Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Circle, Alaska

I'll be curious too as to how well received the new 4cyl is by the non-enthusiast crowd. My dentist is picking up a 2012 Audi Q5 3.2 next week. He drove it back to back with the 2.0T and really preferred the way the 3.2 behaved. He's not an enthusiast, just likes European cars. There used to be a "4 cylinder stigma" that I don't know exists anymore in certain circles. Fuel economy is on everyone's mind these days (and has been for quite some time now). I always enjoy a good car conversation outside of my enthusiast friends. People used to talk about acceleration & horsepower. Now the first question you hear someone ask when someone else gets a new car is: "How is it on gas?" I wonder what kind of crazy incentives BMW will offer on the E90 335 & 328 xi before the new F30 Xi models come out. Cash? Low financing?

I knew what you meant to say and that was cute to me (assuming that is something is true in US, it must be universal), but let's not dwell on that. I meant to be funny, but I probably wasn't. The fact stays that United States is a world with BY FAR cheapest cars and energy, not just in terms of currency prices, but in terms of actual income percentage. It is also true about other items, such as certain electronics (iphone/ipad costs in Europe about twice what it does here, even more in China). The reasons for that to be the case are plenty, from general output (i.e. US is still in fact either highest of almost highest GNP/capita), combined with scale (even small price break could bring marginally more sales, which can fuel more price breaks). However, the biggest difference lies in market fragmentation (combined Europe is about US size, but each country has its own very separate ways and they don't interact in terms of retail) and more redistributive economy, i.e. higher taxation on all levels, from capital, to income, to consumption (e.g. Euro sales tax, called VAT is from 17 to 25%, Euro income taxes are progressive reaching 50% and beyond on top bracket, Euro social security taxes paid by employers as surcharge go into 30-50% territory, all depends on the country). There is also large amount of social engineering going on there as well, where "undesirable behavior" (such as owning large-displacement engine vehicle) is directly punished by the government through additional taxes and scrutiny. They also excert a direct pressure on manufacturers to make or not make certain products as well, a concept introduced to US just only recently. All this combines into really punitive taxes and high prices of "unnecessary good", which cars, especially luxury ones are perceived as. It gets even worse in poorer countries, almost inversely proportional to their wealth. Explanation for that may be in volume: even if MB or BMW lowered the price, they would not sell more product, so prices remain high to pay for higher distribution cost of smaller markets and the circle closes.

Found a link with a little bit of clarification: Run on the outside of two 200-ft diameter circles, the test essentially makes for a portable road course. It throws test subjects into handling extremes; in a given run, a car travels from full-throttle acceleration to full braking and then must transition into a constant-radius turn. Out of the test come three scores: Time, average g-force, and lateral acceleration. The first is the fastest lap time from a given set of runs. Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/best-handling-cars-weve-tested-motor-trends-top-figure- 8-performers-3095.html#ixzz1mMv6M6wC The way I read that, it's a running start (set of runs = lap 2 quicker than lap 1 standing start). Also, with small diameter circles, I doubt speeds ever exceed the 1/4 mile trap speed, and the MDX is moving quicker the entire time. The TDI starts to close the gap, but it's merely losing by a little less. The MDX is geared to be quick off the line, so F/E is a fair trade-off. It offers a 3rd row and 141.8 cubic feet of total volume vs. just 131 for the smaller Touareg. MDX also crushes on max cargo volume at 83.5 to just 58. Touareg is too small for me, without a doubt. I think even the MDX is borderline.

Circles around the VW? Yes, and I mean literally. Figure 8 is 26.7 vs. 27.3 seconds. That's night and day, 0.6 seconds per loop. By the 23rd loop it would have run exactly one circle around the TDI. :D The stop watch doesn't lie!

In at least two parameters, I would agree. I would use neither for towing or hauling. The Touareg would move just as fast. The fuel mileage would be far better (I project) @ similar speeds. Circles around the VW? Ah,... no especially at altitude !! I know that the real world might be frightening to you, especially if you never had time in the V6 turbo diesel. So I can see why it would be harder for your to project. So from that point of view, I can see why you would think cheating is the culprit. I'd say that ignorance is bliss. Bliss on !! Indeed if I had to further project, I would probably post better numbers.