New posts from Gas 2.0! |
- Reborn LeCar to Join Microcar Battle in 2014
- Porsche Caught Testing: Is The New 911 a Hybrid?
- The 58 MPG Geo Metro on the Edge of Forever
- So Why Does $3.55 A Gallon Gas Hurt So Much?
- Recycled Hawtness: Classic Porsche 911 Resto-mod by Singer
| Reborn LeCar to Join Microcar Battle in 2014 Posted: 24 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PDT
Ah, the LeCar. We had one of those in the driveway while I was growing up, and I vividly remember being driven to school by my uncle when the little LeCar caught fire. This was, it should be noted, a commonplace enough thing that I simply started spraying the fusebox with the small extinguisher we’d learned to keep in the car. Simpler times. In more recent times, however, Renault has established itself as a builder of top-line cars, emerged as one of the premier engineering and design firms in the world, and (with their sister company Nissan) have become leaders in EV technology and infrastructure. More than enough of a resume, I think, to tackle competitors like Mini and Fiat in the emerging premium-mini car class. It should come as no surprise, then, that Renault is considering building a new LeCar (called the “R5″ in other markets) to slice up the pie created by Fiat, Mini, and (to a lesser extent) Smart. Autocar reports that the new LeCar is likely to be based on the Renault/Nissan B platform, as used on today’s Renault Clio. Mileage would (of course) be in the high 40 mpg range and – I would guess – an EV version of the premium compact city-car would be a natural, given Renault’s recent flirtations with EVs and Nissan’s massive Leaf investment (scale = profit, as it were). Autocar expects to see the car ready for action by 2014. Source: Autocar.
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| Porsche Caught Testing: Is The New 911 a Hybrid? Posted: 24 Mar 2011 02:00 PM PDT
Jalopnik tipsters recently captured photos of camouflaged Porsches filling up at a California Chevron station. The really interesting part? Apparently the cars made no noise, and pulled out of the station running silent. The “hybrid” implication was driven home even harder with brakes showing extra devices attached, which Jalopnik’s writers think might be there to measure regenerative effects. Of course, this wouldn’t be Porsche’s first hybrid model, but it would be the first time hybrid tech was applied to Porsche’s 911 – arguably the Porschiest of Porsches and the company’s longest-running model, with history back to the 1960s. Other tidbits: the rear hood seems to be enlarged and vented (though, to me, that seems to just create space for what will a movable rear wing – common on all Porsches since the late 80′s) and the side vents in the pictures are decals. Head over to Jalopnik for the original story and more hi-res photos – enjoy! Source: Jalopnik.
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| The 58 MPG Geo Metro on the Edge of Forever Posted: 24 Mar 2011 11:30 AM PDT Harlan Ellison wrote “The City on the Edge of Forever“, which is Star Trek fan-speak for “Harlan Ellison is awesome“. Mr. Ellison has been called a visionary futurist, and has written for The Outer Limits, The Man From UNCLE, Alfred Hitchcock, and – of course – Star Trek (it’s like “space navy”, whereas Star Wars is like “space Jerry Springer” with laser swords). That’s right: I’m a giant nerd. My geekiness is irrelevant, though – what is relevant is that Jalopnik‘s Ray Wert has dug up a video of this respected writer and serious “futurist” shilling Geo Metros for General Motors. Now, before you laugh and joke about the Geo being pushed as a futurist’s car, keep in mind that the Geo being advertised got an EPA-certified 53 mpg city and 58 mpg highway … that’s nearly 50% better than GM’s modern mpg champions, like the 42 mpg Chevy Cruze Eco. (Ed. – Under the new EPA standards, the Geo Metro XFi has a 43 city/52 highway/47 combined mileage rating.) Maybe Harlan got it right all the way back in 1998, and the Metro really is the best car for – say, 2018. Too bad GM never tried to make an electric Metro. That is instead left to people with a little more vision and gusto. What do you think, Gas 2.0 readers – any of you own a Metro? How does it stack up against the new Fiesta or Cruze? Let us know in the comments! Source: Jalopnik.
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| So Why Does $3.55 A Gallon Gas Hurt So Much? Posted: 24 Mar 2011 10:01 AM PDT
Take a gander at this chart put together by Good.is and you'll notice that, compared to the rest of the world, we pay a hell of a lot less for a gallon of gasoline. The Netherlands tops the chart at $8.83 for 3.78 liters, or one gallon, of fuel. That is 148% more than what we pay. So a lot of people get around by bicycle, and yet there are still constant traffic jams all across this low-lying country.
