[Christ]

How exactly does it say that powertrains are more efficient? I just got done debunking it by showing that MPG has not gone up while weight has gone down... it's quite easy to make a comparison rise while not actually having any good effect.

I can say that I have 5 apples and 5 oranges, and I want more oranges...

I now have 50% apples and 50% oranges.

Now, I remove one apple.. Now I have 4 apples and 5 oranges... I can say it this way now: I've taken away 20% of my apples, which shows irrefutably (sp) (read: without a way to challenge) that I have more than 50% oranges, and less than 50% apples... thus, I must have more oranges now... b/c I have more than 50%.

To quantify:
Remember, 5 minutes ago, I had 50% oranges, and 50% apples.
I didn't add any oranges (MPG), but I DID remove apples (weight).
My ratio went from 1:1 (even), to 5:4... skew that result over 22 years, and you have something that looks alot better than it is.

Think what youre saying... if it's gone up steadily by 1.2% each year, that means that over 22 years, MPG/Ton would have gone up more than 22% (rule of compounding percentages suggests closer to 40%)

That said, I don't remember ANY car in history losing 40% of it's original weight, nor getting the like in additional efficiency... in fact, if this WERE the case, we'd hardly be in the predicament we're in.

For the sake of your own sanity, please don't read so far into a single subject, and begin thinking further than the first search result. No offense intended.

You may read into my answers as far as you want, fact is, MPG has stayed the same, or even varied slightly, while weight has gone down, which still says that overall efficiency has also gone down, for the reasons I've stated previously.