In the current market, I have a question about fuel econonomy. It seems that just as we are seeing horsepower wars, we are seeing mileage wars. Everyone is trying to get the best possible fuel mileage.
What do you guys think it is worth, per vehicle, to increase the gas mileage by 1 city mpg, or 1 highway mpg?

 

The "rated" gas milage isn't work the paper it is written on. If you want to know the real milage a vehical gets, find someone who ones the car and engine your looking at.

 

But what is advertised, is what helps to sell the car.

 

Well now, that depends on a whole hell of a lot.

Who am I? Am I selling the car? Am I buying the car? Do I write for Consumer Reports?

If I'm looking at two cars. Brand X and Brand Z, X gets 29/39mpg and Z gets 30/40mpg, with all other things being equal, which one do you think I'm going to buy?

Now lets say, that X costs $2000 less than Z. Do you think you'll make up that extra $2000 in fuel savings over 5 years? Over 10? HELL NO!

So, what was the question again?

 

Well, a mpg increase on a car is huge. While it probably doesn't increase the amount people are willing to pay for the car much, if at all, it can help increase sales by giving the car more of an advantage compared to other cars buyers are considering and comparing it too.

The biggest difference is for manufacturers because it helps their overall fuel economy average and helps them meet overall government requirements and/or be more relaxed with some of their over models.

I remember looking at a design sheet for the 05 Mustang and the things they did to increase even a tiny fraction of a mpg was crazy. For example: decrease idle by 80rpm = still smooth idle with a gain of 1 tenth of a mpg in the city! Use alternative material for wheels shaves 4 pounds off rotating mass... gain .05 mpg! Decrease recommended oil viscocity to 0w-20... 2 tenths of a mpg!

I mean I'm just pulling those numbers out of my ***, but you see how much effort they go to.

 

For some reason I am gonna defend the EPA ratings. They have been accurate for my 89 formula, 94 trans am, 01 maxima, and 03 altima. They are very close in my maxima, the daily driver. My 50/50 drive yields right in the middle of the 22-29 rating. But on a road trip @ 70 it gets 29 dead on, @ 80 drops to 26. When driven hard and doing alot of stop and go it falls to 22. I think the epa ratings fail when it comes to trucks and Suv's, or heavy urban traffic. As for trucks and Suv's the testing procedure never goes over 59 mph, which doesnt account much for drag. I think the test was deveolped in the mid 70's. Atleast we have some sort of comparison.

 

Whatever the cost of a block of wood is. I know if I had the wood block under the gas pedal option from the factory, my car would use far less gas. Probably wouldn't be much fun though.

 

EPA ratings were accurate for my Honda Insight, but we all see how people think of hybrids and EPA estimates. I actually got about 5-10 MPG better depending on the time of year (you can see a huge decrease in gas milage in the winter).

I test drove a Chevy Cobalt and got about 36 MPG in city...I think it's rated like 32 on the highway That's about the only thing I liked about that car.

EPA estimates are about spot on for my Z28...it's suppose to get like 21/29 or something like that, I average about 24-25 MPG.

As for what's more important, I think increasing city gas milage is a lot more important than highway, at least for most people.

 

1 mpg?

Merely an axle ration change away.

 

My question could very easily be calculated from those figures. Are there more specifics? If we know that it costed Ford $X to save those 4 pounds from their wheels and they got .05 mpg gain.

For some reason the block of wood comment made me smile.

What do you mean axle ration GuionM and is this being done?

 

He means switching the ratio of the rear axle (2.73, 3.23, 3.47, 18.62, etc...). If you have a Camaro equiped with 2.73, you usually see a noticable difference in gas milage as compared to a Camaro with 3.23 or higher.

 

Well, then what would you pay to get an extra MPG out of your car? Most of the research (top 14 manufacturers) I've done tells me that if manufacturers have such a number, they won't tell you (BMW specifically said they couldn't tell me and Suzuki being the most friendly by giving me an expanation).

 

I would be willing to pay slightly less than what it would cost me to buy the gasoline that I am saving if I had the worse MPG over the time I expect to drive the car.

If I am putting my money out up front (by paying more for the car as opposed to spending that money over time on gasoline)... I want to be rewarded for that by the vehicle being a little cheaper than what that gas would cost me over the time I drive it.

Also, this assumes no sacrifcies in engine performance.

 

6 speed autos should give us the best of both worlds. I hope that 6 gear is nice and tall in all the new GM's

As far as EPA ratings go, every GM car I've owned they have been pretty much dead on, (as long as you don't drive around in 1st just to hear that nice V8 rumble.)

 

I wouldn't pay anything at all. I'd just expect it.