Australians Now Favour Fuel Economy Over Power

[zoomie]

Originally Posted by bangm001

Did they survey monkeys???

Na they surveyed the same group Holden did.....

[bernbo]

Interesting to see if the same people who want to save money on fuel happily buy bottled water and six dollar coffees daily.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

I don't know who these 'Australians' were, but I bet most of them looked like this.

image

Hey! Where'd you find my photo on the net?

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by ESPJG32

Oh Dear,

I think it will mean that Ford [ if they believe the research] will give us Vanilla cars going forward...maybe the survey was designed to support what they wanted to hear and give them a good excuse to take a further step away from
the sensational GT's, turbo sixes and of course the ultimate GT-F's that they gave us from the now silent Broadmeadows......

Originally Posted by hawke

I cant work out what is damaged, what you think is the cause of the damage what sort of policy you have, and why you think the damage is covered by it.

Going forward? That's all they offer now

Your new car showroom is mostly a yawn fest it doesn't matter what brand

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

While they say they don't favour power, the assumption is that they already have it (like safety, reliability, etc)

THIS is the reason the survey results are they way they are.

Today, even a modern 1.5L will move you along at a reasonable pace so 'power' isn't as required like it was with 1.5L cars of the 1980's.

Hell, Take something like the VW Golf TSI 1.4L which is a common little buzzbox, AND with a quicker 0-100km/h time than a Phase 3!!

[Sabantien]

I agree with OzJavelin too, most people don't think about power because it's there. Every person I know who has owned a Cruze (they have all traded them in) though, while they're not at all into performance cars/driving fast, they ***** they want more power.

You can definitely have both though. Took my gf's hatch to work yesterday. On the drive home, there was spirited driving through the quiet areas around work until I hit the peak hour traffic. Averaged 5.6l/100km for the trip home. As for power, well, it's got more than enough. My Falcon would probably beat it in a straight line, but not by much. (Might be fun to try them both out at a drag day)

All that said, back before I had my Falcon I probably wouldn't have cared about having a car with a decent amount of power. Everything I had got the job done well enough. I even tried out a normal little Fiesta and thought it was plenty zippy. Now I couldn't do less than an ST (but i'd definitely give the 1l ecoboost a whirl, curious about that car!).

[Express]

In the past couple of months two of our friends have brought new cars.

One was a Camry Hybrid and the other a Hyundai Accent.

Knowing I’m close to being the only car enthusiast among our circle of friends or at least the only enthusiast who doesn’t just talk about them but actually buys performance cars, I was given the privilege by their proud new owners to drive both.

I’m always polite about others peoples cars and even though they are not what I’d buy, for what they are there is nothing wrong with them.

While they talked excitedly about their new purchases like we all do, what I did notice is both said something very similar to me and that was ‘they don’t need cars like I drive’ and they both made many references to fuel economy.

I think they have a lot in common with many new car buyers, performance in a way an enthusiast sees it is low down on their lists of requirements, where adequate power which most cars have is all they really care about and the survey reflects that way of thinking.

[wodahs]

this survey says most prefer big power and don't care about the fuel usage and I agree with this out come over the op one

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by wodahs

this survey says most prefer big power and don't care about the fuel usage and I agree with this out come over the op one

I'm a dope, clicked the link... hmm, clicked it again, then I got it...smartarse. ..

[wobblysauce]

Originally Posted by Express

.. Camry Hybrid .. was given the privilege by their proud new owners to drive both..

Haven been in a Tesla and Camry Hybrid and driven them.. Well.

What is your thoughts on the Hybrid? As one that does deliverers at night... been thinking hard about it.. after I reach my goals in the yellow big bird.


I house has the ex-Taxi(duel fuel).. TS AWD Terry(duel fuel), Accent and 2 motor bikes for the other fun times..

[FPV+fteT3]

There is a big difference in thinking your car has power and the reality of driving a car with power. The average person would think any of the current crop of 4cyl automatics has heaps of power. There is a marked difference to the average joe's definition of power and a performance car enthusiast reality of power the latter is my preference as for the fossil fuel used to achieve that performance it never comes into calculation when I am buying a car.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by OzriderXR8

For most a car is simply a means of getting from a to b, most have to use it to get to work, take the kids to school etc, etc.

Why wouldn't reducing the costs for running what is essentially now a consumable be important?

I have 3 cars and a bike, the FG is much more economical than the XR8 and my wife's Elantra is much cheaper for short trips to and from work, school and shopping.

The bike, ridden like I stole it, only uses 4l/100klms.

The wifes Elantra gets driven on average 10klms a day, that's school run and work (wife works across the road from the school) and afternoon pick up etc.

