I drove a new Prius for the first time!

[Nigel Goodwin]

Why would they put a dinky little 1.8L in a BMW?

Because it's a fast powerful car with a well designed engine, it's only North America who fits poorly designed massive engines to try and get decent performance.

 

[tcmtech]

But can it pull a trailer?

 

[audioguru]

Here is a photo showing why a BMW 318 has a dinky little engine.
Because it is a dinky little car!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Here is a photo showing why a BMW 318 has a dinky little engine.
Because it is a dinky little car!

It's a medium sized car, also available with a variety of larger engine sizes, but even the 1.8 is a pretty fast machine.

I've driven the smaller one series, with a 1.8 diesel engine, those really go well - and return 60+ MPG.

 

[tcmtech]

Mid sized there is compact to sub compact here.

So that would mean our full sized vehicles here are considered busses there?

I wouldn't mind the small cars so much if they would have built them for bigger people. For many of us it the 'Its just to dam confining inside' part we are not comfortable with.

And yes it stinks that your vehicles that are of similar size to ours usually get 1.5 -2X the fuel mileage.

 

[audioguru]

"Over there" the government rips off the cost of gasoline with high taxes so their cars and engines are tiny. The ones that use less fuel use diesel instead of gasoline.

Here trucks, busses and school busses use stinking smoking diesel engines.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Here trucks, busses and school busses use stinking smoking diesel engines.

Obviously of a low a standard as your petrol engines

You can't tell a modern quality diesel from a petrol engine, apart from the fuel economy. Audi have even won the Le Mans 24 hour race the last few years with diesel cars.

 

[tcmtech]

It does definitely depend on the age and type of diesel engine now a days.
I typically drive newer Volvo trucks that are pushing 385 - 425 HP and have very little smoke and run very smooth even when lugged to their limits.

However I have friend who has an old truck with a two stroke diesel in it. It smokes without a load and blows a constant black cloud when even slightly loaded. The engine is in good tune and working order. Its just how they run for that engines older design.

The city transit systems vehicles and trucks your seeing are likely more than 15 years old and have the older more smokey engines.
The new diesel busses are amazingly clean. Unless your head is in the tail pipe you wouldn't know many are even diesel powered!

 

[audioguru]

Some German people here drive new VolksWagen cars that have a stinking smokey diesel engine. The smoke is black when they accellerate, just like the trucks and buses.
The cars are new because if they are over a few years old they have rusted away.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I just had a google (as I'm nosey ) - a 1995 BMW 318 outputs 143BHP and has a top speed of 130mph, offical fuel consumption 47.9mpg.

 

[smanches]

I just had a google (as I'm nosey ) - a 1995 BMW 318 outputs 143BHP and has a top speed of 130mph, offical fuel consumption 47.9mpg.

Imperial Gallons or US Gallons?

 

[audioguru]

My car is an American compact size with a 2.2l 4 cylinder engine. It has 150hp and a governor limits its speed to 140km/h due to the ratings of its tires.
It has an automatic transmission and air conditioning.

I don't know its fuel consumption (its computer shows 7km/l sometimes) because the ads are for the cheap manual transmission one.

 

[tcmtech]

7 Km/l only works out to about 26.6 MPG. Sorry but the full sized Mercury Grand Marquis four door sedans typically do that and often even better on highway driving with their 235 Hp 4.6 L V8 engines.

Compact and small is not always more fuel efficient either!
I've seen compacts that had worse average fuel mileage numbers than full sized cars and big pickups that had better average mileage numbers than some low end mid sized cars as well.
Not all small cars are fuel efficient and not all big vehicles are pigs.
There is a balancing point between engine size, vehicle size and efficiency of the design.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Imperial Gallons or US Gallons?

Proper imperial gallons of course

 

[kchriste]

7 Km/l only works out to about 26.6 MPG.

Probably more like 7L/100Km which is typical of smaller cars.

 

[tcmtech]

Probably more like 7L/100Km which is typical of smaller cars.

That would then work out to around 266 MPG. If any car was getting that from the factory every one would be driving one and the HHO nutters would give up on their quest!

I will lean more favorably towards AG's 26.6 MPG average equivalent as the more realistic number unless he says otherwise.

 

[Mikebits]

That would then work out to around 266 MPG. If any car was getting that from the factory every one would be driving one and the HHO nutters would give up on their quest!

I will lean more favorably towards AG's 26.6 MPG average equivalent as the more realistic number unless he says otherwise.

Check your math TCM
7L = 1.85US gal.
100 KM = 62 miles.

 

[tcmtech]

the Km and L got switched on the last post and I didn't catch it.
It happens.

Math and English were never my strong subjects any way.

Besides its not like I am the first to make a mathematical or labeling error here. I am rather surprised you guys dont catch more of mine!

I figured that most people dont pay much attention to what I type up anyway.

 

[Mikebits]

Besides its not like I am the first to make a mathematical or labeling error here. I am rather surprised you guys dont catch more of mine!

Don't sweat it. If I recall, a space shuttle met its early demise due to English to metric conversion.

 

[audioguru]

My car gets 7l/100km most of the time with its automatic transmission.