Rising petrol prices fails to quelch big car love affair

The SRT8 is a muscle-bound growler which goes from zero to 100km/h in around five seconds with a top speed of 250km/h.

American car buyers are continuing to buy V8 engines despite the price of petrol heading towards US$3 ($4.70) a gallon, says automotive research company J.D. Power.

It says 25 per cent of all vehicles bought in the US in the first quarter of this year were powered by V8s, roughly in line with figures from the third quarter of last year.

Sales of six-cylinder engines have stayed steady at 40 to 42 per cent of all sales, and four-cylinders have continued to account for 30 to 33 per cent of all vehicle sales.

"Gas prices are certainly becoming a popular dinner and water-cooler discussion topic, but consumers appear to be conditioned to prices at current levels," said Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting at J.D. Power.

Despite their uncool image and thirst for the Earth's resources, V8-powered sedans and four-wheel-drives will continue to be the vehicles of choice for millions of Americans this year.

America's 300 million people are expected to buy around 17 million new vehicles this year. Around 4 million of those will be V8s based on J.D. Power's findings.

Ask an American why they continue to buy V8 sedans and sports utility vehicles and they'll answer: "Why not? They're well-equipped and offer a lot of metal for the money."

An American I met in San Francisco drives his V8-powered SUV around 1600km from Los Angeles return every couple of months to see his parents.

"'I know SUVs are thirsty, and I know I should be driving a more economical car to help ease our demand on foreign oil," he said.

"But it's comfortable on a long journey and has plenty of room for my wife, our three children and our luggage.

"America's a big place. We drive big miles. We have always had big vehicles. We have always had cheap gas. We've been spoiled."

He said his SUV and its 20-gallon tank costs "around US$45" to fill. That was in January, when the price of petrol on Interstate 5 between LA and San Francisco ranged from US$2.20 to US$2.43 a gallon. The other day on Interstate 5, premium was at US$2.92. In 2001, it was around US$1.70. In April, 1976, it was at US59c.

The average wage for a full-time Wal-Mart shop assistant - Wal-Mart is the world's largest retail chain - in the US is between US$10 and US$11.50 an hour, or US$400 to US$460 for a 40-hour week. Cheap petrol has underpinned America's car-dependent way of life.

The 71-litre petrol tank in the Chrysler 300C SRT8, the high-performance version of the car they are calling the "big bad American" costs $125 to fill in New Zealand at $1.76 a litre. By Christmas, it may cost $140 to fill. In America, at US$2.92 a gallon, the SRT8 costs US$58, or $92. An American gallon is 3.78 litres, therefore the car's 71-litre tank contains 20 US gallons. In New Zealand, a gallon is measured using the British conversion of 4.54 litres. Here, then, the SRT8 has a 15.5 gallon tank.

But to labour the continuing rise in the price of fuel misses the point of a high-performance vehicle. Those who can afford them can afford the cost of running them.

The same people argue that while they might use more petrol, their vehicle's modern engine is cleaner burning and emits less pollution than an older four-cylinder runabout. It's a free world, they say.

Some will drive petrol-electric hybrid Hondas and Toyotas out of conscience, others will drive a big V8 out of enjoyment.

DaimlerChrysler has a bob each way here. Its model line-up includes petrol and - thriftier - turbo-diesel engines.

Its two most recent imports are the SRT8 (street and racing technology) and the four-wheel-drive Jeep Commander, the carmaker's first seven-seat off-roader. Both vehicles are made in Gratz, Austria, the site of DaimlerChrysler right-hand-drive production.

The SRT8 is the go-fast version of the 300C, the standard model that comes with the choice of 5.7-litre Hemi V8 and 3.5-litre V6 petrol units and a 3-litre V6 diesel.

The rear-drive SRT8 gets a 6.1-litre development of the Hemi engine, a muscle-bound growler which puts out 317kW (425bhp) at 6000rpm and 569Nm of torque at 4800rpm and is mated to a smooth five-speed automatic gearbox with manual mode.

It sprints from zero to 100km/h in around five seconds and on to a top speed of 250km/h. DaimlerChrysler says it's good for 14 litres/100km (20mpg).

The SRT8 rides on 20-inch alloys and has uprated Brembo brakes and suspension components to handle its bulk - 1888kg kerb weight - and power. It also picks up visual bits and pieces like front and rear spoilers.

It's an in-your-face sedan, a bulky Muscle Beach gym junkie sweating power from every pore. Ride and handling on tighter springs and bigger anti-roll bars is good, with minimal body roll in corners. The exhaust soundtrack under throttle is as good as it gets. The SRT8 retails for $82,900.

The four-wheel-drive Jeep Commander has three rows of seating and is based on the angular body of the previous model Grand Cherokee. Designers and engineers raised the roof line and wedged in a third-row seat, raised the second row a bit higher than the first - then raised the fold-into-the floor third row above the second.

The result is a vehicle that sits on the same wheelbase as the Grand Cherokee but is 50mm longer and 100mm taller.

A drive earlier in the year revealed a big and comfortable square-rigger that is at its cruising best on multi-lane Interstate 5 but becomes more demanding off it, needing constant steering inputs on bad surfaces.

That's the nature of the beast, the latest product from an all-American off-road icon. In California, the Commander averaged 17-20 litres/100km (14-16mpg) over 1600km.

It retails here for $79,900 and comes with the choice of two engines - a 5.7-litre Hemi V8 petrol unit and a 3-litre turbodiesel mated to a five-speed automatic gearbox.

The V8 delivers 240kW (325bhp) at 5000rpm and 500Nm of torque at 4000rpm. The V6 oil-burner puts out 160kW (215bhp) and 510Nm.