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- BlindingDawn, on 08/05/2008, -1/+34I never understood why cars are made all over the board for different countries. Particularly US automakers. Do they not think we would want something like a Fiesta that gets 50 MPG???! Is like they want to shoot themselves in the foot.
- t4ll3y, on 08/05/2008, -0/+26Apparently, the trick to making a car efficient is making it a hatchback. Who would have guessed?
- serif69, on 08/05/2008, -2/+24Please do not bring the Euro Civic Type-R to America. By all accounts, it is a piece of crap compared to the old one, and especially compared to the new JDM Type-R. We already have the Civic Si, which is 95% of the JDM Type-R, and a better car than the hatch.
But please, feel free to send the Fiesta ST, Focus RS, Corsa VXR, and Scirocco. - woodrow8292, on 08/06/2008, -7/+28This would probablly be my guess as why people don't want to drive these cars in the US:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/rgma68/unti ... - jpaolini, on 08/06/2008, -1/+20Top 10 fun MPG-friendly cars - now on more pages! For those who can't be assed...
10. 2009 Mercedes-Benz A-Class
9. 2008 Renault Twingo GT Turbo
8. 2009 Ford Fiesta ST
7. 2009 Ford Focus RS
6. 2009 Alfa Romeo MiTo
5. 2008 Mazda2
4. 2008 Opel Corsa OPC/Vauxhall Corsa VXR
3. 2009 Volkswagen Scirocco
2. 2008 Honda Civic Type-R
1. 2008 Fiat 500 - ivosilva, on 08/06/2008, -1/+19Because you don't know how to drive in the US, and switch lanes with incoming traffic?
Accidents happen everywhere, and i'm pretty sure the accident/deaths rate in the US isn't much different from the ones in any european country... (I'm just too lazy to search)... - sekramer, on 10/06/2008, -0/+15Ford Fiesta -- who knew??
- dark_helmet, on 08/06/2008, -0/+15As far as i noticed they didn't specify which MPG they were using. Assuming that they did not convert the MPG into US, they're not massively more fuel efficient than what we already have. Sure we have some gas guzzlers, but we also have some more efficient cars.
To put things in perspective:
40 (miles per Imperial gallon) = 33.3069536 miles per US gallon
50 (miles per Imperial gallon) = 41.633692 miles per US gallon - inactive, on 08/06/2008, -1/+152009 Ford Fiesta ST, doesn't look to bad.
2009 Ford Focus RS, looking sweet.
2008 Honda Civic Type-R, yum.
Oh and ***** you Fifth Gear for trying to rip off Top Gear, and doing so poorly. - 3amboo, on 08/06/2008, -1/+14We always get the good ***** last! Cell Phones... Cars... Girls...
- allantan, on 08/06/2008, -1/+13Its the design that combines a small car with good cargo capacity.
Small hatchbacks are great and a good compromise. You can hold enough people or a ton of cargo, but not both. - serif69, on 08/06/2008, -0/+12Because that wouldn't have happened were the car not a Smart but a Yukon XXXL...
- moracity, on 08/06/2008, -8/+19Actually, US consumers have historically NOT wanted cars like that. This has never been a small car country. Small cars have always been a niche market in the U.S, resulting in high cost to consumers. Attempts at introducing small cars have almost always failed miserably. Clearly, that may be changing. But, as soon as gas gets cheap again, everyone will forget about it. History will simply keep repeating until there is no oil left to be had.
The U.S also has stricter safety and pollution regulations than other countries. Small cars are generally less safe and diesel fuel pollutes more than gasoline. Between lawyers and environmentalists, it's amazing that we have cars at all. Just wait for the first major accident and subsequent lawsuit with a SMART car in the U.S. The days of SMART in the U.S are numbered. - Netik09, on 08/06/2008, -0/+10Wow. Our Ford Focus really sucks now that I've seen theirs.
- GRTWHT, on 08/05/2008, -1/+9I'd gladly buy most any of these if they were available.
It seems dumb that we can't get any of these, but we can get the Smart which is tiny but not nearly as stylish and gets surprisingly poor milage. - BoneheadFarker, on 08/06/2008, -1/+9@cawpin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxmiV2PFluM - Murdats, on 08/06/2008, -1/+8people may say they want these sorts of cars, but apparently when they walk into the car lot they don't choose them.
- arjie, on 08/06/2008, -2/+9Ah, you don't want that car because you're always hitting big trucks? Yes yes, that is a smart idea.
- inactive, on 08/05/2008, -1/+8The A-Class Mercedes is hot
- inactive, on 08/06/2008, -0/+7the smart isn't a practical car most people because you can't carry *****, but all these cars seat 4 people, get great mpg, look great, don't cost much, and fun to drive?
I've had 3 gm cars, but i don't see why i'd ever go back - JHW539, on 08/06/2008, -0/+7The Smart car will not drive away from a 40mph impact with a wall, but testing indicates it is likely that the *driver* will walk away without serious injury. Most of the videos online you refer to are of a Smart car impacting a barrier at 70 mph, a "test" that was done without an instrumented test dummy in the vehicle for an entertainment show. The NHSTA did a full frontal crash test and found, based on the measured forces on the test dummy, a 80 - 89% probability that the driver would walk away without serious injury from a 35 mph frontal crash into a brick wall. 40 mph is obviously going to be worse, but actual measured data strongly indicates that a Smart car driver can walk away from a 40 mph impact with a brick wall (indeed, there is over a 50% likelihood they will).