Averages 7.1 l/100klms

If she used the FG it would be twice that, the XR8 3 times.

I drive to town twice a week (25klms in traffic) Bike, 4l/100klms, FG 12l/100klms, XR8 16l/100klms.

I also drive to Geelong 3 times a week (160klm round trip), XR8 12l/100klms, FG 8.6l/100kls.

If we can save a combined amount of even $25 a week in fuel costs that adds up to $1300 a year.

So in a nutshell fuel economy is really, really important because that $1300 allows me to keep the XR8..

Dont buy new. You'll save more then the ****y amount you save in fuel.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by FPV+fteT3

There is a big difference in thinking your car has power and the reality of driving a car with power. The average person would think any of the current crop of 4cyl automatics has heaps of power. There is a marked difference to the average joe's definition of power and a performance car enthusiast reality of power the latter is my preference as for the fossil fuel used to achieve that performance it never comes into calculation when I am buying a car.

Until your car has something under the bonnet other cars have 'ample' power.....haha slow pos.

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by chevypower

Hopefully soon enough we can all just move over to electric or FCV and have enough power, torque, and range that we don't need to worry too much about what we drive or the way we drive it!

No thanks.

I'm going racing with two GTF's tomorrow and I don't give two hoots about how much greenhouse gasses I put out nor how much fuel I use or how much it costs. I will be having the time of my life.

[duaned]

Yes, I think Ill replace my V8 in favour of one of these new Toorak Tractor SUV things (or maybe a big 4WD) cause it's about fuel economy!

Clearly the bulk of people in Australia are plain and simply STUPID!

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by Mercury Bullet

No thanks.

I'm going racing with two GTF's tomorrow and I don't give two hoots about how much greenhouse gasses I put out nor how much fuel I use or how much it costs. I will be having the time of my life.

But what if you are getting beaten by electric cars all day long, AND they are saving $100 a week on running costs? At some point, the performance deficit won't be worth the engine sound.

[OzriderXR8]

Originally Posted by OzriderXR8

For most a car is simply a means of getting from a to b, most have to use it to get to work, take the kids to school etc, etc.

Why wouldn't reducing the costs for running what is essentially now a consumable be important?

I have 3 cars and a bike, the FG is much more economical than the XR8 and my wife's Elantra is much cheaper for short trips to and from work, school and shopping.

The bike, ridden like I stole it, only uses 4l/100klms.

The wifes Elantra gets driven on average 10klms a day, that's school run and work (wife works across the road from the school) and afternoon pick up etc.

Averages 7.1 l/100klms

If she used the FG it would be twice that, the XR8 3 times.

I drive to town twice a week (25klms in traffic) Bike, 4l/100klms, FG 12l/100klms, XR8 16l/100klms.

I also drive to Geelong 3 times a week (160klm round trip), XR8 12l/100klms, FG 8.6l/100kls.

If we can save a combined amount of even $25 a week in fuel costs that adds up to $1300 a year.

So in a nutshell fuel economy is really, really important because that $1300 allows me to keep the XR8..

Originally Posted by vztrt

Dont buy new. You'll save more then the ****y amount you save in fuel.

I didn't buy new, FG is 2014, XR8 is 2001, Elantra 2012 ?????

[Rallye Sport]

I'd say the survey is a pretty accurate snapshot of the average Australian.
So lets define average. I live in an average suburban street as do the majority of people. In that street of 80 odd houses the majority of residents are families driving small, efficient, modern cars. Theres three houses with enthusiast cars in the garage and one house full of quinoa munching hipsters. So looking at that it seems average Australians do seem to favour economical cars.
I'd class myself as an enthusiast but even I favour economy in a daily vehicle, that being an LPG Falcon wagon.
It all evens out in the end though, all that fuel that the hipsters down the road save riding they're fixies I'll spray through a pair of sidedraught webers on the weekend. Thinking about it the hipsters don't seem like such cocks now, lol.

[data_mine]

Originally Posted by chevypower

But what if you are getting beaten by electric cars all day long, AND they are saving $100 a week on running costs? At some point, the performance deficit won't be worth the engine sound.

despite being an electrial engineer, It'd rather be tweaking carbs/fuel injection than re-winding motors and adding batteries for more power.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by wobblysauce

Haven been in a Tesla and Camry Hybrid and driven them.. Well.

What is your thoughts on the Hybrid? As one that does deliverers at night... been thinking hard about it.. after I reach my goals in the yellow big bird.

I have had a Camry Hybrid for about 4 years. Happy with it, it actually feels more grunty off the line than my Falcon as you have the electric motor kicking in max torque at effectively 0rpm.

