This thread started with the new FIAT 500 and went on to discuss other - yet related - issues.
My humble contribution, if I may (after all, I'n Italian, it's "my" FIAT we're talking about
)
FIAT engines are on par with Peugeot for reliability and sturdiness.
Let's not get all hot about "this Nissan" and "that Toyota" and "my Mazda", I'm talking about European cars with European engines running in a European environment where everyone races everyone else at the lights and you will see a golfcart-size baby racer with a puny 4-cyl 600cc engine porking out a good 40bhp... that was FIAT Abarth in the 1950s.
I quoted FIAT and Peugeot because anywhere you go in European countryside, whenever you see a 40-50 year old jalopy driven by Grandma Duck or Gus Goose... be reassured it's a Peugeot or a FIAT!!!
FIAT's current CEO and his predecessor got FIAT out of trouble... literally pulling it by the hair !!!
What we have today is a range of motor vehicles which are extremely high tech, extremely reliable ("Chrysler reliable", I don't know how that sounds to you but the slogan works over here!) and with the traditional Italian style for flair and design.
As for mileage... depends on the engine: Italian 500s come with a 1200cc rated at 60bhp, a 1400cc rated at 85 or 100bhp, and the "Abarth" with or without turbocharger, rated at... how much did you say you will pay? THAT powerful !
So, a 190+bhp FIAT 500 WILL smoke any musclecar anywhere except for the 1/4 mile and the full mile.
Breakfast in San Francisco and lunch in Los Angeles, driving Highway 1 along the coast? The 500 driver will have the barbecue ready and the the Chevy driver will still be buying steaks
Not to mention the twisty roads in New England, the Appalachians or the Rocky Mountains.
DIESELS ? Who wants diesels ??? YOU DO !
Consider this:
1.a. you will need 2 - 3 barrels of crude oil to obtain one barrel (50-55 gals) of diesel&kerosene (50 - 65% loss);
1.b. refine that a second time, and with a similar 50-60% loss you obtain gasoline.
2.a. if you can get 40mpg from any kind of gasoline car... the similar displacement, similar bhp diesel engine will deliver at least 60mpg!
Sooo
Putting these three statements into one sentence...
- 1 barrel of crude (55 gals) will give you never more than 25% gasoline (13 gals) which at 40mpg = 520 miles;
- 1 barrel of crude (55 gals) will give you at least 50% diesel (26 gals) which at 60 mpg = 1560 miles.
So... why waste the national oil bill by getting less miles with more fuel ???