Exactly! Just look at all the relatively useless junk they throw into cars these days...don't even get me started on the half a dozen or more airbags that manage to find their way into a vehicle these days. Its just nuts that some of the vehicles of today weigh almost as much as the land barges from the 70s.

 

I think it's a great idea.

Car companies are like kids. They won't do anything unless you tell them and there are consequences. If we don't set the standards higher, we will be right where we are today in 20 years.

Think about how much more power the modern vehicle is putting out and how much more high tech it is and how it still gets about the same mileage as they did 20 years ago.

Only to a certain extent do car companies make what people want. A lot of the time, they make stuff that they think we want and try to show it down our throats. How long has everyone been screeming about an F150 diesel? I really don't want to hear that it was "impossible" to get emissions down low enough.

Our energy policy should concentrate first on conservation and then on more supply and fancy alternatives. I think that almost every vehicle should be a hybrid, at least the cars anyway but trucks also.

Mike

 

Nah! Tinfoil is too heavy. You gotta use paper mache! Then you cover it with Nerf foam. It has to be bright orange too, otherwise the Nerf is rendered ineffective.

 

I can't resist - thank heavens the directive to "discuss" was included to save this discussion board from the embarassment of not knowing what to do.

 

Yep, and look, it worked, here we are with two pages of discussion. Sure glad I mentioned that I was trying to provoke discussion.

Yep.

 

over all i think an increase in fuel economy laws is a good idea. BUT, i think they should keep the limit at 8500 lbs. I read somewhere, i think cnn, that theyre increasing it so that vehicles w/ a gvwr of 10000 will have to comply with the new laws. vehciles like the SD's are just too heavy to comply with these laws and still have decent power and capacity. seems like everytime the government puts in one-size-fits-all laws they dont work like they should for most.

anyone know if these laws go into effect all at once at 2020 or if they gradually phase in? if so, y'all think they will still be building the SD's like they do now in 5 years?

 

.Let's see My 83 300-6 got 19 MPG, it might have got 20MPG if I had kept my foot off the go pedal. WITHOUT COMPUTER BULL SH** Last time I looked at a new 1/2 ton The MPG was about 20. So 25 years later, miles of wires and, half a dozen computer boxes and what have we gained? Something wrong here....... As for CAFE: Govt involvment has seldom helped anyone.

ETA; found this on Wikipedia

Light trucks that exceed 8,500 lb gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) do not have to comply with CAFE standards; SUVs and passenger vans are exempt up to 10,000 lb.

Another words that F350 you bought to pull your bioat camper trailer etc. is exempt. ........For what it's worth.......

 

1) I am against more gov't legislation.
2) Buy a second vehicle for the purpose of gas mileage?
If I can only afford 1 car...its gonna be a truck, screw the gas mileage, because even if most of the time I only use it for a commuter...I need a truck on occasion as well
3) The reasons that our vehicles are not sold in alot fo other countries does not have to do with CAFE standards or other issues similiar. Most gov'ts watch their imports more than we watch ours. We have a very open import policy...unlike most (whatI consider smarter) nations. And in alot of those countries, our cars that do make it in (most of them actualyl being classics) are in extermely high demand by the local populace.

I think that my 3 vehicles get a combines gas mileage less than 35......'02 gets 16, '91 gets 10, '71 gets 8....so I am at 34mpg w/ 3.

 

I think it's crazy that alot of you are putting the blame on the car companies. As tight as competetion is right now, if someone could build a car that got 75 mpg they damn sure would build it. Anytime something is forced on the companies the cost gets passed right down to us, like air bags, abs, air pressure alarms and so on. We have 20,000$ worth of safty equipment on cars, but you can ride a motorcycle with no helment. or therre's no seat belts on school buses. This is the crap that happens when big brother gets involved with our daily lives, it ends up costing us for things that make no sense. With ever increasing gas prices, thats enough incentive for companies to build more efficent autos. It's called "sales", those who build the best car will sell the most, it's a simple concept that has allways worked. Part of the bill was to increase E-85 use, I'm all for that, I would burn E-85 in a heartbeat if I could get it and my cars would burn it. I saw on history channel where Barzil has used E-85 since the 74 embargo, they make it out of sugar. 90% of the fuel sold there is E-85 and it's about a buck cheaper than straight gas or diesel. There's so many things that E-85 can be made out of, it's a waste not to use more of it than we do. It's also a higher octane, my stang would love it, it's like race fuel, the down side is that you don't get the mileage that you do from gas, but close enough. I personally love the combustion engine and will burn whatever I have to to keep it. I know were all for cleaner air and better mpg, just some of us wish that big brother would stay out of it.

 

Your 300-6 has what? 101HP? I think its pretty damn good that we have almost quadrupled the horsepower, added tons of weight, but we are still getting the same mileage.