Interesting article from the Toronto Star.. points to the recognition of the decrease in oil in the world, China has raised its efficiency standards for vehicles.. interesting to see that the US is so far behind, and gets so much resistance to this type of inevitable and necessary change...

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ideas/article/326294

No gasoline-powered car assembled in North America would meet China's current fuel-efficiency standard.

Even vehicles produced under California's proposed, and much praised, efficiency law – being fought tooth and nail by the U.S. and Canadian governments and the auto industry – wouldn't come close to the Chinese mileage limits.

If that's a shock, take a deep breath. There's more.

The world's most populous country – and one of its most-polluted – is racing to cut all sorts of emissions, including the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. And any hope of getting the troubled Kyoto Protocol negotiations back on track comes in large part from China.

Fuel efficiency standards:

Efficient cars produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Europe and Japan currently have the best efficiency averages, followed by China. Canada and the U.S. lag badly, and will continue to even when proposed new standards are adopted.

China: 36 mpg. (current)
43 mpg. (2009)
Canada: 27 mpg
(current average, no standard)
TBA (starting in 2011)
United States: 25 mpg.
(current average)
35 mpg. (proposed, 2030
California: 25 mpg. (current)
36 mpg. (proposed, 2016)
Europe: 40 mpg. (current)
48.9 mpg. (proposed 2012)
Japan: 40 mpg. (current)
48.9 mpg. (proposed, 2015)

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"The game of football is fun when you win, when you lose it becomes a business"...Junior Seau

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I think I'd rather be in the smoggiest days of July in Los Angeles than any time of the year in Beijing. Olympic athletes are pledging not to go over health concerns. And they will be there for only a few weeks, at most!!!

China is as rich as Leona Helmsley (RIP) once was, and just as cheap about any kind of self-sacrifice for the health of others. Hell, even their own people are dying by the tens of thousands due to pollution so bad the fish and all other aquatic life has died long ago.

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"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing."

Al Boob Gore should round up a few of his Show Biz pals then go over to China and give one of his "bellowing speeches", Gore could scare them into "going green"

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Stupid Harry Boy

Well of course you would, LA air gets better every year. Environmental efforts are the direct cause of that. Just don't go to most major cities in Texas, especially Austin. The shrub's time as Gov changed things a bit there.

So who's going to be the first to buy a Chery QQ?



How about a Zhejiang Jonway UFO?



I know none of you will be buying the Kevorkian, ahem, I mean the Brilliance by Zhonghua Motors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F06LjugtIUo

Good luck with that mileage!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wHyn...eature=related



The comments on this one are the funniest. Watch the vid and the first comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30RZB...eature=related

timuhtee (5 days ago)

i have a few funny thing's to say...

1. I think this is a bigger scale model of a hotwheel toy.
2. the best safety feature is how the door opens up on impact. that way, the coroner can have easy access to your corpse.
3. if you look close enough at the INANIMATE dummy, it kinda moves his arms in a way that screams "why the **** did i buy this car?!!!?"
4. only a dummy would drive that car.
5. if he was human do you think he woulda survived?

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"A theory that explains everything, explains nothing"

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They make a car in Poland (of all places) that is NO MORE than six feet long. It's so small that one person has to sit with his/her thigh on the other person's thigh, just to fit in. It's for married couples only. (!!!) For real.



I don't have the name, but it is a tomato can with doors. I wouldn't let my worst enemy ride on one. Well, for Pressy I'd make an exception.






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"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing."

There's cars here that get 36 MPG. I assume you have one - have fun with it.

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Don't Give Me a Defensive Player Who Can't Tackle . . . What Am I Going to Do With Him ? --- Bill Belichick

Yeah sitting here saying how our car industry is behind china is laughable if that is the intended message from the original author of this post, the cherry will never pass the standards in this country and especially not Europe. It's probably gets it's mileage increase from having a lawn mower engine in it along with beer can thick metal, gm could do this to if we get rid of every standard made to make cars safe.

Imagine going out onto Rte 128 with all those animals at rush hour in one of those things.

They look like sewing machines, Al Gore wouldn't fit in one of them, Michael Moore couldn't get his leg one of them.

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Stupid Harry Boy

What most people don't understand is that car concepts in other countries are very different from the States. I rent a car every year when I go to Italy, and most of th cars there wouldn't be driven by the members of this forum. A Volkswagon Golf, or Jetta, for example, is considered a big car there. Ford Focus' are very popular in Italy, but they're mid-sized over there. The needs of the populace, and the $8 per gallon cost of gas, make 90hp tin cans on wheels ideal. Geo Metro's are the common type of vehicle you'll see there. Smart cars are popular too. No thanks. I remember driving a Fiat Punto for 3 weeks. The wind almost blew me off the highway on my way home from Rome. I had the pedal floored going down a highway (on a mountain basically) and the thing topped out at 165kph. Talk about a toy. A mobile caufin as my american friends call them.

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"A theory that explains everything, explains nothing"