Fiat 500 coming to U.S. - But is U.S. ready? Autoblog Comments say 'Nope'.

The Fiat 500 promises unbelievable gas mileage (an amazing 39.7mpg !!!), neat style and, according to Fiat, over 500,000 combinations of engines (3 not counting the Abarth tuned version), , colours, wheels and accessories can be had!

But reading the Autoblog comments to the 'Fiat 500 in U.S.' announcement shows that American folk aren't excited about almost-4o MPGs and an interior that looks like this (right).

And, just to show off their mighty car knowledge - lots of Autoblog commentators bring up the historically crappy quality Fiat's become known for. But, the truth, is if you've been into a Panda or Punto lately - not the freaken 80s - you know that a Fiat is made about as well as any other not-expensive car. A little engine noise but panel gaps smaller and straighter than any American (as-in, assembled in Mexico) car. You'll get a warranty - if you didn't, why would anyone buy an Evo, WRX or Viper?

This is, by the way, from people who drive cheap-plasticky-interior Chevies (this picture is a 2008 Silverado Interior) and recall-loving Fords (link to all Ford Recall notices). These are fine cars too - cause all new cars are not very high-quality so why not get 40mpgs and park in urban centers.

So, open your heart to the Fiat 500 -by 2010 - you're looking at 5 bucks a gallon but a quarter of Americans (according to our gas price poll) say

"I don't care how much gas costs, not even a little - I love my truck!"

Shit, Really? 22MPG Chevy Tahoe is L.A. Green Car of the Year

There were electric vehicles (EVs), there were hydrogen cars, even a hybrid Nissan Altima. But who takes home the green gold? An eight-cylinder truck that gets 22 MPG on the highway! Don't get us wrong. We like the Chevrolet Tahoe a lot! But green car it ain't. If you're going over 33mph - you're using all 5.3 liters of V8 the big-ass Chevy's got to offer. GM clearly bought themselves a meaningless award that kinda mocks the whole gas price nightmare L.A. is actually in.

BMW hints new Isetta - Massive Balls or Vaporware Bullplop?

Auto Express, UK's awesome car weekly is teasing us with a possible new Isetta from BMW. Like the New Beetle, New Mini and new Fiat 500 - it's another everyman car that history loves. Of course, like the other fake retro econocars - the above drawing seems to have door handles on the side. Already not very Isetta. But the rear-engine design will be retained (in this fantasy, might never happen scenario.)

Auto Express is telling us to wait until 2010 to hear more. They also raise the interesting point of the Isetta not really fitting into Bimmers 'Ultimate Driving Machine' thing. As gas prices keep skyrocketing like bastards in the U.S. - can new, tiny cars like the Smart, Fiat 500 and this thing be the future?

Penny a Day - Sponsor a Poor Kid or Fuel up Your Truck?

Gas in Southern California is going up about a penny everyday. And there's rumors of $200 barrels next year! So, yet again, Basic Transportation whips out its gas price poll.

What's it going to take to get you into a Toyota Yaris, Scion tC, Honda Civic or Prius?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

What's the Deal with Germans and Hydrogen?

Generally, we don't like the 7-Series. iDrive sucks and it's a lot ugglier than the model it replaced. But we don't mind alternative fuels and BMW is eeking closer and closer to offering us a Hydrogen-powered 7-Series, which takes balls. At the moment, they're only being used for BMW's PR around the world. They loaned some to NASA for about eight weeks and now, it seems they just go around the world, loaning them out to high-profile VIPs, business folks and especially politicians.

The halo fleet of super green cars is mmm mmm good PR when you're the company that's known for gas guzzlers like the M5 - close 300 g/km of CO2 emissions. The 750hL spews nothing but water vapor when running on hydrogen. Since you can't buy hydrogen very readily, the thing also runs on gas - which is what most normal folks would end up using in this now-heavier, V12 big boy.

All the hydrogen fuel cell stuff adds an extra 550 pounds to the already massive 7 and according to this Ben Lage article, just the materials in each of the 100 or so examples of the 7-Series 750hL costs around $400 grand. With the research, they're about a mil-point-five a piece.

The not-at-all-pompous-sounding BMW hydrogen technology researcher, Dr. Frank Ochmann explains,"We have no price on the car. We regard this as an offer to society to show society where we stand on clean energy."

"We have no price on the car," said BMW hydrogen technology researcher Dr. Frank Ochmann. "We regard this as an offer to society to show society where we stand on clean energy."

I can't help but wonder - how much will gas prices have to go up for you to give up the truck? Take the poll below!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Volvo gets an extra 4 1/4 mpg from the C30 with simple tweaks - why are they alone?

Fuel cells, hybrid drives and thousands of batteries. There's lots at the Frankfurt show to show off car companies as whale kissing, tree hugging, environmental freaks. Lots and lots of technology we might see in like ten years to help save the planet and help you score with hippie chicks.

