Friday, February 18, 2011

Gas 2.0

Gas 2.0

Is it Possible For Fun and Fuel Economy to Coexist? The 2012 Ford Focus Thinks So

Posted: 18 Feb 2011 05:00 PM PST

Small, fuel efficient cars are proliferating like never before. Venerable oldies like the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic are now facing stiff competition from the likes of the 2011 Chevy Cruze, the 2011 Hyundai Elantra, and the just released 2012 Ford Focus. In fact, the competition for small car crown is so hot right now, that Toyota and Honda—once considered kings—are struggling to catch up. Both automakers have a stiff task on their hands to deliver vehicle updates that even get them close to the quality, value and performance that the new trifecta offer.

And I can tell, you, having driven all of them recently, it’s great to see so much high quality competition in this market segment. Of the three new entrants, the 2012 Ford Focus stands out as the shining star to beat—especially when you consider the whole package of performance, fuel economy, and value. The 2011 Elantra is certainly a better deal, but it doesn’t offer the driving pleasure that the Focus does. The 2011 Cruze, while it’s solid a contender, is a bit staid… as a good friend said when looking at the interior of my test car for the first time, “It looks like a rental car.”

The Focus, on the other hand, is a great looking, fun to drive and economical car loaded with so much technology that the upper end price can get pretty carried away at about $28K. But if you stick to your guns and don’t load it up too much, it can cost you as little as $17K (full review of the Focus).

In fact, I like the Focus so much that I jumped at the chance to do a short episode on it with my good friend MotoMan, in what he calls a “MotoMan Minute.” You can see the results of that Fun vs. Fuel Economy segment below.

2012 Honda Civic Gets 41 MPG: Hybrid Bumped to 45 MPG

Posted: 18 Feb 2011 04:50 PM PST

What you see before is the all-new 2012 Honda Civic. Sure, it looks the same, but there's a whole lot of new here, from the 41 mpg HF model from a torquey new 2.4 liter for the sporty Si model.

Honda joins a growing  list of car makers offering an extra fuel efficient model. Called the HF, this model gets the same aerodynamic body kit as the Civic Hybrid and a 1.8 liter engine, which Honda says should net an EPA estimated 41 mpg. That's what the old Civic Hybrid used to get, but that model has gotten its own changes to boost its fuel economy rating to 45 mpg. That's not at all far from the Toyota Prius, which hasn't seen its mpg ratings move much at all in the past few years.

Honda doesn't detail want changes they made to get an extra 4 mpg, but its obvious the engineers spent most of their time improving how the Civic works, rather than how it looks. I still like how it looks, especially the Si model, which now has a 170 ft-lbs of torque and 200 horsepower on tap from a naturally aspirated four-cylinder. That ain't bad, and it still gets a 31 mpg rating.  Then of course there’s the natural-gas powered Honda Civic GX, the “greenest” car in the world. I hear there might be a sportier version of the CR-Z Hybrid out there too. How many Honda faithful we got out there?

Source: Honda

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMI’s. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

The Mechanical Monstrosities of Fuel Extraction

Posted: 18 Feb 2011 08:07 AM PST

Growing up one of my favorite movies was Real Life GIANT Construction Equipment for Kids, hosted by Hard Hat Harry. So when I was sent this awesome infographic detailing the monster machines used to extract coal, I had to share.

Somebody else has to have watched those videos, right?

Anyway, a recent study detailed the "hidden" cost of coal, from extraction to combustion, at somewhere around $500 billion. Over $250 billion alone goes towards health care costs for communities around coal fired plants and mines. Then there are the massive machines used to dig this stuff from out of the Earth. Granted, these machines are few in number in the grand scheme of things…but it may surprise you how much fuel one of these monsters can guzzle in a single day. WellHome, a home energy auditing company, put together this awesome infographic to show us how much these mega machines cost in the long run.

I should point out that two of the largest machines, Big Muskie (my favorite) and the creatively named Overburden Conveyor Bridge F60, are no longer in operation. In fact, the 10,000 acres carved out by Big Muskie when it was operational from 1969 to 1991 have been reclaimed and are now a protected preserve called "The Wilds."

Other machines are not so unique, like the German Liebherr T 282B, basically the biggest dump truck ever. Weighing in at 658 tons, it can go through 600 tons of fuel in a 12-hour operational day, or 219,000 tons per-year. And it's a diesel hybrid! Then there’s the Claw (“I’ll get you Gadget!!”) a huge loader that weighs over 2,000,000 pounds and has a fuel tank capacity of over 4,000 gallons. Damn, that’s a lot of gas.I

There are other interesting machines on this list too, and it really gives you more of an idea of the true cost of coal power. The thing is, I’m not a kid anymore, and even though I think these machines are still cool, and a testament to what mankind can do, I’d rather see them in a museum than tearing up the Earth. Don't need huge dump trucks or loaders to collect sunshine or wind, do you?

Source: WellHome

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMI’s. You can follow his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout.

Home Energy Audits by Wellhome.com
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