Prices in Japan just hit $7.00 a gallon, the highest prices in the disaster-struck island since 2008. Imagine paying those prices? Well, those days are coming, probably sooner rather than later, which is why we need alternatives. All of these countries manage to get by using less gas, and either walking, biking or promoting public transportation, high speed trains, different kinds of fuels, etc. etc. We need some of that. Otherwise, every time gas goes up another quarter, we're going to feel the squeeze a bit more and more. I’m not sure that by the time gas prices reach $5 a gallon, we’ll have enough super fuel efficient cars on the road to make a difference. Your average family sedan is going to cost between $75 and $100 to fill up. If you fill up once a week, that’s between $300 and $400 a month, or $3,600 and $4,800 a year. On gas. Yikes. While Japan recovers from the tsunami/earthquake, gas prices may stay low for a few more weeks as the world’s third largest economy gets going again. But even if you're an alternative fuels doubter, it's time to step back and look at just how vulnerable we are to gas prices and natural disasters and the civil strife that is still spreading across the Middle East. What if Saudi Arabia gets pulled into this? Or what if Mexico, our second-largest supplier of oil, suddenly finds itself teetering on the brink of being a failed state? It’s not as unlikely as it sounds. If you really like cheap gas though, maybe it's time you consider moving to Iran, Iraq, or Venezuela. The first two countries are only paying around $1.50 for a gallon o' gas, while Hugo Chavez's puppet state only pays around $2.60 a gallon, and it's just a few thousand mile drive from the U.S./Mexico border. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Source: Good.is Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can read about his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout or follow his non-nonsensical ramblings on Twitter @harshcougar.
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| Recycled Hawtness: Classic Porsche 911 Resto-mod by Singer Posted: 24 Mar 2011 06:00 AM PDT “Wow” is not the kind of thing people usually get paid to write. “Wow” is the kind of thing you say when you’re staring, slack-jawed, at someone or something that has snuck past all of your genteel civilities and highly educated vocabulary and triggered something planted in you by a billion years of evolution and natural selection. “Wow” is the kind of thing a certain kind of person cannot help but say when faced with a screaming green vintage Porsche restored and renewed to the nth degree. Just – wow. The finished car, by California-based Singer Designs, is the kind of thing car guys talk about building when they’ve had too much to drink or just turned 30 (or 40, or 50 – you get the idea). It’s based on an early 70′s Porsche 911, not unlike the ’71 911T that lurked in my family’s garage while I was a kid growing up, but unlike it in almost every way … and when you see the before, well -
- yeah. The “after” is almost beyond imagining when you see that. The point of this post, however, is not to listen to a wordy car-guy grunt and drool over a classic, air-cooled 911. Sure, that’s gonna happen – but the real goal is to drive a point home: you can go green and still have a lustworthy ride – be it a Jeep, a classic Porsche, or an Airstream trailer. The greenest car is the one that’s already built. The greenest oil is the oil that’s already been drilled. Etc. Etc. Ad nauseam. I want to keep pushing the point, though – especially in the faces of those who buy a new sportscar every spring or lease a new Prius or Insight ever 24 months. There are literally millions of old cars out there that can be retrofitted with modern emissions equipment, modern flex-fuel technology, modern amenities, modern safety and performance hardware, and which – it must be said – will ooze class, style, and sex in ways that many modern “jellybean” cars and over-styled “supercars” simply cannot match. That’s my opinion, of course – but which would you rather rock? A relatively generic “you’ll see 3 on the way to the mall” 996 or 997 Porsche, or one of these resto-mods (restoration/modification) by Singer? A new “slide-out” shoebox-lookin’ RV, or Matt Hoffman’s streamliner? A faithfully restored and renewed 50+ mpg Honda CRX HF, or the new 40 mpg (ish) 2011 CR-Z? What would a mid-80s CRX even look like if you spent the CR-Z’s $19345 base price to renew and restore it? What would that CRX look like if you spent half that amount? More importantly, perhaps: which would you rather have? I know what my answer would be. Check out the gallery, below, and see if you’d rather have the Singer or an over-priced and plasticized P-car “fresh” off the showroom floor. If it helps you decide, know that the Singer uses the same modern materials – like carbon fiber throughout the car to reduce weight and improve performance, as well as a restored 3.8L Porsche 6-cylinder engine tuned to nearly 400 hp, as well as specially-machined mirrors, filler caps, instruments, headlight bezels, and a hundred other lovingly pored-over details … that new Porsche? Most of that stuff is from an entry-spec. Audi, and it ain’t impressin’ nobody.             Source: Singer Designs.
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