My daily commute in NJ is 18 miles of 2 lane county roads. There are 32 traffic lights along the way. As I sit at MANY of these lights (even more so now that school is in) I watch the DIC drop continually, as gas is being used to obtain 0 MPH. I have read a study by hypermilers that claim "if your engine is idling for more than 10 seconds, it is cheaper to shut off the engine and re-start". Sounds great but not practical. However, I believe this is exactly why the Prius does so much better on gas consumption, because the engine shuts down while stopped in traffic, and runs on electric until the engine restarts itself. This problem with the Active Fuel Management is that it will run on 4 cylinders only when you are achieving your peak mileage anyway. It would be interesting to know why it won't shut down when idling, as it would save a LOT more fuel.

 

Quite possibly because of a rough idle on 4 cylinders or a delay in activating all cylinders on acceleration causing a stumble.

 

Thanks--will give it a "shot"!

 

Ask him why GM isn't able to make more reliable cars ...
100 years experience of making cars is apparently still not enough

 

I would like to know why they void warranties for doing a tune to PCM?
I believe their is probably 10% improvement in mileage (or performance) by just fine tuning computer.
I love my HHR and I am making mods to get the best mileage possible yet my hands are somewhat tied because I do not want to void warranty.

If they do not allow others to do it then why doesnt GM offer it?

 

You should not post email addresses in any public forum. They will get spammed with messages.

 

That is a good question, actually. Not because it's true, but what it implies.

I'm not sure how to rid the perception that GM make junk cars. I still have it even though my GMC truck was nearly flawless for 12 years. I hated to trade it because I knew it was solid. Before I bought the HHR, I instinctively went to Toyota and Mazda first, just from their reputation of reliability. I still did not believe in GM even though my truck had been great. This negative perception of GM is ingrained in everyone old enough to remember 20 years ago when it was true that the imports were just plain better.

Not anymore though.

Take a look at these reliability ratings and tell me GM can't hang with anyone out there.

The higher the percentage, the higher the risk of failure:

ACURA 33.29%
AUDI 30.78%
BMW 36.79%
BUICK 26.89%
CADILLAC 40.20%
CHEVROLET 25.34%
CHRYSLER 28.28%
DAEWOO 19.18%
DODGE 26.47%
EAGLE 23.06%
FORD 26.11%
GMC 28.69%
HONDA 25.07%
HYUNDAI 14.87%
INFINITI 36.93%
ISUZU 21.73%
JAGUAR 57.84%
JEEP 27.74%
KIA 17.39%
LAND ROVER 22.89%
LEXUS 39.25%
LINCOLN 32.59%
MAZDA 21.20%
MERCEDES BENZ 36.23%
MERCURY 26.11%
MITSUBISHI 16.80%
NISSAN 29.37%
OLDSMOBILE 26.20%
PLYMOUTH 22.99%
PONTIAC 27.45%
PORSCHE 41.48%
SAAB 37.23%
SATURN 31.11%
SUBARU 21.83%
SUZUKI 22.35%
TOYOTA 24.05%
VOLKSWAGEN 24.29%
VOLVO 42.76%

 

I heard today that Opec(sp) is going to lower production (output) to keep fuel prices inflated.

Ok, with the above headline in mind. When will GM take the lead with technology thats available today by offering a small diesel that has the capability of 40+mpg in a midsize vehicle.

There are companies building BioDiesel plants now that will offer B5 to B100. Using biodiesel does not loose as much work per gallon as e85 so milage would not be as affected by switching between diesel and biodiesel.

Also Diesels have the capability of running CNG. Our local transit system is using CNG in the diesel buses, and what I have noticed is no diesel smell, no black exhaust smoke and a much quieter engines, no discernable diesel knock.

A 3 cylnder diesel HHR would probably get about 55mpg.
Wow now would that be exciting! Throw on a turbo for some real excitement.

This will dramatically lower our dependence on foriegn oil until other technologies can catch up.

Right now, Volkswagen has their turbo diesel offering in the Passat for 2009 that gets 40+ mpg for the U.S.. these new diesels exceed in emmissions standards.
Jeep builds a Patriot with a diesel in Illinois and ships it to the UK, it gets 50 mpg hwy
BMW is going to offer a 3 series in the U.S. with a twin turbo diesel, they also build the x3, a small suv currently selling in the UK that gets 40+.

So given the opportunity that would be my question.

Oh and please build the vehicle in the U.S.!

Thank you for reading my post and I hope you consider using my question.
best wishes
Max

 

Is Troy related to Roy Clark?

 

Hyundai 14.87%


Most reliable car in the world?