CM Harrington 30 Jul 05

The annoying bit is that MPG is actually going *down* on average, not up.

Aren’t we supposed to be trying to limit our dependancy on foreign oil?

JohnO 30 Jul 05

Actually.. Autoblog posted this morning that MPG has risen:
http://autoblog.com/entry/1234000273052366/

although at a snail’s pace (.2MPG)

craig 30 Jul 05

People expect more and more features as standard these days and they all add fat. Engineers are inclined to simply increase engine displacement for bottom end torque to compensate for that weight and to up power levels. Any new fuel efficiency savings then have twice the work to do to get ahead.

Blame consumers.

Haha interesting that that article highlights the Pontiac GTO, rebadged Aussie phat. I remember my eyes popping after seeing the weight figures when they came out in Aus. There was talk that they dodgied them too, listing dry weight instead of wet. lol.

Brad 31 Jul 05

Regarding fuel economy, it’s also worth keeping in mind that actual average fuel economy of cars on the road in America today is very different from the corporate average fuel economy of today’s models. The average fuel economy depends on the age of the current mix of vehicles, the ratio of SUVs and trucks and luxury cars to more efficient models, the ratio of city vs. highway driving, maintenance issues like tire pressure and time between tune-ups, and the prevalence of accessories that add weight (e.g. power doors and windows, etc.) or increase drag (e.g. roof racks).

I haven’t seen any recent estimates of the current actual average fuel economy of passenger vehicles and light trucks on the road in the US, but wouldn’t be surprised if it’s less than 20 mpg.

Michael Spina 01 Aug 05

Well, people really like numbers. It makes a nice comparison between models when you don’t know much else about what makes a car better.

Don’t know what a nice chassis feels like? Or good throttle response? Don’t bother, just add horsepower.

I am surprised consumers don’t pick on the weight of a car, since that’s easy enough to quantify and makes a big difference in efficiency and performance.

Darrel 01 Aug 05

Well, we broke the 300 HP barrier for the family sedan. Thank god for American priorities. ;o)

Don Schenck 01 Aug 05

The GTO is butt ugly.

Horsepower is nice. But a better route is to lighten the load. My 2,195-pound Spyder is quick at only 138 horsepower, and still gets 32 MPG. I can add a turbo and turn 11’s and still get over 25 MPG highway.

Patrick Kennedy 01 Aug 05

I saw something a few weeks ago about a stripped-down, ultrasimple car built for the eastern European market that took off in western Europe as well. People liked the low price, lack of distracting, confusing gadgets, and so on. Seems like that sort of thing doesn’t work as well in the US. We have people here like my dad, who thinks that a Camry is a little on the small side.

I don’t get it, myself, but then, my SUV has two wheels and pedals and was made by Trek. I hardly ever drive my car anymore….

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