Quote:
Originally Posted by elhigh
That's crazy-great mileage. For years and years the party line was that American builders don't give two cents for fuel mileage.
50+ mpg in an American car? Fantastic.
|
GM has had good gas mileage on their mid-size cars for many years. It is true they have more cars that get over 30 MPG than Toyota or Honda. However they have a poor record with sub-compacts, which of course is where the higher MPG often come from. Take their Pontiac 2 seater Fiero- from the 1980's it got MAYBE 25MPG at best. The Chevette got maybe 20- to 25 MPG, based on the 1977 model I used to own. These were VERY SMALL CARS! Shucks even my previous 2005 MED-SIZE Colorado (Keep in mind this truck is SMALLER than a SILVERADO) claimed an EPA of 20 MPG Highway, but in 2-wheel drive mode my math showed it was getting around 17MPG, in 4-Wheel drive I hesitate to even think about it. With their pickups there does not seem to be much of a gap between full size and med-size in terms of MPG.
I have yet to reset my gauge, but I bet if I did AND drove just right I could get over 50 avg MPG. My AVG MPG is based on the long term and it's 45.4 AVG MPG and many people claim these cars peak out at over 10,000 miles in terms of best AVG MPG, others claim the first oil change improves the avg MPG. If this is true, then I'm just behind Fr3AkAzOiD at 45.4 AVG MPG - FOR A TOTAL SINCE I FIRST BOUGHT MY CAR NEW.
It all boils down to how you drive these cars. When I bought my car from the dealership the car had been drove about 130 miles because I bought it from a dealership I knew well and trusted and they had to get the car I wanted from a dealer out of state and drive it back. WHEN I FIRST GOT INTO MY CAR IT HAD 25 AVG MPG on it! And now I am getting ALMOST double that. I feel it boils down to the car being fully broken in AND driven correctly. If you want to hot rode these cars they will do about as good as any other average car on the road, perhaps even better than some. But if you wish to save your money these cars reward you back for good driving habits. I bet a good 40% of my drive-time is spent in Neutral!
If it was not for Fr3AkAzOiD making these posts I would likely figure my car had already maxed out all it will do on gas mileage. Now I think I can get a little more out of her.