VW Touareg TDI's First Outting

Last weekend was the 41st running of the Baja 1000 race in Mexico.

It was also the first time in the event's history that a Clean Diesel powered vehicle successfully competed in, and completed, the event. VW's Touareg TDI placed 13th in it's class of 26 trucks.

This Touareg TDI was powered by a 550-hp 5.5l V12 diesel, which is quite a bit more substantial than their forthcoming Dakar entry, but still... clean diesels are slowly but surely becoming an integral part of endurance motorsports.

LINK

Friday Update

I haven't had a whole lot of time lately to update this blog with articles as much as I'd like to... but there are a few in the past few days that I'd like to touch on briefly.

First, I really want to redo my "How Much Does That Hybrid Really Cost" article that I wrote up a few months ago. With the current fuel prices being so low, that article would take on a whole new dimension. The amortization period for a brand new hybrid now must be astronomically high! The huge premium that hybrid buyers were suckered into paying earlier this year when their popularity skyrocketed must be a very painful pill to swallow right now.

Secondly, the 2 most economical hybrids that were sold in the USA are now not elligible for the hybrid tax credit. Yes, the Toyota Prius (which was bumped last year) and Honda Civic Hybrid (which will be axed from the list at the end of 2008) have sold enough cars to be considered mainstream enough to not need any tax credit incentives to sell. What about the cars that are left? Of the 16 still elligible for the credit, only ONE gets better than 33 miles per gallon.

That's laughable!

In fact, 13 of the 16 vehicles left on the list are large, low-mileage SUVs! It's a joke... a totally, hypocritical joke! Half those huge hybrids won't even be around showrooms in a year or two because they aren't selling, even as "fuel efficient" hybrids.

Lastly, some good news!

While GM and Chrysler are busy scrambling to sell their models that nobody wants, Ford is busy looking ahead instead of behind and are continuing to develop their small cars for North America! For anyone that keeps an eye on what they produce at Ford in Europe, this is exciting news! Personally I can't want to see some ST and RS models of the new Focus, Fiesta, and possible even Ka come to showrooms here.

The Extinction of the SUV-Asaurus!

This is a perfect example of my philosophy of making responsible choices when car buying. You don't have to buy a hybrid to save money on gas, but any fool with half a brain can see the pitfall of buying the biggest, heaviest, & most inefficient vehicle they can barely afford.



There's a joke about fossil-fuels in there somewhere....

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before...

Environmental responsibility, or social statement... why are you buying a new car?

Memory Retention of a Goldfish

Courtesy salon.com

200+ Miles Per Hour on Biogas!

Audi is quickly becoming a favorite automakers of mine. The silver bullet pictured here is yet another example why. They took a standard 3.0L current gen A4, fitted twin turbos to boost the output, and converted it to run on biogas... in this case, fermented switchgrass!

The results? 585 horsepower, and a top speed of 327.2 km/h, or roughly 202.8 mph.

Source.

What Car Buyer's Really Want

According to a Survey done by BMW in Britain... 75% of buyers would not buy a hybrid. Why? Because while 20% of buyers actually do look at CO2 emissions when car shopping, "three quarters of motorists would purchase a lower-emissions car only if it saved them money". Saving money is by no means the same as saving gas.

You can read the full BMW press release HERE.

It's All In The Spin!

Earlier this week when I was looking around the lexus.ca website for the facts & figures used in the previous article I came across the "Lexus Hybrid Drive" section of the site with headings on "Benefits", "How It Works", and "Hybrid Myths". Some of it was well presented and honest, but a few "facts" were so rife with spin I got dizzy!

A few examples:

A Powerful Statement
Lexus Hybrid Drive is an advanced gas-electric hybrid system that delivers significant environmental benefits without sacrificing power or performance.

First... I hate anyone that justifies hybrids primarily by declaring them to be a statement!

Secondly, are the environmental benefits truly significant? As I brought out in my last article about Lexus, in the case of the GS450h, it only uses 4.6% less fuel than it's conventionally powered counterpart. That's hardly significant.

I will admit that it does indeed do so without sacrificing power though. After all, you've got 2 powertrains working together to do the work of one, so of course it will end up being more powerful.

But what about performance? Performance can be measured in a multitude of ways. Since we can assume that these 2 cars will be fitted with many (if not all) identical parts outside of the powertrain, that means "performance" in this case can be boiled down to two things: power, and weight (since the extra motor + the batteries to power it weigh a few hundred pounds).

-GS350
Horsepower: 303@6200
Torque: 274@3600
Weight: 3795

-GS450h
Horsepower: 340@6400
Torque: 267@4800
Weight: 4134

The hybrid does have a slightly better power to weight ratio, which means acceleration will be somewhat better. But since it weighs over 300 pounds more, braking and cornering will suffer. A lot!

