Just wondering...is there some unwritten rule that fuel efficient cars

[Dover]

be ugly? Is there some kind of conspiracy? Why can't they look, more or less, like this?

http://autoreview.belproject.com/item/84




Or a better question - Why can't great car designers like Porsche adapt to the times and design a gorgeous, excellent performance, fuel efficient, earth friendly vehicle? What's up with that? Do they assume that people who can afford their high dollar cars don't worry about silly things like the environment and gas prices? Or are they just too attached to internal combustion engine?
The write ups on this particular V8 model (called Cayenne), that gets 15 mpg city/20 hwy, say it was designed "specifically for the North American market". I'll bet it was.

[Selatius]

1. Unfortunately, in the past and the present, there's a trade-off between...

power and efficiency. It may not hold true forever, but to achieve efficiency, one usually has to sacrifice power. As a result, to maintain vehicle performance, you have to design a not-as-conventional body to wrap around the engine. Now, technology is getting to the point where that is no longer the case. Honda Accords come in hybrid formats now, and I hear Toyota wants to do the same thing with its Camry.

As far as Porsche goes, their market does not demand fuel efficiency. Their market is the upper class, and they don't have a reputation for caring about fuel efficiency. $3.00/gallon is nothing to them at all, so Porsche has not been exposed to the demand for more fuel-efficiency. Poor people inquire about fuel efficiency more than rich people.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. How fuel efficient do you want? The most...

efficient cars have to be designed for weight and drag, so esthetics take a back seat.

But, you can get a decent-looking VW diesel that gives great mileage. If you don't demand such high mileage, I have a Saturn SL1 that's almost identical in size to a Mercedes E and gives me an honest 35 mpg highway. They don't make the big Saturn with the Four anymore, but I know people with four-cylinder Accords getting the same mileage.

I had a little Corolla beater with a stick that gave me better than 40 mpg highway on a good day. That's not good enough for a car I got for a couple hundred bucks?

[intaglio]

3. Just 2 hybrids

Honda Civic


Lexus RX 400h


edit for headline accuracy

[Dover]

4. Yes, the Lexus is an attractive car. Apparently they felt that enough

high end buyers WERE interested in the environment and fuel efficiency.

It's just hard to fathom why ANY car company is still producing cars that get 15 mpg. Even Porsche.
At any rate, I love the look of the Cayenne and don't see why one of the lower end companies can't make something similar looking in a hybrid, diesel or highly fuel efficient car.

[Dead_Parrot]

6. Consider also...

For pure electric, the Tesla Roadster:


For ethanol, the upcoming Saab 9-5 BioPower hybrid should be something like this:
http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_shows/naias_2006/0602_naias_02+2006_saab_9_5_sportcombi_biopower+front_left_view.jpg
(maybe a little nordic, but not a complete brick)

And if Morgan ever get thier hydrogen hybrid off the ground...

Dribble...

[Dover]

13. Yes, I like Saabs but don't know how I feel about ethanol.

And the Tesla is attractive but not utilitarian enough for my needs. I need some room to carry things and pets. My idea of an ideal car look (besides the Porsche), that is functional is a Saab 9-3 hatchback. If only they'd make one with better fuel economy or a hybrid. Doesn't seem like Saab is going in that direction though. Probably because they are owned in part by Americans.

[Dead_Parrot]

15. There is a hybrid in the pipeline...

Here's a better pic (with trees, for some reason) from here:



Presumably they could also do a hatchback... As you pointed out, with the morons at GM running things it may take years to reach production, but IIRC Toyota have muted a flexifuel Prius as a future option, which might encourage them.

For all it's faults, ethanol could fill a big hole in transport if these come out.

[Kiouni]

5. I firmly believe its a marketing ploy

they come out with the aztec or some ugly freaking machine for a year or two and we all hate it and then bam just like the new ford mustangs we are on board with it. just wait they will stop making dumb golf carts that go 50 and actually make a car.

[greenman3610]

7. is there an unwritten rule that

people have to complain that efficient cars are so...so...
proletarian looking, dear gawd, so common. tsk tsk

now the Hummer. there's a fine lookin car...

[hunter]

10. Ah the Hummer...

I saw it described as a hairy chested cigar chomping Chevy Tahoe wearing a leisure suit, wide open shirt, and gold chains.

All the women love him... or so he thinks.

What they really are really thinking is:

BIG CAR _{tiny penis}

[YankeyMCC]

8. I like the way the Prius looks

but then I've never been a 'car guy' and appearances haven't mattered much to me in my cars.

Still I have some sense of car aesthetics (my father was a hugh car guy) and yeah a lot of the fuel efficient cars have a pretty lack-luster aesthetic history but I think several of the new ones look nice - Prius, Fit, Scion.

[Dover]

12. As I said, it's growing on me. I drove one and liked the roominess

and general performance. I really like hatchbacks. And so quiet! The interior fabric was lame, imo...didn't seem very durable and would look bad pretty fast. The guy at the dealership told me they were going to change the look of the prius soon, so we'll see.

[4dsc]

9. I loved the 1990 honda CRX

And if they built this car again, I would first in line to buy two.. 50MPG's on the highway and this car would zip along at 90mph with no problem..

[Dover]

11. Now that's a nice looking car! Was it a hatchback too?

What kind of mileage did it get back in the early 90's?

[muesa]

14. Detroit is so averge to economical cars ... can't do it

I felt my 1962 Chevy Corvair Spyder was a neat car - just bad on engineering the vehicle stability.




Not mine - this one was in a Corvair web site

Had one of these Chevette's - a real loser--



Then I bought a Chevie Cavalier ---- and after thatI switched to Toyota's.

[Dover]

16. Yep, I like the bodies on both those cars, though I now need more

utility space (a crossover, small wagon or hatchback). And of course I want fuel economy and earth friendly mechanics. Why can't/won't they design one? WHY????!!!!

[bloom]

17. Maybe because

so many Americans like to buy big and ugly.

I was at a Mazda dealer to pick up a friend recently - and I was like "what the hell?" - Mazda used to be able to put out some kind of reasonably sized cars. They had some kind of SUVish thing - that looked like it was all bulked up with no substance and no design - no extra space for all it's bulkiness and it got terrible mileage. I had the distinct impression that it was designed with Americans in mind.

Once we saw an Italian car/wagon in Yellowstone that I thought looked really cool. Not sold anywhere around here. Maybe what we need are cars that are made for other markets than the US - or enough of us to convince car dealers that we want something other than the crap they want to sell us.

[yurbud]

18. up until at least the 90s, American small cars looke embarrassing and...

I always thought it was on purpose, so you would want to "upgrade" to a bigger car further up the line. In the 80s, the Chevy Cavalier looked like a chinese food take out box expanded with wheels slapped on it. It was a slabby, shabby thing that would have embarrassed the makers of the Yugo. the 70s were even worse with the pinto and vega. I think prison uniforms are orange to remind people of the popular color of those two cars.

By contrast, I'd never feel embarrassed driving in a Civic, Tercel, or whatever the bottom of the line Nissan or Honda or Volkswagon is.

[kestrel91316]

19. I think your little red car is ugly. I LIKE the Prius.