14 May 2008

Cars

Lots of talk about oil and cars and fuel efficiency and even some news items today about Smart Fortwo US safety testing.  It's a shame the range of cars in the US is so limited.  All of these cars are available in europe and are cheaper than a Prius (which I personally can't stand) and get about the same (or better) mileage as a Prius or the little Smart car.  All of them have more room than a smart car but are still small and cute.  Just about all of them are more fun to drive, too.
  • citroen C2 1.6HDi (diesel) -- 120 mph hatchback
  • citroen C1 1.0i (petrol)
  • peugeot 107 (petrol)
  • toyota aygo (petrol)
  • toyota yaris TR 1.4 D-4D (diesel) -- yaris is available in the US, but not the diesel
  • vw polo 1.4 TDI (diesel)
  • vw golf bluemotion S 1.9 TDI (diesel)
  • ford focus econetic 1.6TDCI (diesel) -- focus is popular in the US, but this model with the excellent citroen engine is not available
And by far the nicest one:
  • Mini Cooper D -- this diesel version is sadly not available in the US despite getting better mileage than the Prius or Smart ForTwo, being cheaper than the Prius, equalling the Prius in low CO2 emissions, and being, by all accounts, a blast to drive:  over 120 mph and sub-10 seconds 0-62 mph and good bmw handling


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10 comments:

  1. zim18 May 2008 at 19:34

    yeah, that mini cooper D looks nice. every time i think about buying a new car, i come to the conclusion that my 98 diesel beetle is the best car for me.

    and it's free!


    seriously, 10 years on and *something* should be better...

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  2. pyker18 May 2008 at 20:22

    The mini would certainly be faster, lighter, handle better, and get better mileage than your beetle. But with all the snow, I think your next car should be AWD. Like a rally car. Maybe one of these: http://www.type-25.com/.

    And for dry, sunny days, Ariel is coming out with a 500 bhp V8 version of the Atom this year.

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  3. pyker18 May 2008 at 21:28

    I want a Prius.

    ReplyDelete
  4. JJ18 May 2008 at 21:34

    No, he doesn't want a Prius, but I think he's been using my computer. *I* want a Prius.

    ReplyDelete
  5. zim18 May 2008 at 21:44

    what about a skoda fabia diesel?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrfK6iunakE

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  6. pyker18 May 2008 at 22:14

    Skoda is mostly VW engineering, isn't it? Nice little car. But gets worse mileage and much worse CO2 emissions than the cooper D.

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  7. zim22 May 2008 at 08:03

    for those keeping track, there are ZERO mini dealers in chicago.

    the closest to me is in schaumburg. wtf?

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  8. pyker22 May 2008 at 21:12

    That's odd. I would've thought some of the city bmw dealers would have talked on mini showrooms. Does not seem like a suburban car.

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  9. zim25 May 2008 at 04:59

    i can't recall seeing one in the suburbs, other than the one my uncle had for a while (and to be fair, i never actually saw it).

    i see many in the city, including one across the street.

    ReplyDelete
  10. JustJoeP4 June 2008 at 18:32

    Zim, my buddy Steve Mendoza who lives in the city (Racine & Fullerton) had to order a Mini, that got delivered during a massive January snow storm this year. Not sure which dealer he ordered it from - replacing a 91 Saturn that had finally died. Email me if you'd like for more info.

    Skodas are made (for the most part) in Hungary and the Czech Republic, as I remember from my supplier quality days.

    ReplyDelete