El Dildo Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 now here's something you don't see every day. the new Volkswagen XL1 (300MPG concept that is finally going production) is not being sold in the US... or toured in the US... or even being tested in the US market. because apparently it's just too efficient for our lazy, wasteful, Yankee way of life. http://www.zercustoms.com/news/313-mpg-Volkswagen-XL1-Banned-In-USA.html http://americanlivewire.com/2014-04-09-300-mile-per-gallon-volkswagon-xl1-sold-america/ Bozzah 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtamann123 Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 As an oil rich country it is no surprise that something like this would meet some resistance in the US market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadRunner71 Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Nothing new. Anybody remember the 'mysterious' case of the GM EV1? Ex Hellraiser and Blastoise1994 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthLand Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 You don't want to live in Europe with all of the Anti-co2 and Anti-tuning rules that exist here... It's not like in the US where you can drive a Racecar through the street and nothing happens... Plus, cars are cheaper (Even European ones) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dildo Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 this actually seems more like a Trojan marketing ploy than anything else. it's not exactly logical from a business standpoint. Ari Gold 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GN 92 Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 I can't even imagine the price of this car if they decide to sell it where I live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trip Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) How about the 65MPG Ford Fiesta(export only). FORD!!!!!! Can you even get more American than Ford? There is a US Ford Fiesta of course, but I'm guessing it got in the high 20sMPG(highway) Edited April 11, 2014 by trip My crappy games at MyCrappyGames.com Free copy of Save The Puppies and Kittens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epoxi Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 (edited) There are only like 250 of them ever to be sold, Americans aren't that into diesels, American safety testing is very expensive and the US isn't such a big market for Volkswagen as the rest of Europe is. It's far more likely they just wanted to save effort as opposed to some big government conspiracy. If anything the US government continues to impose some of the most ambitious efficiency targets the US has ever seen. Edited April 12, 2014 by epoxi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornedturtle Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 If anything the US government continues to impose some of the most ambitious efficiency targets the US has ever seen.of coarse it's the most ambitious as it has never been done before. epoxi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trip Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 US isn't such a big market for Volkswagen as the rest of Europe is. Hey! All I ever drive are VWs. My current and previous VW are/were even German assembled. Sorry, just kinda boasting I guess. GN 92 1 My crappy games at MyCrappyGames.com Free copy of Save The Puppies and Kittens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GN 92 Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 (edited) My current and previous VW are/were even German assembled. They built a BMW factory in my country (it's very near where I live) and the quality has been f*cked up. I'm glad mine's from Germany. I mean, where I live people are very lazy and you can't compare german vehicles to our production. My country's 40 years old behind. Edited April 12, 2014 by BOSS 302 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burbalade Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 It isn't "banned" VW has made no efforts to make a version that meets our highway safety standards. US oil companies are not stopping them from doing this. VW is only producing ~2000 of them. Why? Probably to limit supply so they can charge more for the same thing. Again, blame VW, not US oil companies or government. Most of the uninformed Americans tend to think of something like a two stroke detroit when they think of diesel, and it's more expensive. It's not a selling point for "save the environment" or "save on fuel" advertising. VW knows this. People here want gasoline-electric hybrids, or electric cars if they want more economy or reduced emissions. That's just what sells, likely due to advertising by companies other than oil companies. Just because VW hasn't decided to sell a limited run expensive diesel here doesn't mean it's government/oil company conspiracy. Think about this stuff a little more, people. epoxi and Average white guy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dildo Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 Just because VW hasn't decided to sell a limited run expensive diesel here doesn't mean it's government/oil company conspiracy. Think about this stuff a little more, people. what are you talking about? no one ever said that it was a "conspiracy." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burbalade Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 "Apparently, the highly efficient, 313 mpg Volkswagen XL1 has been banned in the USA for being, well, too efficient. Because oil profits are so high in the U.S., the government doesn't want such an efficient car to make customers aware that it's possible to spend a lot less on gas than they do." Sounds like a moronic conspiracy theorist to me. These articles are loads of assumption based bullsh*t. They've already been driven over here. The government is not trying to hide it, and oil companies didn't ban it. VW isn't spending millions to advertise it here because it's not being sold here. Mindless sheep are mindless sheep no matter what side of the fence they're on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dildo Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 I think you're reading too much into the tone of the author. it's a little more tongue-in-cheek than you're making it. the point is how absurd the whole issue of fuel economy has become in the US. we could have - and should have - had 300 MPG cars 30 years ago. sh*t, right now we should be averaging 500 or more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenline Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) we could have - and should have - had 300 MPG cars 30 years ago. sh*t, right now we should be averaging 500 or more... Not if Koch industries and co have a say in it. Companies like them are also single handedly leading the 'global warming