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Consumer Reports: Overstating gas mileage [EPA figures on gas mileage are off by huge amounts]
wfaa.com ^
| September 20, 2005
Posted on 09/22/2005 4:57:12 AM PDT by grundle
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To: grundle
41
posted on
09/22/2005 6:59:29 AM PDT
by
wallcrawlr
(http://www.bionicear.com)
To: meyer
The last 3 or 4 cars I've owned have achieved mileage remarkably close to the EPA figures. And I don't feather the throttle. Perhaps Consumer Reports is doing it wrong.Some of it is driving habits. Proper tire inflation is another. Load is still another. Weather conditions. Type of roadway driven. The cars are tested with a driver, new engine, perfectly inflated tires, on perfect roadway in perfect weather conditions. So yeah, mileage might be a lot lower for John Q. Public.
42
posted on
09/22/2005 7:02:17 AM PDT
by
mewzilla
(Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
To: gridlock
Sure glad you didn't pick on the '73 Maverick, I'd have taken issue. (While admitting mine's a bit altered).
A note to the "mine gets what EPA says it gets" crowd, I had the misfortune of renting a Lexus something or other last month and it got the same mileage on the highway as our Explorer - and well below what I got from a '67 Falcon V-8.
43
posted on
09/22/2005 7:09:44 AM PDT
by
norton
To: gridlock
I see your points. I'll grant you that rules drove design.
Now about this ... "The resulting vehicle is taller and more unstable that it otherwise would need to be. This makes them more inefficient that they would otherwise need to be."
A taller/higher vehicle with a higher center of gravity AND a higher roll center will always be a vehicle that cannot generate lateral acceleration equal to a vehicle with a lower CG and lower roll center. That's the physics. So indeed SUVs built on a truck chassis are generally less maneuverable than comparably sized 'car' chassis. I still can;t grant you the 'unstable' label because the SUVs are entirely predictable and controllable within design limits. "Unstable" as a label implies a deficiency that isn't really there. They are entirely stable enough for their purpose. A Honda Accord is far less stable/maneuverable/controllable in violent or sudden maneuvering than a Porsche 963, but that doesn't make the Accord unstable.
to wit, dictionary.com defines stable as --
1. Resistant to change of position or condition; not easily moved or disturbed: a house built on stable ground; a stable platform.
2. Not subject to sudden or extreme change or fluctuation: a stable economy; a stable currency.
3. Maintaining equilibrium; self-restoring: a stable aircraft.
An SUV can be labeled as less-stable than _________ (pick your sedan), but not unstable.
Also being less stable does not make them inefficient. Can't locate any cause and effect there ;-) A Testarossa is far more stable than my niece's Honda, but grossly more (fuel)-inefficient.
REM: I agree that a fully unregulated environment would produce different and better vehicles.
44
posted on
09/22/2005 7:12:54 AM PDT
by
Blueflag
(Res ipsa loquitor)
To: mewzilla
Some of it is driving habits. Proper tire inflation is another. Load is still another. Weather conditions. Type of roadway driven. The cars are tested with a driver, new engine, perfectly inflated tires, on perfect roadway in perfect weather conditions. So yeah, mileage might be a lot lower for John Q. Public.Can't speak for others' driving habits, but I drive briskly, and I believe in the "over 9, pay the fine rule" (that is, I drive about 8 mph over the speed limit in most places). Terrain around here is very hilly, borderline mountainous. It's part of my every-day driving.
The new engine used in the EPA test should get worse mileage than one that has a few thousand miles on it - that's been my experience anyway. As for tire inflation, that is a significant factor, but you'd have to be running at about 10 PSI to get the results that CR got. I'm not very trusting of the EPA in general, but I'm even less trusting of Consumer Reports. The friend of Nader is my natural enemy, and I believe that they have alterior motives whenever they touch a car.
45
posted on
09/22/2005 7:55:29 AM PDT
by
meyer
(The DNC prefers advancing the party at the expense of human lives.)
To: grundle; All
Cars are strapped onto a machine called a dynamometer. It turns the front wheels while a computer directs the driver to speed up and slow downAnd here I always thought that the car being tested turned the dyno, now I find out that it's the opposite. No wonder the mileage estimates are so high. I'll bet that the rear wheel drive models have some fantastic ratings.
