Auto Extreme

By Richard Chiariavalli

With gasoline prices reaching new levels in the United States and concerns about global warming rising, the past few years have seen a renewed interest in fuel-efficient cars. In the most visible example of this trend, Toyota has been notably successful with the Prius hybrid. So notable, in fact, that Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of General Motors, has wondered aloud whether GM should have pursued a similarly aggressive approach to brand-building. Like Mr. Lutz, we admire the Prius’ gas mileage, interior layout, and wear-your-ecofriendliness-on-your-sleeve styling. That said, its driving dynamics are nothing to write home about. So, in time-honored fashion, we reached for the official Winding RoadTM gauntlet, and threw it down with the question, “Can’t they make an economy car that’s fun to drive?”

As we started looking into this question more deeply, we discovered some interesting choices. Our first discovery was Honda’s Accord Hybrid. With Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) battery/electric motor package boosting the output of its gasoline V-6, the Accord pumps out 255 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque. Given the Honda’s 3500-lb curb weight, those numbers put it in a dead heat with the new BMW 330i in power-to-weight and torque-to-weight specs. Yet, the Accord Hybrid manages to get an EPA mileage estimate of 29 mpg city and 37 mpg highway. Not exactly Prius territory, but 40 percent higher than the EPA numbers for the BMW, which sports a new fuel-efficient design.

Our second discovery of sorts was the new Jetta TDI. Europeans have long favored diesel powerplants as the logical way to generate fuel efficiency, and we wanted to see what a modern Eurodiesel could do. One thing we saw right away was that diesels can put down some impressive mileage numbers, with the Jetta rated at 35 mpg city, 42 mpg highway. We also liked the Jetta’s 177 lb-ft of torque coupled with it’s a 3197 lb curb weight. And, as icing on the cake, the Jetta is available with a Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) that is VW’s take on the computer-controlled sequential transmission. We’ve tried and enjoyed these systems in Ferraris, Maseratis, and BMWs, but we wondered how such an approach would work on an economy car.

Finally, we had to check out the Mini Cooper. Mini’s approach to economy is straightforward: low weight. At 2557 lbs, the Mini weighs 20 percent less than the Jetta and nearly 1000 lb less than the Accord. With less mass to move around, the Mini can use a conventional gasoline engine and still get respectable mileage. Even with the CVT we specified (since our other cars can shift for themselves), the Mini gets 26 mpg city, and 34 mpg highway. With a manual transmission, these numbers would go up to 28/36.

Â

Â

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.