Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
...just goes to illustrate that the car manufacturers COULD have produced cars with much better MPG numbers years ago, if they'd just wanted to do so!
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The manufacturer's aren't stupid (for the most part
). They sell what people buy. Any company knows the way to get ahead is to produce whatever the customer wants. If you stop doing that, somebody else will take your business away from you. Case in point, the way Toyota, Honda, etc. came into the US market and took so much business from the Big 3.
The simple fact is, the general public doesn't really care that much about FE, particularly when buying a vehicle.
To prove my point, just pay attention to the car commericials you see advertised on TV. Note how many of them metion absolutely nothing relevant about the vehicle's powertrain, let alone effeciency. Note how many of them advertize the vehicle's bluetooth system, dvd players, navigation system, etc.
To answer the question of why the FE has improved, the FE of some vehicles has gotten better for 2 main reasons. First, as fuel prices have gone up there are a few more people who do care more about FE and are willing to pay for it. Secondly, is the government influence (the merits of which I'm sure we could debate to no end). That basically forces customers to pay for things they otherwise would not (which, again, we could debate).
As to whether it bugs me, no, I doesn't. I drive a vehicle that is "supposed" to get worse mileage than a Hummer and my last tank (30.36 mpg) was equal or better FE than the rating of every 2007 non-hybrid vehicle (and even a few hybrids). It's now so much what you drive as how you drive it