/sarcasm
46
posted on
09/22/2005 7:56:24 AM PDT
by
par4
(If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything)
To: Blueflag
If an SUV is unstable, what classification should be given to a motorcycle?
47
posted on
09/22/2005 7:57:08 AM PDT
by
meyer
(The DNC prefers advancing the party at the expense of human lives.)
To: grundle
The EPA on my new Camry says 22 city, 32 highway. In the two months I've been driving it on my 30-mile (each way) comute into the DC area, I'm averaging (according to the trip computer) about 29.5 MPG. Now granted, I usually avoid the worst of rush hour and the weather here has been quite warm and dry, but I've seen similar things in previous vehicles I've owned, where my commute milage falls on the high side of the city/highway difference.
48
posted on
09/22/2005 7:58:56 AM PDT
by
kevkrom
("Political looters" should be shot on sight)
To: TNCMAXQ
I live in the burbs, got a 2003 Saturn Ion in recent weeks and am getting around 22-25 mpg.
To: grundle
Have a 2003 Grand Marquis, The sticker on the window said 27 mpg highyway, never seen it! I get 24 mpg highway with aircondition off. Turn on the air and it goes to 20 mpg.
50
posted on
09/22/2005 8:05:15 AM PDT
by
Frankss
To: frankjr
To get better mileage, I only drive downhill wherever I go.You can get the same effect by jacking up the rear end of your car. That way you are going downhill no matter what the road is doing. Drag racers have been doing this for years.
To: Publius6961
To: Publius6961
To: meyer
54
posted on
09/22/2005 8:41:05 AM PDT
by
Blueflag
(Res ipsa loquitor)
To: Blueflag
It is quite safe to drive an SUV, as long as you remember what you are driving. I don't mean to say that the class of vehicles is deficient by design. But, from a stability and safety point of view, they would be better if CAFE did not mandate the rear load floor had to be two feet off the ground.
But I used to voluntarily drive around in a Citroen Duex Cheveux, half the time loaded to the gunwales with God-knows-what. You want to talk about unstable!
55
posted on
09/22/2005 8:55:20 AM PDT
by
gridlock
(IF YOU'RE NOT CATCHING FLAK, YOU'RE NOT OVER THE TARGET...)
To: meyer
If an SUV is unstable, what classification should be given to a motorcycle?It's funny you mention motorcycles. Consumer Reports stopped testing motorcycles a few years back (probably some time during the 70s), saying something to the effect of "they're so dangerous that no-one in their right mind should own one."
56
posted on
09/22/2005 9:05:50 AM PDT
by
Disambiguator
(Making accusations of racism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.)
To: Disambiguator
It's funny you mention motorcycles. Consumer Reports stopped testing motorcycles a few years back (probably some time during the 70s), saying something to the effect of "they're so dangerous that no-one in their right mind should own one."Given the price and availability of gas (especially post-Rita, I suspect), I may just be crazy enough to get one myself. If CR doesn't like it, then I do. :)
57
posted on
09/22/2005 9:08:27 AM PDT
by
meyer
(The DNC prefers advancing the party at the expense of human lives.)
To: Homer1
It looks to me like wind is not simulated in the EPA tests; dunno how big a factor that is but I know that the formula for wind resistance goes up by the *cube* of the speed.
58
posted on
09/22/2005 9:11:06 AM PDT
by
jiggyboy
(Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
To: meyer
Well, FWIW, we drive compacts and the mileage has always been a couple of miles within the advertised. I suspect the problem is mainly with the gas guzzlers, and we wouldn't buy one of those anyway :) In any case, it's still buyer beware, though folks who don't keep their cars well-maintained are shooting themselves in the foot. Can't blame Detroit for that.
59
posted on
09/22/2005 9:15:08 AM PDT
by
mewzilla
(Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
To: jiggyboy
It looks to me like wind is not simulated in the EPA tests; dunno how big a factor that is but I know that the formula for wind resistance goes up by the *cube* of the speed.I think that they might calculate it in somehow. My 4WD Explorer was rated at 16 city and 19 highway (full-time FWD, no way to disengage the front hubs) and that's what I got. Likewise, my Escape gets within 1 mpg of the ratings for each type of driving. I keep records of my mileage as its a good indicator when something is going awry.
60
posted on
09/22/2005 9:32:09 AM PDT
by
meyer
(The DNC prefers advancing the party at the expense of human lives.)
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