Matt Davies for October 25, 2012

In 1975, Honda had FIVE models that got over 50 mpg. While thermodynamics and friction, DO limit the amount of energy savings you can get from a gallon of gas, hybrids, and other automotive designs, CAN and DO reduce the amount of fossil fuel needed. (Yes, natural gas is also a fossil fuel.)

It’s also interesting that Mitt and the righties also now say “North American independence”, meaning of course from Canada and Mexico, as even with new discoveries, we need to CONSERVE FOSSIL FUELS, and yes engineering is a part of the answer. Changing our use patterns is also important, and viable. It doesn’t mean we lose our “standard of living”, just adopt a standard that is survivable.

/best Horshack voice…Oo..Oo.Oo..O..Mr. Kotter!…Mr. Kotter.That would be..C.(see what I did there? my initial and the answer? eh? eh?sheesh…nobody has a sense of humor anymore. :D )

Mikefive: My son was running around Germany in a Mercedes "clean"Diesel station wagon, full-sized, and averaging 53 mpg.

Onguard: Hybrids are not only more efficient with restorative energy systems, even trucks can be hybrids. BTW, years ago an AMC dealer ran over a Cadillac with a semi truck and pointed out “no matter how big you are, there’s always somebody bigger”. Well, it also turns out that “clown car” called the"Smart car" gets a better crash test rating than any full-sized American sedan! Size can also be quite deceptive in the much more common car vs car, or car versus fixed object crash. Big trucks aren’t as safe (commercial licensing is more lax) as they used to be, but your odds of hitting a tree, or another car, or SUV are much greater. BTW, SUVs are proving MORE dangerous to their occupants than sedans!!

“Clown cars will get better mileage, but then you will need to buy a SUV to go on vacation with your 2.7 kids, Dog and Mother in Law pulling your pop up camper”I didn’t realize they stopped making minivans and station wagons.

Somewhere, Gabe Kaplan is smiling at us. ;)SWEATHOGS UNITE!!!!C.

in 2004, I hit a patch of black ice on the way to work, spun out in my pickup, and ended up gettin hit head on by a Greyhoung bus doing 65mph. I walked away unharmed, but the collision forced the engine block through the dashboard and into the passenger seat, which would have been fatal for anyone sitting there. Afterwards, the insurance investigator and a state police officer who looked at the vehicle, both told me the if I had been hit a few inches to one side, I may have flipped, a fatality for me since the wight of the chassis would have crushed the cab after being compromised by the initial impact.Point is, bigger vehicles are not safer in most crash situations. A lighter vehicle will be less likely to crush the passengers in a rollover than an SUV or pickup. The family size Jeeps do not have the roll bars that the Wrangler does, and weighs nearly three times as much. Of course, safe driving is really the key, but can you trust everyone else?