For the moment, Volvo has decided to keep it real and, as Autoblog points out, simple as hell with the C30 Efficiency - a 1.6L Diesel Volvo that, by the way, already gets better gas mileage than Google's Prius Fleet (none-plug-in).

Tweaks (listed in another Autoblog post here) to the gears, undercarriage, even oil and tires and wheels and viola - 9 g/km (grams per kilometer you drive in it) less CO2 AND, AND, wait for it, AND 4.25 mpg more! That's savings you can take to the money bank and you can shit on Prius drivers, since - the new mileage I used a calculated, so I assume Basic Transportation - Car and Truck and Electric Vehicle (why not) blog brought it to you first. Click on title to see Autoblog's C30 Efficiency image gallery (not exciting, but efficient).

This Week in Gas Price History: California's paying less, Texas paying more, but we're all screwed

To be precise, we're screwed at a rate of 20 cents since last year, about buck since this week 2004. So, really, the long-term outlook for being able to guzzle as much gas as we want is probably on the decline. So, again, I gotta ask - how much is too much - remember this poll? Vote now!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Driving the 2007 Escalade - Cool, wrong, really badly made

There's too many car reviews online - so we hate doing them. But when given the chance to jump behind the wheel of a 2007 Escalade - the ultimate SUV - I said 'what the hell, let's do it.'

It goes without saying that the Escalade is sexy as hell and ridiculously roomy. But, of course, so is the Tahoe, which costs half as much. While they no longer share a platform and 95% of the parts, the two trucks are still the same size. The Escalade has an unnecessarily bigger, V8 and, most importantly, the constantly adjusted, futuristic-magnetically-charged shocks.

At one point, the Cadillac man that came along for the ride insisted, with no hint of sarcasm, that I try to flip the Escalade and - since it wasn't mine - I was happy to give it a shot. It didn't take long for me to get the four-ton bastard up to 50 on a surface street and, bracing myself for rollover goodness, I yanked the wheel for a hard left (after all, Tony Soprano flipped his Escalade and walked away).

The king of bling just turned into the parking lot where I pointed and screeched sideways like a Camaro. Expensive computers told one side of the car to become stiffer to make up for...physics. The truck was unflippable.

So, drivability is impressive and who doesn't like 22inch chrome rims from the factory. Quality is another issue altogether. Bare in mind that the $77 grand on the Escalade's sticker can buy a slew of different luxury cars. Before even getting a close look at the Caddy, I could see the seam of the drivers' door was crooked, narrow on the top and much wider on the bottom. This was without looking very closely - it didn't occur to me to check the body on a new car - I usually reserve it for salvaged pieces of crap like that Buick Riviera I had.

Crooked doors, on a brand new, $80K Cadillac. Seriously? Inside, the plasticky feel of fake wood panels glued onto pickup dashboard panels is a bit better than it was on the old, pickup-based Caddies - but not much better. The second time I went to backup, the backup camera had stopped working. The time before, it had shown the rear bumper on the navigation screen, which was cool. I put the car into 'drive' and then 'reverse' again. Nothing, the camera toy had gone too. Again, this Escalade had 40 miles on it at the time.

I was done. The Bose, 5.1 Dolby sound system also sounded like crap. The guy tried to explain that every Escalade's sound settings were adjusted at the dealer when it was purchased. 'So, it just sounds crappy from the factory?'

Maybe we, as a society, need to find a new pimpmobile? Maybe better-made and with better gas mileage?

What the Hell? The Fiat 500 is a small car I actually like.

OK, so, at heart, I'm a redneck, and as such, I like big, comfortable and cheap cars/trucks with V8 engines, hooked up to the rear wheels. Small cars are for people that can't afford those and girls, right? And, yeah, the Mini is a great car...for girls. Even the Scion Xb is pretty cool...and yet it's for girls and high schoolers. But, there's hope for my gas guzzling ways (maybe). The Fiat 500 coming out in our fifty-first state, Europe makes me think twice. The interior is so convincingly old fashioned like. The safety rating is so good (top score from the EU folks). And the ridiculously amazing gas mileage of the Fiat 500 (56mpg) is just mind boggling. Yes, it's over 10 seconds 0-60 and yes, that sucks from a standing stop at a freeway onramp - but damn!

At the end of the day, my car might easily be a Chevy Silverado Extended cab...yeah...with leather. Although a Mustang GT Convertible also whispers my name at night. But if the Fiat 500 comes to to the States (and there's a tiny chance it will), I might think about it for my Hollywood, green car cred.

