.000 cc standard engine (approx. as designs differ in efficieny even within the same family of engines). So you got taxed for 1300 and got the 2000 cc power. However, due to the fact that u can't open and fix a Wankel as you would a standard engine, (pistones etc), maintenance is REALLY costy , since u have to get the old engine out, and replace it. At the moment only the Rx 8 has a Wankel engine to my knowledge. PS : The Mazda Wankel 13B engine is unique in that it employs two rotors with 3 faces on each rotor which are similar in function to a reciprocating engine’s pistons. The total displacement of the engine, as conventionally measured, is 80 cubic inches. However, because each rotor face completes a cycle of intake, compression, combustion and exhaust every revolution and there are two rotors with a total of six faces, the engine produces a very high amount of power given its small displacement. The typical horse power range in automobile applications have ranged from 150-250 HP. In highly modified race applications over 350 HP has been achieved ( with reduction in reliability). The RPM red-line for normal automobile application is 8500 RPM. In this adaptation for aircraft use the upper limit is 6500 RPM which is an operating range well within its limits.
I don't see why the US doesn't go for diesels more. My dad recently sold a 1.9td Volvo S40 (115bhp), which usually got 50-55mpg (note thats in UK gallons. 1uk gallon=1.2us gallons) And thats in a pretty normal car, therefore no big price jump as in hybrids. So america, listen up and buy diesels!
diesels are more harmful to the environment, and with the amount of cars in the US this is a problem they can't afford. That said, even in the US professional cars are diesel. Hell, we used to have a diesel mercedes when i lived in california.
Its not really more harmful as the amount of diesel used on a journey is less than the amount of petrol so can cancel out some of the damage. Also, going with a small car with a diesel, is going to be far better than buying a giant V8 petrol monster.
Credit the lack of diesel cars to horrible marketing 20+ years ago. Diesel isn't as bad as the rep it's been given in the US. The engines have improved so that the exhaust is negligibly harmful compared to 20 years ago (IIRC, the damage is roughly 1/4 nowadays vs. 20 years ago). Also, there's biodiesel to throw into the mix. The big advantage of diesel is the engine. A normal gasoline engine is good for 100-200k miles (if maintained well, a bit more if really maintained well...) before replacement, while diesel engines can go for 400-500k miles.
X2 Seriously, diesels are gaining in popularity, but it will be a long time before America abandons the almighty V8. In fact the latest trend seems to be bigger V8's and RWD.
diesels are dogs and everlasting. they don't brake, simple as that. they re quite shitty at accelerations though, so turbo-diesels are the gold line.
Dont forget american diesel has higher sulphur level than euro. Anyway the only diesels around here are some big trucks and imported (and expensive) european cars. Diesel kick ass, is way better than, for example, E85 which is being promoted like the big solution. the fact is, you can get a lot more of biodiesel from a soy field than ethanol from a corn one. Then corn needs a lot of power to be tranformed into ethanol, so there goes the efficiency and enviromental. Plus cars need a separated fuel system for ethanol, and both the accel. and max speed are really lower compared to gas. Anyway, I heard both citroen and peugeot are making a diesel hybrid that gets 100MPG and beyond. Hope somebody releases it here. Yeah well, see ya at $10 per gallon.
I was just pointing out the direction that the automakers seem to be going, not stating that bigger V8's were the answer.
Screw cars!!! I've got the same BHP and MPG on my motorbike, but I can do 0-60 in 3 seconds and do 160mph and weave through traffic
I just got a Scion XA a few months ago (which is an E85 compatible engine if I'm not mistaken) and I must say I'm rather happy with it. I get like 40 miles to the gallon, my expenditure on gas every month has gone down by half. Have to agree with the can't-tow-for-shit statement, my car has like zero power. When other people get in I can feel the weight in the acceleration.
Shit son, at that speed you'll be lucky if you can get anything from the big blood splat that was LeGIt. I heard at 40MPH is like going down from a 6th floor. On my part I never tow anything, hell I even pay home depot to bring the stuff to my house. And if you mean spped then you should've choosen the scion coupe instead of that hatchback.
