New MPG standards
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,286
Likes: 0
From: Southwestern OH
St. Jude Donor '08
New MPG standards
I wonder what the new MPG standards announced today by Congress will do to cars like my Tahoe and My Z06 for the future?
Will we all be driving lightweight under-powered electric Ed Begley Jr cars/bikes in twenty years?
Will we all be driving lightweight under-powered electric Ed Begley Jr cars/bikes in twenty years?
Pro
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 640
Likes: 0
From: Orange County CA
Yeah, they must think we're stupid. They're trying to tell us they just saved the average driver $700 per year in fuel cost. They think we don't realize that the cars will cost more and we will have to pay a "luxary tax" if we want to drive a car with any kind of power.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,286
Likes: 0
From: Southwestern OH
St. Jude Donor '08
True, they don't understand cars. Incredibly my Z gets great mileage (28 mpg) on the highway , especially when you set the cruise at 65 mph.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 4,030
Likes: 6
From: Maryland
Yeah, they must think we're stupid. They're trying to tell us they just saved the average driver $700 per year in fuel cost. They think we don't realize that the cars will cost more and we will have to pay a "luxary tax" if we want to drive a car with any kind of power.
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 240
Likes: 0
From: Lewistown MT
I wouldn't get too worried, cars that were putting out 400+hp in the sixties and early seventies were getting 8-10mpg. I've also seen some info on AWD electric prototype sports cars that are capable of 0-60 times in under 3 seconds. You'll just have to play V8 sounds through the stereo.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,251
Likes: 16
From: Phoenix Arizona
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,251
Likes: 16
From: Phoenix Arizona
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,993
Likes: 7
From: LaPine Oregon
live long enough to see history.............
If you live long enough you see history repeat itself in many areas. This latest US government intervention into capitalism is not unlike the mandated smog laws (1966-1971)with help from increased fuel cost and rationing (oil producers conspiracy) along with greedy insurance companies leading to the dramatic performance slump of the muscle car for 25 years.
I know that my muscle cars just increased in value because of this pending legislation. We already knew in 2002 with California/ CARB AB 143 pushing for a 27% decrease in non commerical vehicle emissions that the next government push was under way.
Just as you will never see the 60's muscle cars produced again , shortly you will see a sharp drop in new car performance with the help of high fuel prices, the perpetuationof this global warming myth and this Federal mandated 40% emission reducing from auto makers.
( personal editorial note: science can not provide a acurate 5 day weather forecast with their computer model. But science claims to be able to predict weather 50 years from now based on computer model developed from observastion of Venus. Ya , right).
History always repeats itself. You won't see me driving a modified hydrogen Vette. LOL
I know that my muscle cars just increased in value because of this pending legislation. We already knew in 2002 with California/ CARB AB 143 pushing for a 27% decrease in non commerical vehicle emissions that the next government push was under way.
Just as you will never see the 60's muscle cars produced again , shortly you will see a sharp drop in new car performance with the help of high fuel prices, the perpetuationof this global warming myth and this Federal mandated 40% emission reducing from auto makers.
( personal editorial note: science can not provide a acurate 5 day weather forecast with their computer model. But science claims to be able to predict weather 50 years from now based on computer model developed from observastion of Venus. Ya , right).
History always repeats itself. You won't see me driving a modified hydrogen Vette. LOL
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 35,183
Likes: 2,125
From: Right Corner Pocket of Illinois
No-IL Events Coordinator
2026 Corvette of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2025 C6 of the Year Winner - Unmodified
2020 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
2019 C6 of Year Winner (appearance mods)
2018 C6 of Year Finalist
St. Jude Donor '12 thru '26
I felt things like this were in our future and figured if I was ever going to buy another high performance car the time was now. Mighty glad I did! 
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,055
Likes: 0
From: Jax Florida
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,030
Likes: 1
From: Douglasville Ga
But you guys are forgetting one thing. When we bought our cars, what was the first thing we planned on doing....Modding them. This means that the factory cars are not near as efficient as they can be. The cars won't be very fun to work on in the future, but if the manufacturers make the cars as efficient as possible right out of the factory, then I have no doubt they can make a car with 400+ hp and still get 35 mpg. Just my .02 thou.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,055
Likes: 0
From: Jax Florida
But you guys are forgetting one thing. When we bought our cars, what was the first thing we planned on doing....Modding them. This means that the factory cars are not near as efficient as they can be. The cars won't be very fun to work on in the future, but if the manufacturers make the cars as efficient as possible right out of the factory, then I have no doubt they can make a car with 400+ hp and still get 35 mpg. Just my .02 thou.
Trust me, take one thermodynamics class in college and you'll see why it's impossible for a high-performance gas engine to ever reach what the Feds want.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,848
Likes: 1
From: Central Florida
with 350+ HP cars getting 35mpg in the future..
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 10,961
Likes: 2,643
From: Texas Hill Country
1) Govt MPG standards are an avg for the whole line. They can keep the Vette and add a motorcycle based car.
2) Govt MGP standards are a joke. When MPG increases, so does driving! NO CHANGE in overall fuel usage and emissions. The Gubment needs to EDUCATE the American regarding the importance of a lifestyle change that is more environmentaly friendly.
Move closer to work, ride a bike, invest in "green tech," etc.
We don't need to change the auto industry. Let capitalism handle it. We, as a country, need to change the way we live. We do a lot more to pollute than drive....
2) Govt MGP standards are a joke. When MPG increases, so does driving! NO CHANGE in overall fuel usage and emissions. The Gubment needs to EDUCATE the American regarding the importance of a lifestyle change that is more environmentaly friendly.
Move closer to work, ride a bike, invest in "green tech," etc.
We don't need to change the auto industry. Let capitalism handle it. We, as a country, need to change the way we live. We do a lot more to pollute than drive....
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,055
Likes: 0
From: Jax Florida
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 17,786
Likes: 5
From: Florida
Not soon after I bought the Z, I read a story (I think it was Popular Science) about cars of the future, fuel cell technology, etc. It made me realize that our cars will be some of the last breed of high performance gas burners before fossil fuels go bye-bye in favor of greener alternatives. Those of us that were brought up on dino oil will end up paying a hefty premium at the pump someday just to take that weekend cruise. And we will. 
Enjoy these cars (and internal combustion) for as long as you can. Their days are truly numbered and I truly believe that I will see in my life time (God willing) that internal combustion based cars/trucks will require a special registration (and the tax to go with it). The traditional "fuel pump" will become more difficult to find by 2025.
-Deano
Enjoy these cars (and internal combustion) for as long as you can. Their days are truly numbered and I truly believe that I will see in my life time (God willing) that internal combustion based cars/trucks will require a special registration (and the tax to go with it). The traditional "fuel pump" will become more difficult to find by 2025.
-Deano
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,030
Likes: 1
From: Douglasville Ga
I actually took two thermodynamic courses in college, and I never said that you can take a Z right now and mod it to get 35 mpg. what I said was that we add headers, and the x-pipe, and a diffeent cam, and heads, all to N/A a car and free up the horsepower that is confined by backpressure and allow the car to breath as much as possible.
I said that with knowing that, I do not doubt that they will make a car with 400+hp and still get 35mpg in the future. People need to read threads and understand what is being said instead of making assumptions.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
I love my Vette
I cant wait until I press the pedal to the floor in my 02 z06 sometime in the 2020s and hear that engine roar next to all those flimsy biofuel powered cars....when asked...I'll just say "yeah, its a blast from the past"