20th Aug 2008, 17:23

The new V-8 Tahoe Hybrid will not get better gas mileage than any Camry, nor will it last as long because GM made it.

A Northstar caddy will not get 31 mpg either, no matter how you drive it.

The glaring irony here is that when that Cadillac is getting decent gas mileage, it's running on (guess how many), FOUR cylinders, which is all you need in any car unless it's a big, bloated, over-weight boat like a Cadillac is. I'd love to know what the gas mileage is when all 8 cylinders are firing to move that beast uphill. Probably about 12. Only when it becomes a four cylinder do you get decent mileage.

How much room do you need in a car?? It shouldn't have to feel like a couch. Stay home if you want that experience. Cars are transportation. Just think if even 75% of licensed drivers were all driving four cylinder cars. How many fewer stops at the gas station. How much less fuel we would use as a nation. And inevitably, oil companies would have no choice but to drop prices severely. Simple economics.

Some guy on here told me his v-8 was efficient because his drive to work is short. It's thinking like that that is one of the reasons that we have $4 a gallon gas.

And another thing; you are not safer in any instance in a larger vehicle, unless it's a bus or a tank. That's just a fact; SUV's being the worst of the bunch when it comes to getting hurt badly in a traffic accident. You are not safer in a Cadillac than you are in a Corolla, and you are much LESS safe in a Tahoe than a Corolla. Also a fact; despite some weird example you may have where somebody in a small car got killed and the guy in the SUV lived, that is the opposite of the norm.

SO... in closing: v-8's do NOT get better gas mileage than 4 cylinder cars, and larger cars and SUV's are not safer than smaller ones.

20th Aug 2008, 20:46

That's a good point about accidents. Smaller cars just crush like beer cans. A magazine I was reading featured a picture of a Ford explorer that had literally driven THROUGH a Honda Civic. The Civic was barely recognizable, while the Explorer didn't even have a broken windshield. Naturally everyone in the Explorer walked away unhurt.

As for 4-cylinder engines, I don't think they sound all that bad, actually. My 4-cylinder twin-cam Grand Am with slight modifications and a custom cold-air induction system actually sounds great, especially under full-throttle acceleration when you can really hear the air intake whooshing. I've owned my last V-8 because of fuel costs and concern for the environment. Both our new car and our SUV are 6's, and they perform extremely well while still getting good mileage. The SUV is faster and has more horsepower than any V-8 in its class. Of course every car we own is a domestic because of the poor reliability of imports.

21st Aug 2008, 11:30

The argument that small cars are less safe than large ones is inaccurate. I've seen freakish accidents where small cars basically demolished huge SUVs and vice versa. A man rear-ended my mom's Honda Civic last year with his Ford F-150. It totally crumpled up the front end of his truck, but left hardly any damage on my mom's car. She just had to have the plastic bumper shell replaced.

SUV's also have a tendency to roll over and lose traction easier due to a higher center of gravity. Most truck-based SUVS also have a rail frame that you see on trucks, which do not give as much in accidents, hence you're much more likely to suffer neck and whiplash related injuries versus most modern smaller cars and car-based SUVs which use crumple zones.

21st Aug 2008, 15:24

20:46 "Of course, every vehicle we own is a domestic, because of the poor reliability of imports".

Even my new, cheap little Hyundai puts to shame GM and Ford vehicles I've owned for twice the price.

And my Toyota's were so far ahead of them that it truly saddens me to think people still buy from the Big 3.

21st Aug 2008, 17:39

17:23 are you referring to the Cadillacs from years ago with the 4-6-8 cylinders? Or are you referring to overdrive transmissions and gearing that enable the current V8 to basically run at near idle on the expressways?

The new Corvette with the 6 speed does not become a 4 cylinder. In addition any comment on why the rationale of driving a 4 cylinder to work 100 miles to work one way vs. the 5 minute commute of the V8 owner? Why does my coworkers need a big homes out in the suburbs with more fuel oil to heat their homes, gas to mow a couple acres? The answer that I hear is for their families, but they buy a small car to justify the commute.

I need to see if the combination highway into the city fuel consumption is any less than my own. I burn maybe 10 gallons a week to work... any comment on what anyone is getting with imports driving the longer distance doing any better?

Add in less repairs, less tire wear and the cost of petroleum to mfr the lesser life tires etc. due to the high commuter mileage. It starts getting less practical driving so far. Downsizing the car is only part of the solution.

22nd Aug 2008, 10:54

Well, no matter how near or far you live from work, a V8 still gets less fuel economy than a 4 cylinder. You are technically still using more gas per vehicle.

Besides- not ALL people who live far out own small fuel efficient cars. Quite the opposite, because it seems like the vast majority of those I see making those commutes back and forth to their McMansions drive Suburbans and Escapades. Ironically, where I live near the city, the majority of the people here drive small compact cars.