General Motors' mysterious 230 logo
We usually recap our five most popular posts on GreenCarReports.com at the end of every month. We're a bit late for August but, hey, we had a long Labor Day too ... now we're back in business.
We replaced most of July's most popular posts, with three new winners in our Top Five. Here goes:
# 1: How Does the 2011 Chevy Volt Get 230 MPG? By Making Assumptions. Frankly, we're delighted this was our top-ranked post for August. This topic is complex, and we don't think General Motors helped matters much by touting a 230-MPG claim for city gas mileage on its 2011 Volt. Bottom Line: The fuel efficiency of an extended-range electric vehicle depends entirely on how it's used. If you keep your travel within its electric range, you may never use any gasoline. If you take a lot of long trips, you'll burn gas. GM's approach was to assume a full 40-mile cycle plus one more 10-mile highway cycle, and we laid out the calculations that got them to 230 mpg.
# 2: Will the 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI Be Diesel's Biggest Winner? Rising a notch from last month, our loyal Volkswagen diesel fans have kept this one in the top five more months than not since we wrote it back in May. Bottom Line: Audi, BMW, and other carmakers without a history of offering diesels in the US will have a tough time, we think. Meanwhile, Volkswagen should benefit from both low prices (the 2010 Golf TDI costs $21,990) and a very loyal cadre of existing diesel owners already sold on the cars' benefits.
# 3: Ford Super Duty Pickups To Offer Clever PowerStroke Turbodiesel V8. There's lots of interest among green-car shoppers and fans in clean diesel engines, even extending to those fitted in very large pickup trucks weighing several tons. Bottom Line: The first diesel that Ford has designed entirely in-house is a radical design that flips the inlet and exhaust manifolds, making the centrally mounted turbocharger much more efficient. The engine meets all current emissions standards and is claimed to be quieter, more powerful, and far more fuel efficient than its predecessor. (No figures yet, though.)
# 4: 2010 Ford Transit Connect Small Delivery Van Selling Well. Another new one, whose Top Five slot may reflect interest in Ford's new small van, a vehicle that really doesn't have many direct competitors in the US market. Bottom Line: Ford is delighted with early sales of the 2010 Transit Connect, which is flying off dealer lots as quickly as they can be imported from Turkey.
# 5: The New 2010 Rabbit TDI Diesel...Or, Is It a Golf Again? And finally, another perennial favorite from all the way back in February, a predecessor to this month's # 2 item. Bottom Line: It took VW awhile to make up its mind--and some PR waffling from its spokeman Steve Keyes--but we nailed it the first time in this item: Yes, the 2010 Volkswagen Golf won't be a Rabbit after all.
VWvortex reader Bajan2.0T snapped this shot of the 2010 Golf TDI at the Toronto Auto Show.
