Drew Dowdell

18,100

It was meant as an engine preservation measure.

Something to remind the author, however, is that on many Toyota products, you can't shift into neutral if the engine is above a certain RPM. That's part of the reason for the California crash that started this whole thing..... the driver couldn't shift into neutral because neutral was locked out by the car.

I think because CAFE uses the old EPA rating system rather than the new one that went into affect in 2008

It's very rural.... It's about an hour from me. Most of your recreation will involve either going to the Outlets or driving to Pittsburgh or New Castle. There is a university in town that is ultra religious. Slippery Rock University isn't far away. I use to work in that area a lot. If you can give me more specifics about what you are looking to do, I can help you out more. And if you're here in time for our trip to Lordstown to see the Cruze production ramp up, you can come with. (hasn't been scheduled yet)

New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Texas, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio (partially), Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania (partially), Florida (partially), California (was deregulated, then re-regulated after Enron, moving towards deregulation again). I'm sure there are others, but those are the states my company does business in. And no, electric generation companies don't have a monopoly status there is a lot of competition there. The distribution companies (the wire owners) have a monopoly, but they aren't allowed to charge a markup on the cost of the power. Without revealing who I work for, we are in the top 5 nationally in a very crowded market. Our expertise is in the commercial sector. We can analyze the hourly usage of a customer (say Home Depot or a GM Manufacturing plant) and make predictive purchases of power on that customer's behalf. We lock that customer in at a set KWH rate and then it's our job to find the best price for that customer's power. Our company and companies like it help to drive down the cost of power on the wholesale market while at the same time giving a stable price to the end user.

Again, the reason for these weight reductions is where fuel costs are going to go in the future. It's a much easier bet to reduce the weight of a vehicle <and hence it's fuel economy> than it is to make a bet on an alternative fuel infrastructure being built. Gas will hit $4.00 a gallon again this summer.

Electric companies in most states are regulated heavily.... and in the ones where they aren't regulated, there is very healthy competition.... far more than the oil companies have.

Hidden in the corner back behind the Volt.

Brazil does it now. They started their conversion to pure alcohol engines about 12 years ago. They are the furthest along getting to an entirely bio-fuel fleet.

I agree with you that we should be addressing the fuel issue first... but I see no reason why we can't tackle weight as well. We have the technology already, it's not like someone has to go out and invent the stuff or build an infrastructure around it.

while it shouldn't have been taken to the XJ extreme, there could have been some things done to favor lightness. Throwing steel at a car to make it safer is the cheep way out. However, facing the reality of our coming fuel issues, auto makers should be working on much lighter vehicles today. So that when the next gas prices spike and don't come back down. We won't be facing the same mad rush for efficiency we had last time. There is a BIG reason GM put the 4-cylinder in the Lacrosse. As a country, we might need to dial back our expectations on beige sedan performance a bit.

I don't think there was anything good about 1978

I was off by 100lbs. The 2004 was 3500lbs. A SMART will even wipe out half the hood area of an E-class while maintaining it's passenger compartment.

How long will your last statement be true? If you believe CERA, OPEC and the cornucopians there are at least 1,350 billion barrels of conventional oil in known reserves. But those are made up numbers. One famous example is Kuwait, which has only 48 billion barrels of proven (95% sure) and probable reserves (50/50 chance of being there) but continues to claim 102 billion barrels of proven reserves. Once you take out the lies, worldwide the figure is closer to 850 billion barrels, or quite possibly as little as 600 billion. The world uses over 30 billion barrels a year.

Note that the 4100lbs Lacrosse is the CXS with AWD, but I agree with you on the feel of the Lacrosse, I just think it's pushed the weight a bit too far. The 3400lbs original CTS felt very solid and is very agile... and is only 200lbs more than a Sonata.

Lightweight steel, carbon fiber, aluminum, and composite construction have all come a long way since 1988. These should have been added to cars in tandem with the other new technologies to keep vehicle weights relatively stable.

What's the problem with "added lightness"? cars are super porkers these days. All this talk about the Hyundai Sonata's low weight at 3199lbs? Well Yippie... it's down to the weight of a 1989 Lesabre! The Lacrosse, as much as I like it, is often cited as an example of being too heavy because it can weigh as much as B-Body station wagon!

the PPV was there. Did you just miss it?

If you're looking for new product, the NY auto show was a bust for almost any brand.

Go with a higher mileage Avalanche to adjust the cost down.

edited the title forward 10 years.

I've seen booths at Carlisle with less parts....

nope. it was on 360

I'm on vacation this week.... and of course as soon as I get 3 miles off shore a hacker turns C&G into a phishing site.