This should piss off every American!
 

VW Passat 78.5 MPG (Imperial gallon) 65.2 MPG US gallon in the Uk - YouTube

This is just sad. Why cant we have cars like this in the US! Watch the video!

Re: This should piss off every American!
 

Sounds like if this guy's research/analysis is to be believed, you would need to make big noise about fixing our infrastructure (roads) outside of the gasoline tax, before we got the really high-mileage vehicles on the road.

Everybody but shut-ins use the roads. Would you prefer to convert the gasoline tax to a general roads levy on the income tax? If this guy's analysis is the only problem, it seems like you actually have a "fiefdom" evolved over maintenance of the roads that is at odds with the objective of higher mileage cars. (It sounds like the second issue -- measurement of pollutants per gallon vs. pollutants per mile -- is treated as an excuse, according to this guy, rather than the heart of the issue.)

Re: This should piss off every American!
 

Why the hell can't the "highway tax" be based on mileage per car on an annual basis? Whenever you get a safety inspection, you pay the tax or get a bill with quarterly or monthly payments or have it figured into your income tax (yes, loopholes abound)...but point is, why cant the funding foir roads be more flexible? Are we idiots?

Also, there's a missing component which is the 400 lb gorilla sitting on the sofa: Oil companies like it when we buy gasoline. They want to sell more- not less- gasoline. They also want us to take longer trips, and what vehicle will you be driving to the beach in- The tiny, cramped VW or the massive, luxurious, spaceous, leather seats with 4 DVD screens Yukon?

Maybe we are idiots.

Re: This should piss off every American!
 

BINGO Wista!!

From the top (corps/pols) on down (us minions as a whole).

A few years back, when gas prices were going crazy (07-08 ish??) I was in the Shell Gas Station in Foxboro (140 and 95) and was in line waiting to buy a pack of smokes. In line ahead of me was a woman, nicely dressed, jewelry to the nines etc etc on her cellphone. When it was her turn in line she said "hold on" to the person on the call and proceeded to rip into the cashier about their gas prices.

"you guys are effing criminals...this is stealing..." etc etc. Was pretty rude and way over the top dramatic about it.

I guess the kid had had enough and asked her what gas pump her car was parked at....she id'd the pump number.....with her shiny black Hummer H2 parked at it fully fueled.

She may have been upset she was paying $4 bucks a gallon to fill up her 9-10mpg hummmmah; which she had all the choice in the world to buy.....but I do know the gas companies were pleased with that choice.

Re: This should piss off every American!
 

My first car was a '79 Plymouth horizon. It got about 35 mpg. I have a 2011 ford focus for a work car that gets about the same. I can't believe we haven't come further in 30+ years.

I've always wondered if auto makers got kick backs from oil companies.

Re: This should piss off every American!
 

this kind of crap exists all across product lines.....you go to other countries, all models are available with smaller engines than here.....you can get a mercedes benz E240 (E class model with the base C class engine) ... can't get it here

Re: This should piss off every American!
 

That is truly a sad statement...

But if that is all "we" demand from our government and companies producing vehicles, then we get what we deserve.

Re: This should piss off every American!
 

go find a horizon or an omni and park your fusion next to it. then ask if you can take it for a ride and tell me we haven't come further.


the worst thing that happened to the car industry was the oil glut of the late 80's and early 90's.

Gasoline Price History

adjusted for inflation, gas is no more expensive now than it was 30 years ago.

the fact is that gas prices are manipulated far beyond the notion of what vehicles we drive. there are cars available that have plenty of space and get in the 40's for MPG's and as an expense, that's pretty damned good. and don't compare a horizon to a fusion. you should compare a horizon to a focus or something along those lines

Re: This should piss off every American!
 

I think the information in this thread alone should answer your question...that is if you don't know already.

Re: This should piss off every American!
 

I did say Focus, not Fusion. :bricks:

Yeah the FOCUS is more aerodynamic, so it should far surpass the Horizon.

You missed the whole point.

I got my license in 1988 gas was about .90-$1, it's 3.5x that now far more than inflation.