I want this car! (really, I do!)

[Titantornado]

http://www.loremo.com/index_en.php

> 2 cyl, 20 hp turbo-diesel

> 150+ mpg

> 0-63 mph in 19 sec.

> 100 mph max.

> Seats 4

Not enough 'umph' for ya?  How about their "GT" model

> 3 cyl, 50 hp turbo-diesel

> 88 mpg

> 0-63 mph in 9 sec.

> 138 mph max.

> seats 4

And best of all, they are Biodiesel compatible!!!!

Gosh shang it all!  Why-O-Why can't it available now?  This sooooo beats the hybrids hands down.  Not only won't it be available until 2009, they won't make it available to the US for at least the first year of production.

Does anyone know if you can privately import a car that hasn't been certified for the US?

[nanotech]

Does anyone know if you can privately import a car that hasn't been certified for the US?

Yes, but it's a royal PITA.  Been there, done that, ain't gonna' do it again.

[powerbuoy]

It seems to be a concept car, not available until 2009 ...so you'll have time to think about it. In the meantime, there are a couple three liter cars available in Europe, the Polo Fox (VW), the Smart car (smart, Mercedes I believe) . The VW TDIs are not doing to bad either and regulary get > 50mpg. This at 90+ HP.

Powerbuoy

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

How do they do on ten miles of 6% grade at highway speed?  And in front and side impacts?

High-mileage low-power cars may be fine on the flat and for commutes.  But they can be a pain in mountains unless they're light enough that the engine can drive them up the slope.  But really light cars generally don't do well in a collision with something heavier (though it IS possible to design them so the passengers survive such crashes).

[BT Humble]

Does anyone know if you can privately import a car that hasn't been certified for the US?



If it's anything like Australia, getting it into the country is a walk in the park compared to actually getting it registered.

BTH

[powerbuoy]

I hear this a lot, the danger of having lighter cars being crushed by big SUVs. If this is really a concern, then we'll need to get all the Bikers off the streets (including our beloved Harleys). Maybe one should rethink the subject and do it the other way around, we'll need to get all these SUVs off the road. Why are single guys (and ladies) driving 2 ton monsters back and forth to work?

Here is another one: For some reason most of my coworkers are into owning a truck ... some are F350s, some are Dodge Rams ..and so on. The only time the flatbed gets ever used is when they haul a case of beer back home ... somehow, we got our priorities messed up or were sold on the wrong image from the get go, thx to marketing and ads.

Powerbuoy

[Slingshot]

Two years ago I had a 25 MPH head-on collision with an 18-wheeler in Dallas.  I was driving a Dodge Ram pickup.  The air bags deployed and the sheet metal crumpled.  Everything on the truck was bent, except for the tailgate.  I stopped so quickly that my left front spindle ripped off at the ball joints, and the wheel, spindle, and miscellaneous attached bits went bouncing down the street.  The impact, noise, and G forces astounded me.

Once such an incident unfolds, you are helpless to influence your own survival - you're in the hands of the engineers and it's over in a fraction of a second.

Only the passenger-side door could be pried open to pull me out, and afterwards it overlapped the frame by several inches.  I was a little disoriented, but I walked away from this accident and slept in my own bed that night.  I had a bloody nose because the center of the steering wheel was propelled into my face by the air bag, a broken finger because my hand flew forward and broke the windshield, and lots of bruises where the belt/harness mashed my guts.  Also, the air bag inflates at several hundred MPH, and it cut the insides of my forearms a little as it zoomed past.  Not bad, considering the carnage that was wreaked upon both vehicles.  

Had I been driving the Corvette that preceded this truck, or the restored classic that I was considering, or the Honda Valkyrie that was in the garage, I would have been taco filling.

I was so impressed by the survival advantages of that vehicle that I went straight to the dealer and bought another.  I may continue to take calculated risks with sports cars, hot rods, and motorcycles, but if I ever have a family MOST of their daily exposure will be mitigated by a couple tons of crumple zone.

[powerbuoy]

Sling ... I hear you ... but in general I believe that somebody was just holding their hands over you. I do not think that the fatal accident rates will go down if everybody starts driving Pick ups.  

[Titantornado]

Their site says at a 14:1 (7%) grade, the LS (low horsepower) model will maintain 63MPH.  At 10:1 (?%) grade, it will do 50MPH.  If power really concerns you, there's the GT model with more than enough power, and still getting 88 mpg. But for the kind of fuel milage the LS gets, I can live with the intermintent inconvieniece of slowing down a bit on steeper grades.

As far as front, rear, side impact protection goes, they built a triple boxed beam chassis.  It can be seen in the crash simulation video, if you can get it to play. (I downloaded it and played it locally to get it to work)  Looking at a front-on picture, you can see how they put quite a bit of structure between the outside, and the passenger compartment.  They address the issue/concern in the FAQ's quite well.  I'd have no concerns driving this vehicle. (of course, I currently tool around in a Miata now)

[Countryboy]

My physics teacher always said he would prefer to hit a concrete wall driving a Chevette than to hit a concrete wall at an identical speed with an 18 wheeler.

The mass of the object affects how much energy you carry into the crash.  The lesser mass vehicle, the less kinetic energy you need to dissipate.

A lighter vehicle will bounce off an object a lot easier than a more massive vehicle.  Your chances of whiplash are probably greater in this car, but your chances of surviving are good.  This car will act more like a basketball than a bulldozer.

Several years ago, I had a near head on accident.  I was driving a 3/4 ton GMC truck.  My truck attempted to be a bulldozer.  There was 4 inches of room between the steering wheel and the back of the seat AFTER they removed me.  Being impaled on a steering column is no fun.  I would rather prefer to be in a light basketball that will bounce away if I hit something.

[wdyasq]

The last million miles I have driven have been without hitting anyone or getting hit by anyone. I went 300,000 miles on motorcyles until I was convinced that cars WERE going to eventually get me. I quit driving motorcycles after that accident. I did avoid the car - but not the traffic buttons or the concrete curb. Wrestling with a motorcycle is similar to dancing with wild bears. You really don't want to do it even if you are dressed for the part (I was wearing leathers and helmet).

I would not hesitate to buy one of the little things after I "Tried it on for size". I do think I would go for the GT model as the 0-60 in 9 seconds is a lot better than 0-60 in 19 and an 18 Wheeler on your arse.

Ron

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

The issue with mountains is not just your own speed, but also whether you hold up other cars, and whether you have enough additional power for accelleration to pass a slower vehicle in the short opportunities to do so.  If you can hold speed but can't pass you risk creating a situation where a third vehicle is unable to pass, creating a lineup and delaying all traffic.  So you have to drive like a slower vehicle:  Use turnouts to let others get forward (ESPECIALLY if the idiot ahead of you won't), fall back to let others two-hop, etc.  However, if you are curteous, a car that can maintain speed won't be any worse in mountain driving than a car towing a heavy trailer.

Sounds like they did their homework on the crash stuff.  If they get further along toward marketing the vehicle it will be interesting to see whether the crash tests bear out their simulations.  (As I said:  It's not IMPOSSIBLE to design a light vehicle that can survive an encounter with a much heavier one.  But it's something that requires serious engineering work and attention to detail, to make up for the lack of brute mass.)

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

In the US it may be confiscated at customs if you don't get your paperwork right up front.

[ghurd]

"The issue with mountains is not just your own speed,"

Anyone who had a VW Rabbit Diesel, mine got near 70MPG highway, knows exactly what you are talking about.  It slowed down climbing over shadows.

It was great in eastern Ohio. It was a hazard in western PA.