Originally Posted by MonsieurBon

A few months ago I saw a SmartCar on I5 between Portland and Eugene, OR. Where did they get it? It was doing 65.

Originally Posted by John Winter

The SMART is selling well in Canada. It takes 6 months to get one. This is the car that takes 2 people from point A to point B at a very reasonable fuel consumption. The fit for a tall person is fantastic, leg room galore. This is all you really need in reality. The car, or any other fuel efficient car, will not sell well in the US as long as Americans continue to consume the worlds supply of oil like they owned it all. Sooner or tale you will have to start cutting back on fuel consumption, why not ketch up with the rest of the world and cut back now. The problem you have is George Bush. He has 1/2 of Americans sucked in to his money making oil racket. If the country goes to fuell efficient cars George will lose his ill gotten oil fortune.
John

Originally Posted by John Winter

The SMART is selling well in Canada. It takes 6 months to get one. This is the car that takes 2 people from point A to point B at a very reasonable fuel consumption. The fit for a tall person is fantastic, leg room galore. This is all you really need in reality. The car, or any other fuel efficient car, will not sell well in the US as long as Americans continue to consume the worlds supply of oil like they owned it all. Sooner or tale you will have to start cutting back on fuel consumption, why not ketch up with the rest of the world and cut back now. The problem you have is George Bush. He has 1/2 of Americans sucked in to his money making oil racket. If the country goes to fuell efficient cars George will lose his ill gotten oil fortune.
John

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

definitely off topic, yes I have too much time on my hands for Larry however:

"Do sprawling communities translate into expanding waistlines? Absolutely, according to a new study that adds to a growing body of evidence that suburban living makes people fat. Russ Lopez, a Boston University researcher found that people who live in spread-out communities are heavier than their city-bound counterparts. By examining U.S. Census figures from 2000, Lopez created a formula that measures the level of sprawl in 330 metropolitan areas . . . metropolitan areas with high levels of sprawl included Dolan, Ala., Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., Tyler, Tex. , and greater Atlanta. Urban areas such as Boston, Honolulu, Los Angeles, and especially New York City, scored much lower because they're more densely populated.
Using figures from a 2000 federal health study, Lopez tried to see if higher levels of sprawl contributed to obesity. He reports his findings in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Obesity rates grew in communities as they rose up the 100-point sprawl scale, Lopez said. Even after he adjusted the statistics to remove any influence of different demographics -- in other words, making sure the numbers were comparing similar types of people -- residents of the sprawling Atlanta region were 17 percent more likely to be overweight than those who live in the more tightly squeezed Boston area.


The Epidemic
• 63% of Texas adults are overweight or obese. (CDC BRFSS, 2002)
• 22% of non-Hispanic white adults, 42% of non-Hispanic black adults, and 30% of Hispanic adults in Texas are obese. (CDC BRFSS, 2002)
• 30% of Texas high school students are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. (CDC YRBSS, 2003)
• The obesity rate among Texas adults increased by 100% between 1990 and 2002. (CDC BRFSS, 1990, 2002)
source: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/state_programs/texas.htm

The CDC reports that over two-thirds of adults in the US are overweight. For Texas the news is particularly disappointing because it is fifth from the bottom.

source: www.swhp.org Insights, June 2004 Scott & White Health Plan

Originally Posted by John Winter

The SMART is selling well in Canada. It takes 6 months to get one. This is the car that takes 2 people from point A to point B at a very reasonable fuel consumption. The fit for a tall person is fantastic, leg room galore. This is all you really need in reality. The car, or any other fuel efficient car, will not sell well in the US as long as Americans continue to consume the worlds supply of oil like they owned it all. Sooner or tale you will have to start cutting back on fuel consumption, why not ketch up with the rest of the world and cut back now. The problem you have is George Bush. He has 1/2 of Americans sucked in to his money making oil racket. If the country goes to fuell efficient cars George will lose his ill gotten oil fortune.
John

Originally Posted by LarryBible

This is very easy to believe. The reason I believe it is that California has all the perfect people. I started working for California companies in the seventies and started spending lots of time there. I know that California has all the perfect people because about a third of the people I've met from California have told me so.