- wassim2k, on 08/06/2008, -1/+8Article about MPG-friendly cars, yet no MPG rating on most of the cars mentioned. Nice job Popular Mechanics.
- jopache1, on 08/06/2008, -0/+7How is it that it says the fiesta gets 50mpg from a 2.0 liter engine and the focus here (US) is rated at mid 30s highway mileage from a 2.0? Is there a huge weight and aerodynamic difference between the two or something?
- DavidGuetta9, on 08/06/2008, -1/+7yes. you're asking for a minivan...
- praisethelard, on 08/06/2008, -0/+6Well...if you drove a monster truck, you'd probably just get away with some tire damage.
- paulmer2003, on 08/06/2008, -1/+6Emissions laws.
- BoneheadFarker, on 08/06/2008, -5/+10Explain the 80's dive into small cars as a result of the 70's gas shortage.
In the 70's, a Charger was a muscle car with a V8. In the 80's, it became a 4-banger hatchback. Most American car companies were forced to do this to many of their cars, because their monsters were getting slaughtered by economic Japanese imports. Americans will drive smaller cars, but only if they are forced to.
Besides that, a SMART car can slam into a brick wall at 70 MPH, and the driver can walk away. They are tough little cars... - presidentjapan, on 08/06/2008, -1/+6Suzuki Swift. It's the hotness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU89JpVmtwk
- Mjeacoma, on 08/05/2008, -2/+7I would buy one today in cash
- brettg102, on 08/06/2008, -1/+5Americans hate hatchbacks...I have no idea why. I'm guessing its the stigma of the minivan that has made us this way...I howver like hatchbacks, cargo+room=win
- Rudegar, on 08/06/2008, -0/+4more room for stupid adds and banners that way they can have new ones on each page
- gtluke, on 08/06/2008, -0/+4if you want theirs, its available in 2 flavors here. the mazda 3 is the 4/5 door euro focus built in japan with mazda badges, and the 3 door is sold here as the volvo c30.
ford knows that the expensive small cars will sell better with jap/euro names attached. - Protoman, on 08/06/2008, -1/+5No mention of the Lupo? Saw it on Top Gear a while back and I wonder why I never see them around. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Lupo
"The Lupo 3L was a special-edition made with the intent of being the world's first car in series production consuming as little as 3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (78 miles per US gallon or 94 miles per Imperial gallon)." - Rudegar, on 08/06/2008, -0/+4vw stoped making lupo's in 2005
as your wiki link sat - evilbob333, on 08/06/2008, -0/+4Cause gas is refined from oil.
- EtherGnat, on 08/06/2008, -0/+4Be careful comparing European MPGs with American. I'm not sure in this case, but frequently articles forget to convert from imperial gallons to the smaller American gallons.
- ltethe, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3But we got guns! And tanks! And jets!
All kinds of good stuff that we can't use, but we gots it, first, and bigger and badder then anyone else! - banshee9x, on 08/06/2008, -3/+6More then half these cars look very similar to each other...
- flaznog, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3Here are a whole bunch of fuel efficient van/cars that are not in the usa yet.
Citron Berlingo
Peugeot Partner
Fiat Doblo
Renault Kangoo
Ford Tourneo Connect
Skoda Roomster
Skoda Praktik
Mercedes-Benz Vaneo
Volkswagen Caddy
Opel Combo - BlindingDawn, on 08/05/2008, -0/+3There is a 1.5 year waiting period for the Smart car vs. mass producing Fords in the US NOW
- waydee, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3Show me a small car that gets anything less than 4 stars in the NCAP testing?
US safety standards are not higher than those in Europe nor are emissions, try again. - inactive, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3Well, almost every one looks way better then the Smart.
- 1shawn, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3I for one welcome our small car overlords. Bring em on! Mass produce them so they'll be affordable for everybody! I've always been a fan of small cars. Too many people drive vehicles bigger than their needs. I can understand a large family having a small SUV, but a single person driving a Hummer is just ridiculous.
- coustoe, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3you mustive not read the article all of them run on diesel
- monkeyness, on 08/07/2008, -0/+3The problem is hatchbacks are classified as "cars" whereas SUVs are classified as "trucks". US Automakers gave hatchbacks a bad image and pushed SUVs because SUVs have much more lenient quality requirements (MPG, etc).
- 1shawn, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3Um... did you look at the bottom of the first page? The complete list is there including thumbnail images of each... for those who can't be assed!
- ukthom, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3@cawpin: That's the exact mentality that keeps the US behind the times in terms of smaller, more efficient cars than our European or Asian counterparts.
Having just returned from the UK myself, all the cars over here seem too big for what they're used for (commuting, errands). - paulmer2003, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3Disagree. I think if gas prices up, people won't continue to buy SUVs and such. It's just not socially acceptable anymore.
- waydee, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2Very true, the standard 1.4/1.6 might reach 50mpg but not the ST.
- ModernDayDarwin, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2Loving that VW one, loving it.
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