Gas Mileage and Car Choice

I wondered what people thought of that Escape. I don't know if the mileage gain would really offset the additional cost of a hybrid, though. It would take like three full years of driving to see the cash benefit almost. Looks like a good car, though -

After my GMC, it's sad but I will not buy American-made again until the auto makers get their acts together. Who knows when that is going to be -
 
Im still rockin the '97 Ford Aerostar. On a good cruise I can manage 20mpg highway but the van does horrible in cross and head wind so that affects it greatly. I plan on chasing this vehicle till it cant chase anymore, its also my daily driver. 152000 miles and running strong!

Once this beast finally bites the dust I was thinking F150 4x4. Im quite picky about a vehicle, MPG means very little to me...Ive found that good upkeep on the maintenance and more gradual acceleration as opposed to punching the gas all the time also helps MPG, those little bottles of fuel addiditve do wonders as well.

Im a tall guy 6'4'' and chasing in a car or something small is outa the question.
 
I am somewhat disapointed in my lexus is300 (3.0 liter inline 6), for being a small 4 door sedan, it only gets a solid 25 mpg on the highway. I can squeeze out 27 if I am going (consistently)around 60mph. I think a small toyota corolla or honda civic gets a conistent mid 30s mpg.
 
Yeah...I consistently get around 40 mpg in my Toyota Corolla, but it's a manual transmission so some might not want that. I am 6 ft tall and there's plenty of room for me. From what I am seeing here some of us have a little extra coin in our pockets and this is the one hole to bury a lot of money in. But if you do long trips and you're not raking in the big bucks, there are some pretty affordable small compact cars out there if you don't hit up too many mud roads. I have been stuck in mud twice in my life, and yes, a 4 WD truck got me out. It's worth the risk though for me.
 
My Accord wagon gets about 33~34 MPG at moderate freeway speeds; 36+ cruising two lane hiways at ~60. I woudn't mind something newer, and will likely get a somewhat smaller car when I retire the old beast. A Civic/Corolla/Focus sized car will get another 5+ MPG - probably worth the slight loss of interior space. (Many new small/midsized new cars have better ergonomics than older midsize cars like my '92 whale.) I've chasepooled only once, and only with one partner, so a slight downsize won't be much of an issue.

Several manufacturers will be introducing diesel passenger cars in the next year or two. Honda's Civic and Ford's Focus are already out in Europe and deliver about 55MPG (US) freeway. If the price is kept in check, they would be a very tempting buy.

I'm always amused that people take the 'Hemi' trademark so seriously. Good advertising pays! The concept (rounded head, overhead valves) is over 100 years old and is implemented to a degree in nearly every modern gasoline engine. AFAIK, the strict definition of 'hemi' actually limits the engine to two valves per cylinder. :rolleyes:

-Moo
 
How about these? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21882844/

These things are just all over Europe. They totally make sense there because of the dense population centers and mega high gas prices.

But wait ... if Americans realize that getting around in the big cities is getting pretty tough over here these days and gas prices are starting to catch up with Europe, maybe these things actually do have a shot at catching on. They are sort of like a motorcycle with two doors ... but hey, never know. The minis caught on pretty big over here -
 
I have to say that I've been very happy with the Impala. I purchased a 2005 Impala last year that was hardly used, and at 32 MPG highway (best) you can't go wrong. The Impala is roomy and rides very nice, in addition to having plenty of space to mount your equipment. It's nice to have 4WD in a vehicle, but I have no complaints thus far.
 
I have a 2006 Ford Escape. I was incredibly close to getting the hybrid version. Remember that when you're doing freeway driving though, the spread on mileage isn't that great. The efficiency of a standard gas engine goes up and the efficiency of the hybrid goes down because you don't get as much assist from the electric motor. Once on a storm though where there is a lot of starting and stopping, and slower driving, you probably wouldn't use the gas engine much at all as everything will be fully charged from the previous driving. It also would make for a quieter video time near your car. You won't need to get as far away to avoid the engine and fan sound pollution.

That said, on the longer chases I averaged about 21-24 MPG with the 3.0 liter engine depending on number of passengers and how the chase went (long straight drive vs. lots of stopping). I imagine I'd be up around the 25-30 MPG with the hybrid, with the chases where I'm stopping a lot or end up being close to my target so I'm just moving along with the storm and stopping and taking lots of pix and video being over 30 MPG.

If I trade in again in a year or two (which I do plan on doing) I'll again very much consider the hybrid. Not only for gas price sake but just also for some peace of mind. I have to remember that this vehicle also sits in rush hour 5 days a week... I only wish I could chase that much.

-John
 
Although I still prefer renting to using my own car for chases, I'm looking at replacing my Ford Focus with a Honda Fit as an all-around car in a year or so. The 2009 model supposedly coming to the states next year makes a few important improvements/fixes (like lumbar support) to the current model. It gets excellent mileage and has extraordinary cargo space. It's front-heavy for good traction and mechanically proven. It's also about $10k cheaper than the Prius.

The new Focus is also not out of the running. They improved the gas mileage a bit from my model and supposedly improved the durability. It's built-in BlueTooth/voice Sync system sounds pretty slick, too. I wish they still offered it as a wagon.

A colleague just got a 2008 Prius and gave me the tour. The energy monitor screen alone is worth the admission for a gadget geek. I wish they'd make a hybrid with four-wheel electric drive for the sticky spots. What a great feature that would be! For whatever reason, though, the Prius' freeway gas mileage isn't very spectacular, and running the A/C should keep the gas engine powered up most of the time.
 
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