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EPA Fuel Economy Myth: Too High, Too Low?

Posted by Cliff on from the estimates-and-science dept.

ThosLives asks: "I have seen here on Slashdot , and just about every other publication, numerous articles about fuel cells, hybrid vehicles, and the inaccuracies of EPA fuel economy stickers. For instance, today there is a review of the Toyota Prius that had the famous line 'Since no car really achieves the EPA estimated mileage...' I happen to drive a car with an EPA sticker of 21 city 25 highway (all figures in miles per gallon). I've driven the car for 47000 miles and the lowest I've ever seen is 23 and some change; the highest, 36.3 (I'm probably about 60% highway 40% stop-and-go and yes, the high was on a long highway trip). My all-time average is about 28.5. As most people get less than the EPA mileage, how does the Slashdot readership fare when it comes to EPA sticker vs actual experience, and on what type of vehicle?" "Am I a rare breed that can drive my car (2.0L I4, 170 HP, 6-speed manual) aggressively (I've had coworkers and friends say 'woah!' more than I'd like to admit *grin*) and still stomp the EPA sticker? Did I get lucky with a phenomenal car? Am I enough of a counter-example to thwart the belief that the EPA figures are 'too liberal'? Are fuel economy issues just FUD from [insert lobby group of choice]? Or is the answer simply 'it depends on how you drive, what you had for breakfast, and the color of your neighbors' cat?'"

23 of 1,378 comments (clear)

  1. Thus the phrase... by wayward_son · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your mileage may vary.

    1. Re:Thus the phrase... by JPriest · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, it depends on how you drive. I drive to work on a long windy road. I constantly get stuck behind people that annoy me. It is common for me to drop back and gas it, because I need to be going around 90 mph to get around them before the next corner to avoid oncoming traffic. If I am passing 2 or 3 cars in the same passing zone, I usually do so at about 120 mph.

      --
      Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
    2. Re:Thus the phrase... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hmmmm... appropriate sig for this comment.

    3. Re:Thus the phrase... by revmoo · · Score: 3, Funny

      So, how's the mullet?

      /couldn't resist :p

      --
      I would expect such blatant racism on Fark, but on Slashdot? Mods please ban this asshole.
    4. Re:Thus the phrase... by DieByWire · · Score: 2, Funny

      I constantly get stuck behind people that annoy me.

      Einstein was wrong. Apparently, there is a 'center of the universe.'

      --
      Never shake hands with a man you meet in a fertility clinic.
    5. Re:Thus the phrase... by Will242 · · Score: 5, Funny

      True, every little bit matters... ...but my bicycle gets 20 miles to the burrito. My round-trip commute to work takes 1.2 burritos. And believe me, if I wasn't commuting via bicycle to work, I'd be consuming the fuel anyways.

    6. Re:Thus the phrase... by Paulrothrock · · Score: 3, Funny
      I'd like to see the cops chase after those who impede traffic (30MPH in a 45MPH zone). Course, we can't have that in PA, as it would offend all those older voters (I think they outnumber everyone else). Grannies, wearing coke-bottle glasses, out driving their Buicks. Left-blinker, for 2 1/2 freaking miles.

      I'm convinced that it's not the grannies, but the Buicks. Every one I've encountered has driven below the speed limit and comes to a complete stop at every turn, even merging into highway traffic. I will never buy a Buick because they seem so incredibly hard to drive.

      Signed,
      A fellow Pennsylvanian.

      --
      I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
    7. Re:Thus the phrase... by turgid · · Score: 2, Funny

      Presumably your bicycle has a gas turbine?

      --
      Stick Men
    8. Re:Thus the phrase... by Aardvark99 · · Score: 5, Funny
      ...my bicycle gets 20 miles to the burrito. My round-trip commute to work takes 1.2 burritos.
      Great, first the Middle East, now Mexico.
    9. Re:Thus the phrase... by smchris · · Score: 2, Funny


      How would the state test for emission compliance?

    10. Re:Thus the phrase... by TopShelf · · Score: 3, Funny

      Presumably your bicycle has a gas turbine?

      If that's a bean burrito, I'm guessing the rider has one instead...

      --
      Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
    11. Re:Thus the phrase... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Anal Probe! HAHAHAAAAA.

