A friend was in north-central Germany earlier this week.
He says he saw a Dodge Magnum - but with a front end from a 300.
Is Daimler making such a beast for Europe/Germany?
Apparently such odd ball combinations isin't out of the ordinary for Europe. Although Jap cars in Germany aren't that common, my buddy saw some Honda's with obvious Acura bodywork.
He also said he saw more Crossfires there than he sees around here.
Also - why the two different brands or types of diesel fuel at the gas pumps?
The Crossfire is made in Germany, isn't it? That might help sell them there, or at least make it a bit cheaper.
Dodge Magnums are not sold in Europe. Rather it is called the "Chrysler 300 Touring". It is a Magnum with a 300 front end.
The Crossfire is a re-bodied MB 230SL.
Basically Acura doesn't/didn't exist in Europe. The whole car line is referred to as Honda. What we know as Acura's in the US are just the upper/top line Honda's in many other countries.
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Freitag, 21. Juli 2006 22:08 (US Central Time) MoPar Man wrote in rec.autos.makers.chrysler:
Depends on what your friend saw ...
Some stations are selling diesel and so called "Truck-Diesel". No difference in fuel it`s only a bit cheaper than the "normal" diesel, since when a trucker fills up, he buys a considerably bigger amount of diesel.
The other thing could be ... Aral and Shell are selling so called "premium" gas and diesel (Shell calls it V-Power, can`t remember the Aral brand). They say it is better gas (gets a greater gas mileage, has a higher octane number etc.) so they charge you 8 cents mor per litre, but in fact in most cases it`s a rip-off since most engines don`t really work well with it (my PT gets the has the worst with the V-Power stuff). Having in mind, that in the US shell did label their premium grade "V-Power" but didn`t change the octane number and the price difference to the other grades ... you`ll probably understand, why I think it is a rip-off.
Talk to you later ... Hans from Germany
Here in north america, Shell's V-Power does have a slightly higher octane rating than the mid-grade.
I guess in Europe, where diesel is far more common, the fuel retailers have created an up-branded version of diesel to sell to brand-minded consumers where here in north america they do it with gasoline instead of diesel.
With the huge increase in gas prices over the past 3 years I really wonder who is still buying mid or premium-grade gasoline these days.
Do they really have to do that?
Would it kill them if they simply took a Magnum off the production line and stuck a Chrysler badge on it?
Or did their focus groups tell them that a Dodge front-end wouldn't sell?
There are a number of cars that require the higher octane. Many new cars require it. So it's not just a driver preference item but needed due to the higher HP, compression or whatever for that particular car. Even the 4 cylinder PT Cruiser GT requires premium fuel.
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There are way more cars that don't.
Name a car under $35k that REQUIRE mid or premium-grade. The 300 with a V6 doesn't, and maybe not even with the hemi.
Only the ones with a turbo.
"From pricey sports cars to high-performance luxury vehicles and even some sport-utility vehicles, 21 percent of 2006-model cars on America's roads require premium gas, according to Edmunds.com,"
But all of this doesn't really apply to the question asked. The question was, "...I wonder who is still buying mid or premium grade gas these days?" Quite a few are buying it either because their car requires it or the owner wants it. Regardless of the price of car or equipment installed, there's quite a few cars burning higher octane fuels. Some of the stations here even sell 101 octane...at a very high price pushing it as racing fuel. But it is obviously being used or it wouldn't be at the pump.
My car is not a turbo but I have changed the timing slightly. I use mid grade only because it spark knocks a little with lower grade. If gas prices keep climbing, I may retard that timing a little and go back to 87 octane.
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I don't know what you mean (re outside NA). The vast majority of cars, including 'performance' ones, are tuned to run on standard international lead-free 95 octane fuel (c. 91 US), period. Buy higher octane and you're wasting money. Buy lower and your affecting performance or whatever.
DAS
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In the US/Canada, 91 octane is either the mid-level or even premium-grade choice.
The cheapeast is usually 87 octane, followed by 89 and 91. Some places (Texaco? Sunoco?) probably have a Super-grade (94). I typically get between 28 and 33 mpg on the highway according to the realtime mpg reading on the overhead console.
I buy only 87 for my 300m, which lately has reached $1.10 (CDN) per liter, which is 0.758 Euros, or $3.69 USD per US gallon. Higher-octane grades is usually about 0.05/L more per grade-step.
In the UK and many other countries it is hard to get (not available) fuel below said 95. The higher grade is typically 97 or 98 octane. Costs a significant amount more (several pence per litre). In the UK the claims for the 'premium' fuel are very cautious indeed, and it is sometimes unclear whether some of the wonderful detergent qualities aren't actually the same as in the 'standard' stuff, about which less is shouted about since it is ubiquitous and feels more like a commodity.
BTW, I almost always fill up at a branded petrol station -- principally Shell and BP -- rather than at a supermarket pump. Just in case... Well, with my max 5K miles per year any cost difference doesn't hit my pocket so hard.
DAS
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PS. At Shell and BP because I get a few airline points... (Esso/Exxon is not part of such a scheme).
DAS
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There must be a different standard when it comes to octane ratings between Can/USA and Europe, because anything higher than 95 here would be rocket fuel.
I don't see why 97 or 98 octane would be available, since it would typically only be needed for engines with compression ratios that approach the muscle-car era of the late 60's and early 70's (10:1 to
12:1) with agressive timing.So I'm thinking that the numbers aren't exactly comparable, and that EU numbers (or maybe just UK numbers) are a good 5 to 8 points higher than comparable Can/US fuel.
I think that Can/US octane numbers is the average of the RON and MON readings.
Yes, approx 4 points different (mentioned in my first post and seemingly acknowledged by you "In the US/Canada, 91 octane is either the mid-level or even premium-grade choice.")
A few very high performance cars need the extra 2/3 octane numbers.
I am sure a number of drivers buy it just for the image, but I did say the claims made are now very carefully phrased.
E.g.
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Diesel motor fuel has a Cetane Rating, just as gasoline has an Octane Rating. NYS (thanks to me) is one of the few places that mandates that the diesel pump disclose the Cetane Rating. Different motors have different requirements, and perhaps this is what some stations in Europe are trying to market to. This rating and the level of contaminants such as water and various minerals, and anti-waxing additives are the major qualities the consumer must me concerned with.
Richard.
No, but it would cost them a great deal more money than the way they do it. Why? Because by doing it the way they do it, they saved a great deal of money engineering, tooling, producing, and type-approval testing a whole separate set of front lamps, bumper and front-end structure. Remember, US lights, bumpers and front-end structures generally do not conform to internationalised ECE regulations in force in most countries outside the US/Canada. So, they type-approve ONE set of headlamps, ONE set of fog lamps, ONE front end structure, and then use it on the 300C sedan *and* wagon.
A 3rd-grader could tell 'em that...the Magnum front end is ugly as all hell.
Not aware of an upmarket diesel in the UK. I'll try to look out for it.
I don't recollect seeing any car ad mentioning any special diesel fuel. What we all have is clean (of sulfur) diesel and torquey turbo-charged engines. Makes overtaking a breeze...
Well, I have a petrol engine but I often get diesels in the cars I hire on the Continent, e.g. on holiday last week. 1.9 l (or was it 2.2?) turbo-diesel on an Opel Zafira (boring but very practical - oh, that's GM...).
DAS
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