GM starts playing catch-up with hybrids

Hi
I'm new to this site and have no idea what I'm doing.
Please be patient and maybe help.

The question is: Are all or any hybrids 4 wheel drive... true 4 wheel
drive?

I look forward to an answer from anyone who truly knows, (no guessing
please... I get plenty of that at work)

Thanks

Mike Z

There are 3 type of hybrids. Full, and 2 others which I don't know what
they call them. GM Silverado is the weakest type. I think it just turns
the engine off at stop lights or something stupid like that. Toyota Prius
is the best and I think Ford SUV Escape due out in a few months is the best
type too. THe new Accord hybrid is the medium type I believe.



"MikeZ" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
> Hi
> I'm new to this site and have no idea what I'm doing.
> Please be patient and maybe help.
>
> The question is: Are all or any hybrids 4 wheel drive... true 4 wheel
> drive?
>
> I look forward to an answer from anyone who truly knows, (no guessing
> please... I get plenty of that at work)
>
> Thanks
>
> Mike Z
>

Turns engine off??? Weak? Huh? Its a "truck". I thought the question was
on all wheel drive apps?

The terms FOUR wheel drive and ALL wheel drive are different and are
starting to be thrown together when they shouldnt be. One is for off
road use only (4 wheel) and one is for road use (all wheel). Bravada's
were the earliest to use intelligent AWD where power to the other wheels
were applied only when the rear wheels slip. Driving all the wheels at
once constantly eats up tires and reduces fuel mileage.

IIRC the Prius has a difficult time getting better gas mileage than none
hybrid cars unless you keep it under 60 on the highway.

Displacement on Demand is going to be the best way to go and GM's the
only one doing the R&D on it afaik.

In article . net>,
says...
> There are 3 type of hybrids. Full, and 2 others which I don't know what
> they call them. GM Silverado is the weakest type. I think it just turns
> the engine off at stop lights or something stupid like that. Toyota Prius
> is the best and I think Ford SUV Escape due out in a few months is the best
> type too. THe new Accord hybrid is the medium type I believe.
>
>
>
> "MikeZ" > wrote in message
> lkaboutautos.com...
> > Hi
> > I'm new to this site and have no idea what I'm doing.
> > Please be patient and maybe help.
> >
> > The question is: Are all or any hybrids 4 wheel drive... true 4 wheel
> > drive?
> >
> > I look forward to an answer from anyone who truly knows, (no guessing
> > please... I get plenty of that at work)
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Mike Z
> >
>
>
>

In article >,
Blah blah > wrote:

> IIRC the Prius has a difficult time getting better gas mileage than none
> hybrid cars unless you keep it under 60 on the highway.

It doesn't get much better mileage than non hybrids, period. Poor
mileage is a BIG complaint about it - the only reason it's EPA numbers
are so good is because the way the car operates tends to trick the EPA's
methodology into putting out a better mileage number. In real life, 40
- 45 mpg is the reasonably expected best mileage. There were cars 20
years ago that could achive that.

And, the Prius is a dog in every way. It accelerates like crap, it's
tiny, and it can't handle either. It the exact kind of car people
rejected 10 years ago when they went to buy their urban assault vehicles.

The Accord Hybrid is interesting (it's an actual, if bland, car). But
it's city mileage is 'only' 30mpg - not much better than a diesel.

Of course, if gas in the US wasn't such low octane, things woulds be
better...

> Displacement on Demand is going to be the best way to go and GM's the
> only one doing the R&D on it afaik.

Chrysler's new "Hemi" shuts cylinders and some new Honda minivans do
this year too. I use the quotes because it's not a true hemi (which
wouldn't pass EPA these days). I think pent roof combustion chambers
are supposed to be better anyway. *shrug*

In article >,
says...
> In article >,
> Blah blah > wrote:
>
> > IIRC the Prius has a difficult time getting better gas mileage than none
> > hybrid cars unless you keep it under 60 on the highway.
>
> It doesn't get much better mileage than non hybrids, period. Poor
> mileage is a BIG complaint about it - the only reason it's EPA numbers
> are so good is because the way the car operates tends to trick the EPA's
> methodology into putting out a better mileage number. In real life, 40
> - 45 mpg is the reasonably expected best mileage. There were cars 20
> years ago that could achive that.
>
> And, the Prius is a dog in every way. It accelerates like crap, it's
> tiny, and it can't handle either. It the exact kind of car people
> rejected 10 years ago when they went to buy their urban assault vehicles.
>
> The Accord Hybrid is interesting (it's an actual, if bland, car). But
> it's city mileage is 'only' 30mpg - not much better than a diesel.
>
> Of course, if gas in the US wasn't such low octane, things woulds be
> better...

Yeah so long as your paying for my gas. 93 octane is enough unless you
got some dragster with 13:1 compression or something.

> > Displacement on Demand is going to be the best way to go and GM's the
> > only one doing the R&D on it afaik.
>
> Chrysler's new "Hemi" shuts cylinders and some new Honda minivans do
> this year too. I use the quotes because it's not a true hemi (which
> wouldn't pass EPA these days). I think pent roof combustion chambers
> are supposed to be better anyway. *shrug*

The Hemi's "way" over rated. The LS6 is way ahead of it in every aspect
and it doesnt have 16 silly spark plugs. Much easier to work on too.
People are going to start crapping their pants when they go in for
maintenance with their new Hemi's and see the bill.

"Spark plugs with labor...160 DOLLARS?!?!?!?"

> It doesn't get much better mileage than non hybrids, period. Poor
> mileage is a BIG complaint about it - the only reason it's EPA numbers
> are so good is because the way the car operates tends to trick the EPA's
> methodology into putting out a better mileage number. In real life, 40
> - 45 mpg is the reasonably expected best mileage. There were cars 20
> years ago that could achive that.

Remember, you don't get something for nothing. The only way to get
better mileage is to improve efficiency. As I recall, the Honda's
city mileage is better than its highway mileage, which makes sense,
because in the city, you do a lot of braking, and when braking, the
generators return some of the energy that would otherwise be dissipated
as heat back into the batteries. On the highway, you don't do a lot
of braking, so what is there to improve gas mileage?

"Blah blah" > wrote in message
...
>
> IIRC the Prius has a difficult time getting better gas mileage than none
> hybrid cars unless you keep it under 60 on the highway.
>

I didn't think a hybrid drive did anything on level ground at a constant
speed. It only helped when your speed or the grade changed a lot so there's
some opportunities to put some charge on the battery. The latest Prius has
a more aerodynamic profile to help highway mileage but I've no idea how much
good it did.
I always figure the car's cross section had more influence on highway
mileage than anything else.

ron 94 SL1

On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 11:59:31 -0500, "Ron Herfurth" >
wrote:

>
>"Blah blah" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> IIRC the Prius has a difficult time getting better gas mileage than none
>> hybrid cars unless you keep it under 60 on the highway.
>>
>
>I didn't think a hybrid drive did anything on level ground at a constant
>speed. It only helped when your speed or the grade changed a lot so there's
>some opportunities to put some charge on the battery. The latest Prius has
>a more aerodynamic profile to help highway mileage but I've no idea how much
>good it did.
>I always figure the car's cross section had more influence on highway
>mileage than anything else.
>
>ron 94 SL1
>

The hybrid system allows the car to have the same performance with a
smaller engine. On the highway the smaller engine runs with a wider
throttle opening at any given road speed. This results in better
volumetric efficiency for the engine and higher milage.