RayDhaIn Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 By . Agence France-Presse Aug. 9, 2006 -- Japan's Fuji Heavy Industries, maker of Subaru cars, plans to design more fuel-efficient vehicles as it shifts resources to the U.S. and European markets, its president said in remarks published Aug. 8. Fuji Heavy is partly owned by Toyota Motor Corp. Ikuo Mori, president of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., said the company planned new fuel-efficient vehicles in Europe to meet stricter exhaust gas rules. "We need to add fuel-efficient compact models to our lineup" in Europe, Mori told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business newspaper. "We're pursuing all avenues, including developing our own models or procuring them from other companies," he said. Mori said the company is expanding its U.S dealership network and introducing new car models in Europe. "Investment returns are bigger in Europe and the U.S. than in the domestic market, where demand remains stagnant," Mori said. Additionally, Toyota and Fuji Heavy have been jointly developing a new hybrid vehicle. Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wukindada Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 I already get 30+mpg on the highway @ 70;) Toyota 6EATS .........SUCK!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongHiway Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 From what I have read, they want to bring a diesel (& turbo version) to the market but are reluctant due to the bad rep diesels have in the US. Not so in Europe, diesels for passenger cars are very popular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyd2005 Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 From what I have read, they want to bring a diesel (& turbo version) to the market but are reluctant due to the bad rep diesels have in the US. Not so in Europe, diesels for passenger cars are very popular. I think the bad reputation has mostly gone away thanks to the big three turbodiesel truck engine offerings. Also, the VW TDi has been reasonably popular. One of the big problems that all car makers face is the much stricter diesel emissions rules that will be enforced. Unless oil companies can offer a super low sulfur content diesel fuel, most passenger car diesels will go away. The really odd thing about Europe is that the people seem to be very environmentally conscious (tree huggers). However, they don't see any problem with their cars emitting a lot of emissions. European emissions standards are no where close to what they are in the US. Also, the truck makers have not yet discovered the invention called a smoke stack. The first time I drove in Paris, I pulled up next to a bus at a stoplight... when the light changed, my car was covered in a big cloud of black soot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mshaver Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 i could be wrong, but i think in europe they measure NOx emissions whereas in the US we measure COx....or vice versa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon in CT Posted August 11, 2006 Share Posted August 11, 2006 Current European emissions regulations are just as stringent as the EPA's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 ;713210']Current European emissions regulations are just as stringent as the EPA's. ...but are different, and in a way that is more permissive of diesel, while US regulations favor hybrids. Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommyh Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Martin Luther - "Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life long." EL4NFZT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unobtainium Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 European regulations as of 2007 require max 10 ppm of sulfur in diesel fuel. American rules as of June 1, 2006 are supposed to require 15 ppm, vice 500 ppm which was the old requirement. The Europeans are having a little trouble with the ultra-low sulfur too, the introduction of the Peugeot 207 diesel was delayed because of it. Ultra-low sulfur diesel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kostamojen Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Please please please I hope they bring a variant of the R1/R2! But it will probably be a hybrid model or two first... Personally, i'd like a variable displacement motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93formula Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 And gas cars can be designed to run off ethanol. If everybody switched to the stop gap fuels, we would have a huge shortage. The fact is that unless we want to still import a ton of it, we couldn't meet domestic demand with either biodiesel or ethanol. A better solution as much as I personally hate them is electric cars. Not because it eliminates energy useage, but can run off energy produced from landfills (methane), nuclear, solar, wind, and water to go along with our coal and oil plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongHiway Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 Scale back a tad (in years). For the next 5 - 10 years it's traditional engines, diesel, hybrids and ethanol blends (in some order) for automobiles and most trucks. My bet is diesel and hybrids become a larger percentage but traditional gas engines still accounting for more than 50%. The trouble with ethanol is you are about at the max percentage based on today's engine designs. So you have a chicken and egg, cars can be designed to run on higher ehtanol mixes but, no gas stations to sell the product. Here in MA, they are experimenting with LP busses, which seem to do OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommyh Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 ...as much as I personally hate them is electric cars... Please, why do you hate electric cars? While they are not the most practical of long range heavy duty transportation yet they are great for around town, basic daily driver duties, and have a vast amount of potential for in the near future. Martin Luther - "Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life long." EL4NFZT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kostamojen Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 I think the best solution is a hybrid/Ethanol combo with plugin capability. IE its basically a normal hybrid, but the engine would run on ethanol, and the plugin feature allows you to run the vehicle on all electric until the batterys run down and charge them over night for non-long distance travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinjockey Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 I think the best solution is a hybrid/Ethanol combo with plugin capability. IE its basically a normal hybrid, but the engine would run on ethanol, and the plugin feature allows you to run the vehicle on all electric until the batterys run down and charge them over night for non-long distance travel. Definitely +1 for diesel hybrid. Diesels got good long haul economy and electrics got the around town economy. Should be able to put up some great numbers for mpg and torque. Want more power throw in a bigger turbo, injectors, pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93formula Posted August 16, 2006 Share Posted August 16, 2006 Please, why do you hate electric cars? While they are not the most practical of long range heavy duty transportation yet they are great for around town, basic daily driver duties, and have a vast amount of potential for in the near future. Long range is the main reason for me, and the driving expirence of an internal combustion engine. One of my dad's friends has an electric car and he loves it. Back and forth to work for him it works great (about 10 mi one way). I do see a lot of potential which is why they seem like the best solution to me. Tesla Motors new car is really quite awesome and I would own that one, but I would still have to have a regular car too. I should rephrase that I don't hate, but I like internal combustion much much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongHiway Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 A hybrid diesel would be cool, you could probably fuel it with any combustable liquid. Imagine running out of fuel and filling it with vodka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon in CT Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I imagine more than one diesel owner has thought the same thing when they were out of fuel and pulled into a gas station that had no diesel. I imagine they all regretted their decision to fill up with gasoline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongHiway Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Some of the (former) Europeans here at work claim, they used to mix diesel and regular gas during the winter just to ease cold start-ups (75 / 25?, I can't recall) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
some6uy008 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 A hybrid diesel would be cool, you could probably fuel it with any combustable liquid. Imagine running out of fuel and filling it with vodka Even the cheap Albertson Vodka is about $6/750ml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93formula Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 ;721640']I imagine more than one diesel owner has thought the same thing when they were out of fuel and pulled into a gas station that had no diesel. I imagine they all regretted their decision to fill up with gasoline. This is not even close to a problem in the midwest/rocky mountain area. At least 50% or so have diesel. I don't know about back east cause I have never had to pay attention, but so many people drive diesel trucks here that it is a non issue out here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommyh Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 A buddy of mine here in CT says that he doesn't have much of a problem finding diesel here in New England and in other places along the east coast for his F350. Even not having a stake in a diesel car, I can think of 3 stations in this area off hand. Martin Luther - "Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life long." EL4NFZT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLegacy99 Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I just want my TPH Impreza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petmor Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 If they would pull out aa six cyliner diesel I'd buy one as my next car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petmor Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 I read in Auto motor & sport here that the car Toyota is going to build are based around the Yaris but will se sold specially by Subaru. No word about engine or anything else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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