Ford Fiesta Econetic coming - 64 mpg US

[jhinton]

Originally Posted by subarutoo

Where were they 2 years ago when I bought my Prius? I would rather have a Ford, just not the ones currently on offer. Also, so what if it gets 63 mpgs, its still diesel, more costly than gas to buy, and stinkier for the environment. I think I'll pass. Ex Ford owner - happy Toyota owner.

They were selling diesel Fiestas in the rest of the world just like they are now. Diesel is less than Petrol in most EU countries. (Note: OP is from Scotland)

[MaxLegroom]

Originally Posted by HardCase

This is very likely true enough, but what I was basically trying to say, and not doing a particularly great job of it, is that if they would devote as much energy to re-aligning their production to put out smaller more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, and stop devoting so much time and money to hyperbole and "concepts" (i.e., the Volt......just shut up and build the damned thing, GM!!), we'd all be better off.

To listen to NPR, you'd think that they had rolled over and given up, anyway. Not too long ago, I was listening to a interview with someone from a car research website. The general tone of the interview was in the context of Japanese economy car sales going up, and domestic makers mentioned only in reference to SUV and truck sales. It completely ignored the increase, at the time, in Ford Focus sales, as well as those of the Chevrolet Cobalt. NPR is hardly alone in this, so I'm not surprised that GM's publicists scream about this every chance they get. Also, the Volt is expected to reach production in 2010, meaning that it will get from concept to showroom faster than the Camaro, which, if I recall correctly, was shown earlier. That's no small trick, really, as the Volt is a much more complex car, technologically, than the Camaro.

[cwerdna]

Originally Posted by Rybold

? I see KW in Euro car magazines all the time and quickly convert it to Newton-meters/sec and then into HP with a simple calculator or sometimes in my head, but I don't ever recall seeing "PS."

You can just use Google to convert from kilowatts to horsepower. Try just typing "200 kilowatts in horsepower". Too bad they don't have PS unit as part of their calculator.

I've seen both PS and watts outside the US.

[PriuStorm]

Originally Posted by jhinton

PS is Pferdestarke which is german for Horse Strength.

1 PS = 0.9863 HP

Whaaa?? The German horses are stronger than the American/English horses??

[A strolling player]

Originally Posted by cwerdna

You can just use Google to convert from kilowatts to horsepower. Try just typing "200 kilowatts in horsepower". Too bad they don't have PS unit as part of their calculator.

I've seen both PS and watts outside the US.

The PS-hp conversion isn't really necessary; all you have to do is add a couple. 276 PS is 280 hp, etc.

[jhinton]

Originally Posted by A strolling player

The PS-hp conversion isn't really necessary; all you have to do is add a couple. 276 PS is 280 hp, etc.

Actually it is the other way around. 276 PS is 272.224 HP.

[PriusSport]

...And over here, in the U.S., Ford is still waiting for permission from Exxon to market such a fuel stingy car. Maybe they'll allow it in California.