"riverman" wrote in message
...
Is there any chance that the auto manufactures 'detune' their cars for
the
US market to lower fuel economy?? JR was commenting on not being able to
get
a truck with better than 16 mpg around town, and I remembered my Toyota
4-Runner getting in the mid 20s at best. But I also remember my Nissan
Terrano (gas engine) I had in Latvia doing MUCH better than that, in
fact,
a
quick website shows that a Nissan Terrano II (4-wd, diesel) gets about 32
mpg, which is in the ballpark of what I remember my truck (imported from
Germany) getting! The internet specs I found are from the UK.

http://www.carpages.co.uk/guide/niss...echo=302179310

I know that the US has emissions standards, but are we certain that this
is
all that is affecting our mileages? Most countries I know about (UK, for
certain) are paying about $4 a gallon for fuel, so they are finding all
sorts of ways to improve mileage.

--riverman
(thinking of importing a vehicle...)


"asadi...." wrote in message
.net...
Without doing any research, do you see any correlation between towing
capacity and fuel economy?

john



Hmm, off the top of my head, I'd say that the vehicles with higher towing
capacity would almost certainly have lower fuel economy. Heavier frame,
larger engine, lower gearing. Why, are you thinking that maybe US vehicles
are designed more often to be set up for towing?

I did some more research on the Nissan Pathfinder and the Nissan Terrano. I
already knew that they were the same vehicle, but strangely enough you
cannot get the 4-cylinder version in the US. You can get the V8 model on
this side of the pond ('overseas' to all you residents of the United States
of Canada), but its the 4-cylinder model that gets in excess of 30 mpg. Why
won't they sell the more efficient model in the US? Not everyone wants to
tow things around.

--riverman