It would be like having my ex-wife in the backseat all the time!

Next:

Lexus Hybrid Drive vehicles are significantly more efficient than their non-hybrid counterparts. While fuel consumption is lower for both city and highway driving, city driving requires less fuel because the electric motors are often used exclusively at low speeds.

Yes I will agree that city driving with a hybrid uses a lot less fuel since you spend more time rolling on electric power, as well as having the benefits of start/stop (which conventional vehicles are soon starting to get).

But yet again... there's the word: significant. 4.6%... significant? Not in my opinion.

In the "Hybrid Myths" section:

Hybrids Cost An Arm And a Leg
There is an initial added cost outlay, but it's not nearly as significant as you might think. You'll also benefit from available government rebates, reduced service costs and fuel savings. The Lexus GS 450h gets almost 25% better fuel-economy than its conventional cousin, the GS 430.

The people at Lexus seem to have a very fluid perception of what "significant" means. A 4.6% savings in fuel consumption is "significant", yet a 38% increase in MSRP is "not nearly as significant as you might think".

How stupid does Lexus think their customers are?

As for benefiting from government rebates... here in Canada (after all, I'm reading lexus.ca) there is only one of the three Lexus hybrids that gets that rebate, which is a mere $1000 (on a $55,000 vehicle).

As for the claim that the 450h gets 25% better fuel economy than it's conventional cousin, the 430... it's true, but that's only because they are powered by two entirely different engines! The 430 is powered by a 4.3L V8, while the 450h is powered by a 3.5L V6! Lexus is comparing apples to oranges. There's 2 extra cylinders and nearly 25% difference in displacement between the 2 engines, so of course the bigger one would use more gasoline.

Compare apples to apples Lexus... conventional 3.5L V6 vs hybrid 3.5L V6.

But wait, you don't really want to do that because 4.6% isn't nearly as significant as 25%.

Sorry Lexus.... you've got some very nice looking vehicles, but your hybrids are not nearly as great as you proclaim them to be, and the lack of respect for your customer's intelligence is appalling!

If you want to read more of their nonsense and spin, feel free to visit their hybrid page for yourself.

ePorsche

For the automakers that feel hybrids are here to stay, and not just a transitional technology, I can't help but wonder how their hybrids will be powered when gas is too expensive for anyone to buy, or when it's completely gone all together...

According to Johnson Controls, electric cars will eventually win out!

Those that are more forward-thinking are already hard at work making cool electric powered cars. Tesla is the first to put performance EVs in the hands of consumers, but RUF is hot on their heels with their electric powered Porsche.

-200 horsepower
-418 lb-ft of torque
-0 to 60 is less than 7 seconds
-160 mph top speed
-zero emissions

I want one!

Source.

Lexus Says "Hybrids Aren't Just a Transition Technology"

"They are here to stay."

So claims Andy Pfeiffenberger, the head of Lexus Europe. Perhaps in the future things will be different, but in their current state, hybrids are nothing more than a band-aid. And if what they have now is all they have to offer, Toyota/Lexus is in a very sad state.

For starters, hybrids as we know them now do very little to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. The fact is, they still need gasoline to run. Sure they may use a bit less, but like I said... they're just a band-aid. Hybrids on our roads today are doing little to wean us off gasoline, and nothing to promote alternative energy solutions.

Just look at the hybrid offerings from Lexus themselves:

The GS450h is the hybrid version of the GS350. The 350 is powered by a 3.5L V6 and gets a combined EPA rating of 10.7L/100kms (22mpg). The GS450h is powered by the same 3.5L V6 (I wonder where they got the 450 nomenclature from?) but with the addition of the electric motor puts out a few more horsepower, while consuming 10.2L/100kms (23mpg).*

That's a grand total of 4.6% improvement in fuel efficiency! (And don't forget that they both need Premium pump gas too...)

Wow!!

That figure is even more amazing when you factor in the price. What does the privilege of 4.6% improvement in fuel economy cost you? Try $11,250 in the United States, or $18,200 in Canada!**

Let's do the math on that:

In the USA it will cost you about 25% more to save 4.6% on gas.

In Canada it will cost you over 34% more to save 4.6% on gas.

Andy Pfeiffenberger had better hope Toyota/Lexus can come up with something much better than that if they truly believe that hybrids aren't just a transition technology and really are here to stay.

*Fuel economy figures taken from fueleconomy.org.
**Price differentials based on MSRP, taken from lexus.com and lexus.ca respectively.