Official Media Images of the Fiat 500

A 'Green' car that doesn't bore the crap outta ya? - Check out the Citroen C-Cactus Concept

Yes, the Elettrica in the last post is very...responsible. But it's basically a golf cart. And yes, the Prius makes people feel good about their environmental mindedness. But it's a horrible, fish-shaped, boring, cloth-seated five-door hatchback. So, at this year's Frankfurt Autoshow, Citroen is showing off a concept that won't have you shrugging your shoulders until they're sore and discolored. Instead, marvel at the chunky Citroen's curves and bulges, windows that look like they were crudely drawn with a crayon. That's what you want from a car that gets about 70mpg - which totally craps on the Prius's 40 and change to the gallon.

Plus, the C-Cactus achieves this gas economy through fancy diesel technology, variable valve timing and other cleverness. Not just using electric when going slow. And, finally, while Prius uses damn-near-impossible to recycle batteries - lots of them, the C-Catus is made to be easier to recycle and more green to produce. Now let's hope Citroen actually produces it!

Check out more pix from Autoblog Green - Citroen C-Cactus Concept!

New Elettrica electric vehicle take on GWiz and NICE Mega City on London streets

Today, Future Vehicles in UK, best known for retrofitting original Minis with electric running gear, announced that they'd be making the first electric car actually manufactured in UK. While India-made GWizzes and French NICE are abound in central London, the tiny Elettrica will be able to offer more range, taking two passengers up to 70 miles on a single charge - as opposed to 50 like the NICE or Gwiz.

The added range is thanks to a Lithium battery. The GoinGreen and their GWiz expect to offer these on new models and as upgrades in early 2008. Another important feature of the Elettrica, if you like living, is the safety. The GWiz got into some hot water because, since these EVs aren't classed as cars by the EU, the safety standards are pretty lax. Future Vehicles created a safety 'shell' for the Elettrica similar to the on Smart ForTwos.

The Lithium-powered Elettrica will gost £12,750 inc VAT - compare that to the newly-reduced cost of £7,299 for the AC-drive GWiz or around £10K for a Mega City - both can (uncomfortably) seat four. Expect to see these funky-looking green machines on the streets of London soon. Test drives are already being scheduled in the capital. Check out the link when you click the title.

Back in Cali: How much is too much for gas? Big Car vs. Small Car

Back in the Valley, 818, 106 degrees, lots of shiny new sheetmetal to gawk at from inside my unwashed-in-four-years Mustang drop-top. And I have to ask. How much is too much for gas? What will it take for you to get out of the sweet, sweet, Hummer and into something like....the new Mitsubishi Concept cX concept, premiering at Frankfurt next month.

It's a neat-enough, little car, I guess. And you know the gas mileage will be four times that of the H2 Humvee I so want. But when the Hummer H2 convertible arrives next year, how will you resist? I want to know if the good 'ol US of A will ever become Euro-like and drive tiny, personality-free hatchbacks that get like 50 miles to the gallon. Now's your chance to tell me and the world!!

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Diesel Power

- Better than hybrids or just for eurotrash?

It smells like ass, doesn’t cost that much and usually means very little acceleration. No, it’s not Taco Bell's steak quesadilla. It’s diesel power! While everyone and their mama, including the latest consumer reports announcement, is jumping onto the hybrid wagon - diesel is still seen as being just for trucks and buses. The truth is, when USA Today (the thinking man’s toilet paper) drove a Prius and a VW Jetta TDI from Detroit to D.C. - the Vdub got six more MPG than the Toyota, which got 38. That’s also 6 less than Consumer Reports got out of their Prius.

I have a hard time advocating that people drive diesels. Compared to the futurism and political cache of hybrids, diesels don’t seem to have a lot going for them. In city centers, hybrids are the way to go. Diesel smoke (proven to cause cancer) spewing from buses and slow-moving traffic produces a black cloud that hovers at street level. London cabs are all diesel - go smell that place. Hybrids, meanwhile spew nothing at those low speeds. It’s a better technology for taxis, police cars, meter maids and buses.

Fair enough, but at highway speeds, like on USA Today’s trip, and most other USA driving, diesels make tons more sense than the overhyped hybrids. Diesel fuel costs around 15% less and the extra cost of the car is often as little as 300 bucks (in the case of the Passat). This is compared to the $2,700 you’ll add to your Escape XLT Sport to get the Hybrid. Diesels are also not quite as slow as they used to be. There's diesel bimmers in europe that make close to 300 hp!

Compared to Ethanol, there aren’t diesel versions available for most cars sold in the US. Instead, cars like the Volkswagen Golf, Mercedes E type and BMW offer diesel engines in the States - a BMW X5 diesel's coming soon - meaning you’ve got little choice but to go German. If that ain’t your thing - you have a wide variety of massive, American trucks to choose from! Ford, GM and Dodge make awesome diesel trucks in both regular and dually variety! There’s also the Hummer H1 and the International RTX (both pictured) to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil!