80mpg 400hp mustang...

[sneasle]

This just smells like vapor ware to me, but on the off chance this isn't BS, I can't wait until it gets released.

http://www.mustangevolution.com/20080702712/

[TheOldSalt]

I believe it's real enough as an actual x-prize entry, but I don't see the tech ever reaching the market. Call me crazy, but I think that too many rich, powerful, and influential people will have seriously major objections to cars getting that kind of mileage.

[mrmoby]

I'd really be interested in knowing how they do it, if it is in fact legit. 400/500 is a great amount of power, assuuming it is a 5.0. The ramifications for use in trucks, for the people that actually need to have them is huge.

The way the fuel prices are the SUV market is dead. It would'nt surprise me to see unused tech coming out of detroit, because if they can up the mileage, people will buy again, and probably pay more than they already did. I don't really subscribe to powerful people keeping it under raps. If you were to see vehicles get this kind of mileage, you would see supply suddenly dry up. Don't worry, the oil cartels will get their dollar one way or another.

[COM]

I think it could be legit.

I was looking at a standard Audi yesterday that gets 215 horses from a 2.0 turbo four cylinder and gets over 30 mpg. The Stang numbers are not quite that far off and with an engine so much bigger, you can get some economies of scale.

It is absurd that we don't have 100 MPG cars for sale at this point. This is a clear example of business and government teaming up to screw us all.

[guppyart]

okay but honestly how many of us need more then a 100HP 1.6L engine?.

top speed means more tickets and risks,, a little 2000 suzuki esteem has tons of city zip and gets great mileage on the highway without a problem.
the little swifts were the same way and were a HUGE hit..

that mustang might beat the smaller import in a quarter mile but straight zip and handling in a city not a chance.

if it can't hit 45+ mpg on highway it shouldn't be called an economy car honestly :S

[mrmoby]

Yeah, but try plowing snow or towing with 100 h.p.

[guppyart]

it plows snow just fine,
in fact it plows snow better then my 2.0L 85 saab 900 does and thats a tank of a car.,that and I get more snow then you and its still running.

(notes that its also at 340k and still making that mileage. only maintenance has been the boots, and rotors).
not to many domestics can claim close to that as a reputation.

and depends on what needs to be towed, that little car can get alot more moving then people think it could.

and a overpowered mustang is also a deathtrap in snow/slush.

[mrmoby]

How are you plowing snow with a Suzuki Esteem?

I'm talking about work trucks. You aren't going to plow snow with a 100h.p.car, nor haul animals, boats, tractors, or other vehicles.

My point isn't about having a 400 hp Mustang (though from a hobbiest point of view it would be great), but the fact that the same motor used in the Mustang is the same one used in Ford trucks, means that the same type of mileage could be obained in a work vehicle, which would be a great benefit to those who need to use them.

[sneasle]

gees.. arguing about towing. Spend a week in Germany, you would not believe what people tow with their cars over there. When i was over there for Christmas, I only counted 1 pickup the entire time.


that being said, this would be wonderful if applied to trucks. I do think there needs to be a more fundamental shift in American thinking first. Too many people over here drive trucks and SUV's because they can. You shouldn't have a full size truck if you never have the bed full and only tow a boat to the lake 2x a year. In the same light, you shouldn't have an SUV just because you are a family of four. If you are personally too big to fit in a smaller car, then you have something to work toward.

I'm all for having something that makes lots of noise and goes fast, but do it on the weekend, don't use it as a daily driver.

[guppyart]

a 100hp car with fwd will plow snow better then a 500hp truck/mustang, purely cause of FWD> RWD.
in my parents years of driving that car daily all year since 2000 it has never been stuck and its been through 3-4 inches of slush several times,, or just plowing foot or so of snow cause the blades hadn't been out yet.
a large number of the cars/trucks you see in ditches out here in winter end up being RWD or AWD suvs thinking there gods cause they have awd and can do anything.
I punch the gas to go through a patch of slush/snow,, mustang punches the gas and meets the ditch.


but really 500hp from a engine while making 80mpg sounds like pure BS.
thats easily tripleing what that engine can get if driven nicely at canadian speeds on a highway..

if it work why not just apply that to a 100hp. 1.6L car and break 100mpg without blinking?.

unless he figured out how to run on fumes.

[fish_doc]

Part of this could be he might have taken all the emission controls off the engine. That restricts alot of the power. So without it you can tune the engine back to save gas and still have more power.

[guppyart]

but if it can't pass emissions tests won't it not be approved in a large portion of the states?

[TheOldSalt]

That hardly matters. It won't get approved anyway, no matter how clean the emissions.
Gasoline taxes are collected by the sales of gallons of gas. Reducing the number of gallons needed to be bought will directly impact the amount of fuel tax collected. It won't be allowed to happen.
One guy who owned a trucking company figured out a way to modify his fleet so that he got nearly double the mileage by adding alcohol to his fuel. He got slapped with an alcohol tax ten times higher than he would have paid in diesel fuel tax for his trouble.