You are here: Forums Automotive News & Views What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?

What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?

8691 messages,  Last post on Dec 04, 2009 at 1:39 PM

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What is this discussion about? Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, smart fortwo, MINI Cooper

#7481 of 8691 Re: What's wrong with this picture? [texases] by bottgers Apr 08, 2008 (12:36 pm)
Replying to: texases (Apr 08, 2008 12:14 pm) I'm sure his mileage drops considerably when he's honkin' on it, but still you'd think if a performance car can get 30, these econo-boxes should get much better than they do. Replies to this message: british_rover (Apr 08, 2008 2:24 pm)
#7482 of 8691 Re: What's wrong with this picture? [bottgers] by british_rover Apr 08, 2008 (2:24 pm)
Replying to: bottgers (Apr 08, 2008 12:36 pm) The Vette has enough torque to cruise at 70 mph with the RPMs under 2,000. A little 4 cylinder just can't do that. The 4 cylinder doesn't make enough torque in the low RPMs to maintain a 70ish mph cruising speed so it has to be geared to pull RPMs in the upper 2,000 to low 3,000 rpm range.   Now throw a small turbo diesel 4 cylinder into the equation and then the situation changes. Now that motor can make decent torque right off idle and pull in high gear at low rpms.
#7483 of 8691 also by nippononly Apr 08, 2008 (3:15 pm)
survey a large group of Corvette owners, and you will get a representative group of driving patterns as well. Someone doing most of their driving on the highway and energetically limiting short trips (as well as watching speed and that sort of thing) will get near the highway rating, which for the Vette is around 30 as mentioned.   Very few people have those driving patterns and habits, and the rest will get much closer to 20 mpg in the Vette. In-town use, especially for short trips, is where that big honkin' V-8 will hurt you no matter HOW lazily it operates in the rev range.   Under those conditions, the Yaris drivers will still be getting 35 or better and using half the gas.
#7484 of 8691 Re: What's wrong with this picture? [bottgers] by ateixeira Apr 09, 2008 (6:47 am)
Replying to: bottgers (Apr 08, 2008 12:08 pm) You are comparing a 2 seater to a 5 seater, also.   Compare the 'vette to a Honda Insight, perhaps, and you'd have comparable interior space.   The Insight would meet your target MPG, too.   Having said that, making engines smaller has diminishing returns. Even with a tiny 1.5 liters of displacement, they have to push the same number of airbags and mandatory safety equipment that the Corvette does with 6+ liters. Replies to this message: texases (Apr 09, 2008 6:58 am)
#7485 of 8691 Re: What's wrong with this picture? [ateixeira] by texases Apr 09, 2008 (6:58 am)
Replying to: ateixeira (Apr 09, 2008 6:47 am) The other thing the Vette has going for it is (relatively) light weight, about 3200 pounds, pretty good when a Civic EX 4-dr is 2800 lbs.
#7486 of 8691 Re: Me, bash huge SUV's? [nwng] by alltorque Apr 09, 2008 (7:20 am)
Replying to: nwng (Apr 08, 2008 8:58 am) The European Yaris has a 1.4 D-4D engine option with a whopping 89bhp/140lbft. Yaris range starts with the 1.0 VVT-i gasser 68bhp/69lbft and tops out with the 1.8 VVT-i gasser 131bhp/127lbft There's a 1.3 VVT-i in the mix also.    As I've said before - if you don't have a diesel in your range; your European range is incomplete.   My nearest neighbours have the following diesels : Saab 9-5, Ford Focus, Ford Galaxy (MPV), Renault Laguna, Audi A8, Mercedes E and C, old Land Rover and Toyota RAV4 plus my Volvo S60. The other cars are smaller gassers : Citroen Aygo, Peugeot 206, 2 x Honda Jazz (Fit) and an old Renault Clio. Oh and a 20 year old Mercedes S500 which is wonderfully inappropriate.
#7487 of 8691 Re: What's wrong with this picture? [bottgers] by bumpy Apr 09, 2008 (7:41 am)
Replying to: bottgers (Apr 08, 2008 12:08 pm) The Corvette demonstrates what one can do with a lighweight aerodynamic body and really tall gearing. That same drivetrain won't fare anywhere near as well in the Pontiac G8 GXP next year. Replies to this message: andre1969 (Apr 09, 2008 8:23 am) bumpy (Apr 09, 2008 9:36 am)
#7488 of 8691 Re: What's wrong with this picture? [bumpy] by andre1969 Apr 09, 2008 (8:23 am)
Replying to: bumpy (Apr 09, 2008 7:41 am) That same drivetrain won't fare anywhere near as well in the Pontiac G8 GXP next year.   Is the GXP going to get the 7.0 liter V-8? That sounds like it would be a wild ride!   Actually, given the size of the engine, I think the G8's pretty impressive. The EPA has it rated at 15/24, with the 6.0/automatic. In comparison, a Corvette with the 6.2/automatic is rated at 15/25. It's rated at 16/26 with the 6.2/manual, and the 7.0/manual is rated at 15/24.   I'm sure those figures drop pretty quickly once you start having some fun with all that power, though. Replies to this message: bumpy (Apr 09, 2008 9:36 am)
#7489 of 8691 Re: What's wrong with this picture? [andre1969] by bumpy Apr 09, 2008 (9:36 am)
Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 09, 2008 8:23 am) Naah, it gets the new 6.2 fron the base Corvette, although rumor is that the 7L will make its way into some HSV models.
#7490 of 8691 an interesting by nippononly Apr 14, 2008 (8:25 am)
editorial in Automotive News today mentions that sales of what they call their "budget class" - consisting of Aveo, Rio, Accent, Yaris, and ForTwo - were up a whopping 33% for the first quarter of the year. Way to go subcompacts!!!   Unfortunately, AN classifies cars by starting price range, not by size, so the Fit gets thrown in with the larger compact cars (Cobalt, Focus, Sentra, Elantra, Corolla/Matrix, etc). But the Fit was up by the same % as the other subs from what I remember reading from Honda.   The article also mentions that among what it calls "sporty cars", the Mini Cooper was one of only three (out of 33 models in that group) to be up in sales. They call it a sporty car, I call it a subcompact!   Compact and midsize cars? Down by about 2.5% each. And as we know, large car sales TANKED. As did SUVs (down 24%), pick-ups (down another 15% even from 2007's dismal performance), and minivans (down 20% - Toyota, Honda, and Chrysler now dominate this segment with 80% of all minivan sales between them).   http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080414/ANA06/804140311/-1 Replies to this message: ateixeira (Apr 14, 2008 8:56 am) nippononly (Apr 14, 2008 11:34 am) ateixeira (Apr 15, 2008 8:48 am) and 1 more... hudsonthedog (Apr 15, 2008 8:25 pm) ateixeira (Apr 16, 2008 12:59 pm) and 5 more...

You are here: Forums Automotive News & Views What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?