Quote:
Originally Posted by Duffman
Its taking a narrow view of the situation assuming all your FE gains are due to more efficient combustion. The aerodynamic improvements are absolutely huge. Everything has an OD tranny now. Tires and oil are leaps and bounds ahead. The catalytic converter has to be one of the best devices ever invented. Advances in manufacturing methods and materials deserve great credit, they had the potential to design great cars in the past but couldn’t mass produce them cheap.
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I never assumed it was all due to combustion (well, maybe implicitly - but by accident
).... What you've posted is exactly my point - the auto mfr's were given standards to meet - and met them while still increasing fuel efficiency (note: I didn't say thermal efficiency). I personally find it interesting that the rate of advancement changed at the same time emissions standards came into play.
It's almost foolish to say emissions standards are causing fuel efficiency to go down - when, in reality, fuel efficiency has gone up or (at least) remained flat.