    12. Re:Thus the phrase... by gfxguy · · Score: 2, Funny

      And I don't want to hear about zero emissions.

      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    13. Re:Thus the phrase... by Karl+Cocknozzle · · Score: 2, Funny
      Traffic is not a competition, it's a team effort. If everyone exercises a little care and common sense, the risk of hitting or getting hit by someone or something are pretty low.

      Yeah, common sense is the key term. Take yesterday afternoon. I'm leaving a friend's house. Driving safely through the neighborhood, I pull up to a stop-sign. A child on a bike turns off the sidestreet, onto the one I'm driving on. He proceeds to ride right up the middle of the street. He knew I was there, because he looked me right in the eye before entering the intersection.

      I pull away from the stop-sign and he proceeds to continue riding right up the middle of the street. The road widened enough for me to pass, but then the kid meandered towards the "middle" of the new, wider road. After a 1.5 blocks of this, I sound the horn to let him know I'm there, and he scowls at me, like I'm the one disrupting traffic. I roll down the window and ask "Who told you it was safe to ride your bike on the middle of the street like that?" "My mommy." came the reply.

      Moral of the story? Common sense breeds more common sense. Parents who are stupid have children who are stupid. In the end, I realized that I should have just run his ass over and saved us all a few welfare dollars later.
      --
      Who did what now?
    14. Re:Thus the phrase... by Pharmboy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Have you ever noticed that when they widen a road, the traffic doesn't tend to get lighter?

      On the same note, if you make cars that get 50 mpg and are affordable (less than 20k) then yes, more people would buy them, and drive them instead of using public transport, since it would be a price advantage to drive your own. Not counting the fact that your own car is more convenient, etc. This would mean even more traffic because it would be cheaper, more pollution because many individual cars make more smog than one bus/train, and more traffic problems, PLUS we would have to build yet MORE roads to support all the new econo-boxes, all in a vicious cycle brought upon us by the people who are demanding high mileage cars.

      My solution is everyone buy a new truck that gets 13mpg avg. like my new Chevy 2500HD. This way we won't be tempted to drive so much, and be forced to suffer all the problems that good gas mileage brings. ;)

      --
      Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
  2. I get reasonable mileage... by cyber_spaz · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't recall the EPA sticker figures on my car, but I have a '98 Saturn, and I get 31-35mpg.

    Of course, I drive like a little old lady from Pasadena (not the one of the Beach Boys fame, though). I usually skip breakfast (perhaps it saves weight?), and my neighbors cats are grey...

    --
    "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana" --Karl or Groucho, I forget...
    1. Re:I get reasonable mileage... by jayayeem · · Score: 4, Funny

      '03 Vibe GT, I get from 26 - 28 mpg most of the time. long highway trips I might see 31mpg. Usually just a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Neighbors on both sides have Marmalade cats, as do we. Do you think its the cats?

      --
      I metamoderate, therefore I am
  3. Depends on Cat by pyrrhonist · · Score: 5, Funny
    Or is the answer simply 'it depends on how you drive, what you had for breakfast, and the color of your neighbors' cat?

    My mileage dropped drastically after pieces of the neighbors' cat got caught in the air intake.

    If it hadn't been a black cat I wouldn't have run over it at night.

    So, yes, mileage depends on the cat's color.

    --
    Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
  4. I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!!! by rump_carrot · · Score: 2, Funny

    It had to be said...

    --
    I think, therefore I thought.
  5. How the English improve their MPGs by NewtonsLaw · · Score: 5, Funny

    You Americans could learn a lot from the rest of the world when it comes to getting more MPGs.

    Just do what we do -- use a bigger gallon!

    Low-tech solutions to hi-tech problems :-)

    1. Re:How the English improve their MPGs by pnatural · · Score: 2, Funny

      I've heard that ya'll need a bigger gallon cause -- like everything else English -- it leaks!

      (got this from a Brit -- don't be mad :D )

  6. Re:70 MPG in the Insight, depending on weather! by torzsok · · Score: 2, Funny

    How could you mod this insightful post informative?

  7. SUVs by ZerocarboN · · Score: 2, Funny

    1 Highway
    0 City