Lifetime average is 5.6 L/100km. The only car I have ever owned that gets basically the same fuel economy no matter how hard you thrash it. In my situation I save about 2 grand a year over a conventional family car equivalent.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by OzriderXR8

I didn't buy new, FG is 2014, XR8 is 2001, Elantra 2012 ?????

In other words your someone the car manufacturers dont care about.

[danzvtil]

Considering the average motorist spends 99.9% of their driving time doing boring stuff like driving to work, then spending more on fuel than they have to is just daft.
If you want a car that will rip to 100kph in 3 secs then buy one, it doesn't mean every other driver is an idiot.

[OzriderXR8]

Originally Posted by vztrt

In other words your someone the car manufacturers dont care about.

I think I'm exactly who they care about.

Male, fifties, disposable income, teenage children, multiple vehicles....

Fuel economy is not a motivation for me, last 5 vehicles have all been Falcons or 4x4's, even when we bought the wife's Elantra the sales guy was trying to sell us a smaller 'more economical' model.

When I was looking at a new V8 last year, XR8's and SS Commodores the sales guys quoted fuel consumption as a selling point.

[Express]

Originally Posted by wobblysauce

Haven been in a Tesla and Camry Hybrid and driven them.. Well.

What is your thoughts on the Hybrid? As one that does deliverers at night... been thinking hard about it.. after I reach my goals in the yellow big bird.


I house has the ex-Taxi(duel fuel).. TS AWD Terry(duel fuel), Accent and 2 motor bikes for the other fun times..

He must think I'm in love with it because the last 4 times we've gone out as a group I've been the driver but that doesn't make me a good person to review or rate it as all I do is drive in a bit traffic to a restaurant and home again.

My thoughts from that is the suspension is very comfortable (compared to my cars), it has more than enough HP to power through and keep up with traffic, it has a USB stick in the jukebox which is a must for me and it's miserly on fuel.

The only thing I find off putting is it's too quiet and I often find I'm looking to see if the car is running when stationary but I guess I'd get used to that if I owned and spent more time with it.

All up if that's the type of car you're looking for then it's a good buy.

[eb2fairmont]

If economy now floats people's boats at ford then why is ranger and mustang thier top sellers?

Like the economical stuff sells in huge numbers...

[Rallye Sport]

Ranger would be due to fleet sales, lets face it you wouldn't want one otherwise. Wouldn't have thought Mustang would be a top seller they haven't made enough of them yet and they're aimed at enthusiasts/ mid life crisis not the average Australian ...

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by eb2fairmont

If economy now floats people's boats at ford then why is ranger and mustang thier top sellers?

Like the economical stuff sells in huge numbers...

Exactly. Look up & down my street at all the late model trucks (OK, SUVs if people must all them that) and the same at the school drop-off & pick-up.

They outnumber small cars by at least 4:1

However, driving in commuter traffic to work, ignoring trucks, it's maybe 40% economic or hybrid cars, 30% large cars or 4WDs, and a similar % of tradie Utes & vans.

But small "economic" cars are not the majority like this survey seems to try to convince us.

I spend about $2k/yr in LPG to do about 35,000km. The "savings" in fuel from a hybrid or Eco car simply go nowhere near offsetting the additional cost to buy it, nor the depreciation... Even if I could halve the fuel cost, it's still only $1000 a year.....and I'm still up for $3k in rego, insurance & maintenance costs.....

[Sabantien]

Originally Posted by Rallye Sport

Ranger would be due to fleet sales, lets face it you wouldn't want one otherwise. Wouldn't have thought Mustang would be a top seller they haven't made enough of them yet and they're aimed at enthusiasts/ mid life crisis not the average Australian ...

Why wouldn't anyone want a Ranger?
I've certainly not heard anything bad about them, and i'd definitely be looking at one if I was in the market for a 4wd ute.

Mustang is the highest selling sports car in the country, even with limited numbers coming through, so there's probably a good number of people having a mid life crisis.

[Rallye Sport]

The mustangs had a big spike on release but will drop off the radar until the next shipment comes.
I won't go on too much about the ranger and only say ours sits in the compound and we drive the tractor instead, its doesn't break down as often and has a comfier ride.

[xisled]

I understand the survey and why people would say economy over power.

When I catch public to work, it doesn't matter if I have a v8 or 4 cylinder because they both will do the same thing. Sit at home a do nothing.

Also if I drive to work I travel in peak hour bumper to bumper, having a v8 won't make my journey quicker.

In saying that because I don't drive huge miles, my gt sits in the garage maybe being used once or twice a year. Usually will take the omega if I need to go anywhere because it's parked in the drive way.