I really and truly don't understand where you get off starting something like this. You point out that people from East Texas or NE Texas are overweight. You do this immediately after my post which clearly states Sumner, Texas as my location.

I will give you this though, at least you are honest and admit your own height and weight which is clearly above normal weight for your height. It's just kind of difficult to understand how you can then throw rocks at a particular region about a fault that you possess yourself.

I could have started spouting about certain habits and lifestyles that Northern Californians are known for, but I have not and will not do so. I especially wouldn't have done so in the middle of a thread just to start throwing rocks at a particular geographical group. I know LOTS of great people from Northern California and MANY other places in North America and Europe. I have learned that there are good folks and bad folks everywhere. There are also polite folks and not so polite folks everywhere.

I certainly don't start making generalizations about people from a certain locality in a condescending manner. It really gets me to hear people talk from a high horse.

Have a great day,

Originally Posted by Volvo Diesel

Hey!! I'm from Texas and I'm not fat (but I've seen a few large folks about, I'll admit)!! Maybe all the thin folks moved here to Austin (along with all the Californians)!!!

I think that getting that kind of fuel economy would be great, but I think I would be quite nervous riding in a car that small. I suppose, however, as previous posts mentioned, with the narrow, congested streets of Europe and higher fuel prices there, they are both welcome and necessary. Filling up the old Cadillac (7.0 L V-8 w/ quadra-jet carb) and getting all of 9 or 10 mpg around town is terribly expensive at $2.00/gal (which is why I never drive it!)--paying more than $5.00/gal--I shudder to think....

Just because a few of you asked...one can find a certain 4-letter last name listed among the principals of Arbusto Oil Partnership (which later became a part of Harkin Industries), the Kuwait-American Corp., and the Carlyle Group. This is just an honest response to the questions posed above; I did research on the issue while a student in 1999, and haven't looked at the data since, so for all I know, the above information may have changed. I learn a lot from reading this board and truly respect the members and their opinions--just wanted to provide the info in case the above queries were indeed genuine...

Take care & have a nice evening!

Originally Posted by miamimike

It would be interesting to know why George W. Bush, in light of the fact he and his advisors knew the US Price of Crude would be rising(increased consumption by India and China, decreased gulf coast refining capability ect.) about the time he went into Iraq, decided to institute a $100,000 Tax Deduction for the purchase of large Gas Guzzling SUVs weighing like over 8000 lbs(may be off a ton or so ).If these Tax Breaks would have went ONLY to Ranchers, Loggers, Construction Companies ect. that would have been OK-they can utilize such a vehicle and are deserving of it. Unfortunately, that is NOT what happened;many small business owners who are city slickers took this $100,000 tax break and have no more of a need for a Vehicle of this size and lousy fuel mileage on congested streets and inner city Beltways then the man in the moon needs Coppertone Suntan Lotion. The Tax break has been modified slightly but basically it is still in force, in light of these High Oil Prices. This is tough "Fuzzy Math" to justify in Anyone's Book, given the World Oil Situation; instead of instituting conservation policies and higher CAFE STandards to decrease Dependency on the Arabs who hold our young soldiers hostage in the MidEast--He(bush) went in just the opposite direction(guzzle more fuel unecessarily). This $100,000 Tax Break was conceived in his and by his administration and no one else.

Originally Posted by willrev

I am going to call my stealership today to see when these will enter the showroom. My wife commutes 500 miles per week. I cannot believe that someone has finally stood up and realized that diesel is the future of fuel economy - not hybrids. THANKS TO DAIMLER CHRYSLER.

It also looks like the design engineers have finally started using their heads again as far as fuel efficient designs. The answers are in nature and have been all along. I can't say its my favorite look like my old 300sd but at least the wife wouldn't be sucking up so much fuel back and forth to work every day. Looks like a winner as far as a commuter car.
Four cylinder common rail direct injection engine, particulate filter, selective catalytic reduction. 1991 Cubic centimeter displacement. Torque is 221 pounds at 1600-3000 RPM, autotronic transmission with continuously variable automatic. Zero to 60 MPH in 7.9 seconds. top speed 118 MPH. 70 miles per gallon. Fuel capacity 14.3 gallons. Driving Range 746 miles.


http://politics.yahoo.com/s/ap/daimlerchrysler_concept