If you take any car, warm up the whole car (engine, trans, wheel bearings) for a few miles *before* starting the test and then use a pro driver or set the cruise control for 60-65 on a flat highway you will easily beat the 2008 EPA highway sticker – (and create a traffic hazard as everyone else swerves around you – it a great science project but please do it on an empty road! ).

That underestimate is intentional – the above scenario isn’t how most people drive. The Euro test does not use a discount factor as does the EPAs.

“City” mpg is far more variable since the amount of energy lost to the brakes and idling is highly dependent on driving conditions. Since today’s hybrids can reclaim some (not all) of the braking waste energy you can get more consistent city mileage from them. Once up to highway speed the hybrid system is dead weight.

Since I’m retired from engineering and writing from an undisclosed location, I will reveal the technology “they don’t want you to know” which slams the mpg all current and currently proposed cars out of the park. It uses less energy per mile than any car, including a pure electric and has the lowest environmental impact; it is more efficient than a person walking.

It is known as the “bicycle”.

I have seen many such high MPG foreign-only vehicles reported over the decades. In most cases, similar versions could only be shipped to the states after major design changes. Often, safety redesigns, which significantly increased weight reduced the mileage claims. Some exhibited significant emmisions problems in foreign configuration, which either were too costly to overcome or that after the necessary emmissions systems add-ons were installed, experienced significantly reduced engine efficiency negating much of the original fuel efficiency. And in some cases, the high-efficiency engine design available in the foreign location required the use of a newer type of super-refined Diesel fuel which is not uniformly available throughout the U.S. Or a combination of some or all of the above conspired, in the end, to bring the foreign-designed model’s efficiency back to a more believable MPG figure.

The Volkswagon Rabbit TDi, which is already marketed in the U.S., with all of the necessary add-ons and encumberences, and runs on standard U.S.-available Diesel fuel, is generally reported to run in the 50 MPG area. Likely, the high-efficiency-model foreign Mazda3 would fall into this mileage range once properly equipped for shipment to the U.S.

Let’s assume a person were to strip a common off-the-shelf U.S. economy car, say, a 2009 Toyota Corolla, which in it most base configuration gets 35MPG, of all the added-on stuff that has been added to the bare-basic design first marketed at its inception. They would remove such things as luxurious seating, plush carpeting, added upholstery and padding, untold extra electronics and wiring, copious accessories, airbags, body stiffening, automatic transmission, wide tires with 17″+ alloy wheels, engines producing more than 100hp, etc. The weight savings and efficiency gains would likely add 5 MPG. However, the longevity of the resulting vehicle (and its driver) would greatly suffer, trading off shorter time to landfill (for both) in exchange for a minor MPG increase. People generally treat a vehicle they enjoy driving a whole lot better than one they merely tolerate, which helps keep them (both) from ending up in junk yards as quickly.

I now live in San Diego & my wife has a Golf TDI (Diesel) in which she gets around 50MPG.

The problem has been that the likes of GM & Ford have had it easy while the oil prices were so low. In Europe we have had to have efficient vehicles for so long because of taxes etc.

The crazy thing is that Vauxall / Opel the european GM manufacturers have made good economic vehicles for years!
I’m not whining, just stating a fact.

I see GM under the Saturn name have brought over the Astra which is a UK/German design…

We need to stop blaming government and start looking at ourselves. We are victims of our own buying habits.

S

Personally…driving a Hyundai which is almost 20 years old…I have no problem paying $10 or so for a gallon of gas. At this time…you will see the clean diesel cars on the road of the US.

And you wonder why they won’t allow fuel efficient cars here? Try Googling the Tucker car, and read about that. They even have a movie about Tucker. You should read his bio, too. And this was in 1948, too. This aint nothing new.