is a myth' proponents. Edited April 13, 2014 by Greenline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMcSame Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 How about the 65MPG Ford Fiesta(export only). FORD!!!!!! Can you even get more American than Ford? There is a US Ford Fiesta of course, but I'm guessing it got in the high 20sMPG(highway) Can't get anything more American than Ford... making most of it's cars in Eurasia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtamann123 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 How about the 65MPG Ford Fiesta(export only). FORD!!!!!! Can you even get more American than Ford? There is a US Ford Fiesta of course, but I'm guessing it got in the high 20sMPG(highway) Actually if you want the most "American" automaker you would be looking at Toyota.. But yeah I agree. Diesel could catch on here if it weren't for so much outside resistance for who knows what reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dildo Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 Diesel could catch on here if it weren't for so much outside resistance for who knows what reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozzah Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 (edited) I can't even imagine the price of this car if they decide to sell it where I live. I know that feel bro, even if we have high salaries in Switzerland, sh*t is so expensive that you don't even feel rich as people think you are Edited May 12, 2014 by Bozzah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtamann123 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Diesel could catch on here if it weren't for so much outside resistance for who knows what reasons. You do know that Diesel is derived from petroleum right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dildo Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 right. and less than half of all crude oil could ever hope to become diesel. over 3 times as much becomes standard gasoline. just follow that paper trail. the world's economy would have to flip script and produce 3 times as many diesel engines as standard gas guzzlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sivispacem Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Basically all heavy fuels used in reciprocating engines for shipping etc are varieties of diesel. The exceptions being steam turbines but they're powered by bunker oil which is basically the dregs of hydrocarbon production. Diesel has its own problems. Particulate output for the most part but modern tech mitigates those to some degree. The biggest issue is nitrogen oxides. In terms if heat efficiency diesel engines are much better than petrol ones largely due to the huge compression ratio but they're less efficient per kilogramme of weight and have a lower specific output. They're kind of a halfway house between petrol piston engines and gas turbines in efficiency versus performance versus flexibility. Very well suited to long-distance, static RPM and fixed load use (like in ships and heavy goods vehicles) without the low shaft torque output of gas turbines and with slightly greater off-peak performance (gas turbines are extremely efficient at circa 80% load and extremely inefficient at 20%). But they're not as flexible as petrol-driven engines: small displacement, direct injection forced induction petrol engines have the best balance of power-to-weight, efficiency at multiple load levels and flexibility IMO. El Dildo 1 AMD Ryzen 5900X (4.7GHz All-Core PBO2) | Gigabye X570S Pro | 32GB G-Skill Trident Z RGB 3600MHz CL16 EK-Quantum Reflection D5 | XSPC D5 PWM | TechN CPU Blocks | HardwareLabs GTS & GTX 360 Radiators Corsair AX750 | Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic XL | ASUS RTX 4080 TUF @2970MHz | Sabrant Rocket Plus 1TB Sabrant Rocket 2TB | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB | 2x ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q | Q Acoustics 2010i | Sabaj A4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epoxi Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 (edited) A bit off the point, but the worst thing about diesels is the noise they make (with the exception of some Honda engines and high-revving turbo engines). Sometimes I think maybe my petrol engine sounds a bit annoying at lower revs but then I drive past a £70,000 diesel Mercedes rattling like a Ford Transit and I don't feel so bad. I don't mind spending that little bit extra on fuel for this single advantage. Edited May 15, 2014 by epoxi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*MURDOC* Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 The diesel fuel in the U.S. is awful anyway. The mileage I get, plus the way it makes the truck run is unfathomably inconsistent as well. There are good days and bad days at the pump unfortunately. El Dildo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dildo Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 there's a reason why diesel is cheaper than standard gas and it has nothing to do with which form is 'better' or 'worse'.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*MURDOC* Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 (edited) Cheaper how? Actual question.^ Not being a dick or anything. Edited May 15, 2014 by *MURDOC* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dildo Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 (edited) relatively speaking. until recently diesel inflation had remained well below standard gas. at least in the US. Edited May 15, 2014 by El_Diablo *MURDOC* 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*MURDOC* Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 I hear ya.Over the past few years, I've had to pay way too much for diesel. Earlier on with the truck, it wasn't as big a deal since the mileage I get versus a similar gas-engined truck was significantly better, but they just gouge and gouge. They can gouge away, gouge all day... If they want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtamann123 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 I have heard that Diesel is more expensive because the vehicles that burn almost all of it (Highway going Semi-Trucks) have to buy it and buy a lot of it no matter what or else their business can't function. It's kind of like the price of medicine. They can continue to raise the price and charge huge markups and people will still have to buy it because it's a basic necessity to their health. Gasoline works similarly but is lower priced because if the raise it too high then people will either find alternative ways to get around or buy more fuel efficient vehicles.. All of this could be utter sh*t though since most of it came from my high school economics teacher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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