Quote:
Originally Posted by nubsub
what makes the Honda Civic different than the Impreza and Elantra? i find it hard to believe that Subaru and Hyundai are "gaming the system," but there has to be some explanation (given a big enough sampling to show that the Civic is doing better -- i'm only using Fuelly as indication, but i'm hoping that's enough of a sampling).
Honda has almost always had lower than real world MPG number because they design the car for real world efficiency. The people buying Hondas are often repeat buyers and they KNOW the cars get good MPG. Heck, the Honda Fit has some models that are rated at only 33 MPG highway, thought you would be pressed to get the car to do that poorly unless you filled the back with concrete. But when you run the car through the EPA cycle, it does poorly.
Gaming the system is very real. Companies need high MPG number to sell cars, and they will sacrifice real world performance to get a better number on the EPA testing. In the past Honda has complained that EPA testing was fantasy, and VW jumped in on those complaints as well because their TDI models get lower than expected ratings. Also keep in mind that EPA numbers are POST-correction values. The tests are all done in a flat controlled lab environment. It is easy to make some small tweaks to enable the car to perform well in testing when you know ahead of time EXACTLY what the test is, and you know doing well on that test could mean +40% sales. The cars all test much higher than the window sticker, then they get knocked down from the testing value to simulate real world speed/weather/hills. What they should be doing is testing the cars in real world conditions (or at least with varied temps, E10 gas, and a system to emulate hills with dyno rollers), then posting those numbers on the window.
How do you think Hyundai sales would be is their Window sticker for the Elantra said 29 MPG HWY? They would be in the dumpster. Instead Hyundai was marketing the crap out of the fact that every model of Elantra was rated 40 MPG highway.
Also if you want to see how important estimated MPG is, check out some of the Impreza ads. The ones I have seen only show 2 things at the end of the commercials. "Symmetrical AWD" and "36 MPG". That is literally the only think Subaru tells people about the car in those commercials. And Impreza sales are at a record high, since it is easier to sell a car rated for 36 MPG than it is to sell one rated at 27 MPG (previous Impreza).