NEED ADVICE - Starting up youth oriented car club - PLEASE

[Ti Kan]

Benjamin Weste Pearre writes:
> ...
> The truth of this is the real tragedy: new cars don't have
> appreciably better mileage than old ones.

That is a blanket statement without qualifications...

If all else is equal, today's engine technology can and does offer
much better mileage.  The sophisticated management electronics
make engines operate far more efficiently, make more power, and
pollute less than ever before.

That said, all else is not equal.  Today's market also demand cars
that are have better passive safety (read: stouter structures and
more weight), more standard luxury equipment (again more weight),
more performance (more power to overcome the weight), etc., and all
of these do have an impact on the average fuel consumption.

It's difficult to imagine, just 20 years ago, a 3400 pound four door
sedan that does 0-60mph in 5.5 secs, loaded with luxury, built stoutly,
produces relatively low pollutants, and yet return ~30 mpg while
cruising on the highway.  Yet my 2001 S4 accomplishes just that.

My '80 4000 with its transplanted 2.0 engine, at a bit over half the
horsepower and about 1000 pounds less weight, can't even match that
kind of fuel efficiency.

-Ti
2003 A4 1.8T multitronic
2001 S4 biturbo 6-sp
1984 5000S turbo
1980 4000 2.0 5-sp
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