I looked up the 2008 fuel economy leaders accordong to
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/download.shtml
This really torques me off. Why did most of the cheap cars I drove in college get better mileage that the "cream of the crop" for 2008?
The leaders for 2008 are:
Honda Civic Hybrid - 45 mpg
Smart Fortwo - 41 mpg (micro car that I'm not sure you can buy yet)
Toyota Yaris - 39 mpg hwy
Toyota Corolla - 37 mpg hwy
Mini Cooper - 37 mpg hwy
Here are a few of the leaders from 1988:
Civic crx hf - 56 mpg hwy (adjusted)
Chevy Sprint (Geo Metro) - 58 mpg hwy (adjusted)
Ford Escort - 42 mpg (adjusted)
Toyota Tercel - 41 mpg (adjusted)
Chevy Spectrum - 41 mpg (adjusted)
Isuzu I-Mark - 41 mpg (adjusted)
*adjusted means 78% of the gas mileage measured on a dyno.
In all, it looks like there are around 2 dozen cars from 1988 that would have beaten all non-hybrid contenders in 2008 except the Smart Fortwo.
I've attempted to list all the reasons I can think of for this in the poll at the right (please note that when I say "we" I'm speaking of the american car buying public in general):
Pick an answer and/or add a rant of your own.
Sorry, preaching to the choir.
