EPA MILEAGE RATINGS FOR NEW CARS

[spbed]

Then maybe they should placed the Consumer Reports evulation on the sticker instead of the EPA. [:D]

QUOTE: Originally posted by oltmannd

If you want real world gas mileage numbers, check Consumer Reports. They produce the most meticulous real world gas mileage numbers I know of.

The EPA numbers are good “apples to apples” numbers. That is, if you’re comparing a car rated 20/25 with on rated 17/24, you can be sure the former will get better mileage than the latter. Much better than nothing. They’re even much better now than they were when the EPA first started doing it. But, “your mileage may vary”. Gee, where did that phase come from?

BTW, my truck was rated 11/16. I keep meticulous gas mileage records. I get 11 in suburban driving (almost no highway) and 15-17 on the higway (at 70-75 mph).

[Leon_Silverman]

EPA mileage should have the same warnings as weight loss products: “Individual results will vary.”

[vsmith]

My Nissan Frontier gets 20 mpg highway fairly level grade no heavy headwinds, better if I use the cruise control, city it gets between 15 and 17 but my milage gets worse corespondingly with the number of idiots around me.
[:O][banghead][censored]

[modorney]

Like many say, EPA ratings are good for comparing, not for actual mileage. One trick to improve mileage is to put bigger tires on the back (or on the powered wheels). Usually there is enough clearance for an inch or two bigger tire on the back, but, sometimes the front is a tighter fit.

Of course, your speedometer, and odometer will be off, an accurate check can only be done using the mileposts on the freeway. Or, if you take the same commute run every day, get the mileage with a “known accurate car”, and just count the trips.

[chad_thomas]

modorney,
Increasing you tire size will not always improve your mileage.
Your engine might turn less rpms, but you need more fuel per each revolution to give you the same output power at the ground. What determines if you get better mileage with bigger tires is if you move the engine speed closer to its efficiency peek. With bigger tires, thats not always the case.

[edblysard]

I think you will find we have reached the leading edge on car tech…
Starting in the next two years, almost every car will be much more efficent.
The Magnum I own uses the DOD(displacment on demand) system, with no throttle change, it runs on 4 cylinders, instead of 8.
The entire car, from tranny shift points to engine revs is controled by computer.
No throttle cable, the computer measures how far you have the gas pedal depresses, and onpen the throttle plate based on your driving history, which it also remembers.
This thing even measures how many degrees you have the steering wheel turned off of dead center, to help the traction control work better.

GM is introducing the same concept, DOD, on their 2006 mid size cars.

I give them five to ten years, and we will have locked down cars that require zero maintainance on the owners part, just gas and go.

I can see disposable cars, good for 150 to 200 thousand miles, in the not so distant future.

I dont think the hydrogen concept with catch on as well as we might want, it takes fuel to seperate hydrogen, so you still pollute and use fuel, and I havent see any “hydrogen mines” anywhere…
But hybrids that recharge battries will get more popular, as will cars using CNG, compressed natural gas, the city of Houston buys them exclusivly for all city service cars, except police and fire, and Metro uses a lot of CNG buses.

Ed