Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
If you're talking true stop & go driving, very few cars are going to get close to their EPA / NRCAN ratings. The exception may be hybrids, making use of the engine stop feature & ability to drive at low speeds for short distances on electric power.
Curious: did you closely monitor the fuel economy of your previous car? Was it able to get near its official city fuel economy rating in the same conditions as the Spark? (I suspect not.)
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I don't expect it to get the exact specs, but 7.1? For one of the smallest sub-compacts on the market? Yea, I expected better fuel economy. Chevrolet opted to put the larger engine in, and yes it does have kind of a pocket-rocket feel to it, but that's not why I bought it.
What we don't have in Canada is the choice Europeans have in the efficiency segment. I've been in Europe and have rented the vehicles they have available. They have 60-70hp diesels (I don't recall if the ones I drove had a turbo, its been years now), but those vehicles are non-hybrids, they are bigger than the Spark, and I remember clearly getting better fuel economy in stop and go city driving than 7.1. I remember one trip I think in France where I got barely 4l/100km on an autoroute with a diesel going along at speeds well above 100k (speed limits in France are 130, which is what we should have in Ontario). It was a Peugeot, but I can't remember the model. I just remember it had an ultra efficient diesel, and yes it took probably 15 seconds to get it above 100km, but the efficiency is worth it. I'm not a racer, I could care less if I can't pass some hot head on the highway. As long as the car can cruise at 120km, I don't care if it takes a few seconds to get there.
What the typical North American driver demands is utterly absurd re: engine power.