Short Term, This is What We Need

At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, Audi announced that their Clean Diesel A3 TDI would be available in US by early 2010. The Audi A3 is by far one of Europe’s cleanest and most fuel-efficient cars, and Audi is hoping the car will kick some major Prius butt. Pitching the car as a hybrid-fighter, Audi is pairing it off against both the Prius and the Honda Insight.

Yeah, buddy! This is the kind of car that GM, Ford, and Chrysler should all be trying to build. The kind of car that every red blooded American tired of hearing how performance cars are just not possible anymore will want, and should try to buy. The performance is good for testosterone-fueled dreams, the gas mileage good enough for Greenpeace warriors, and will keep us having access to the familiar, while the inevitable full electrics, or possibly, hydrogen fueled combustion vehicles get off the drawing boards and onto the streets.

Did ya catch this article on VW’s New Roadster That Gets 54 MPG?

The 2.0-liter turbocharged engine spits out 140 hp and 236 pound-feet of torque. Last Fall, at the Audi Mileage Marathon, the A3 averaged about 45 mpg over a 4,000 mile journey. Though some say it is in better competition with the Mini Cooper, or the BMW 1 series.

excepts above from gas 2.0

That’s 45 MPG, in rally form!

just a couple of views of this ‘grocery getter’

There is no reason why Detroit can’t build things like this. Perhaps they will need a little help (remember the Ford Taurus with the 24V Yamaha V-6?) or can really reach deep, and build something truly special (remember the Cosworth Vega?) that shows how much the engineers of this country can do, and the people who work those assembly lines in Detroit can build.

this was a car before its time, but that just shows how far ahead Detroit could be  …  the engine was full-race from the factory, and was very efficient !

There are many Americans who want to be proud of what they drive, and it wouldn’t hurt to have something like this under the hood.

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