May 31, 2007

Why Your Car Has Lousy Gas Mileage - WSJ.com

Link: Why Your Car Has Lousy Gas Mileage - WSJ.com.

The apparent lack of progress in improving fuel economy is tied to a host of trends in the auto industry and U.S. consumer culture. A long-running focus on vehicle safety has resulted in cars growing heavier over time as manufacturers used more metal to strengthen structures and added heavy safety gear, including antilock brakes, airbags and electronic traction-control systems.

Cars also are larger overall, and models that started out as subcompacts have grown to become more like midsize models. Honda Motor Co.'s Civic CRX, a mid-1980s two-seater of 20 years ago, was 12 feet long and weighed about 1,700 pounds. (See photos.) Today's Civic sedan is nearly three feet longer and weighs about 900 pounds more. Even the smaller Honda Fit, considered almost impossibly small today, is larger than the mid-1980s Civic CRX.

The considerable advances in auto technology in recent decades has benefited engines, structure and passenger comfort. Most of the effort in improving engine performance, however, has gone toward increasing horsepower instead of improving fuel economy. So while cars of all types are generally faster than the sports cars of 25 years ago, their fuel economy seems relatively poor, thanks largely to the energy required to move their added weight. Even the Environmental Protection Agency advises drivers to save fuel by cutting their cars' weight. Avoid cluttering the car with unnecessary items, it recommends, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in a vehicle may reduce your miles per gallon by as much as 2%.

Development of German car maker BMW AG's long-running 3-Series model has led to the 2007 model weighing more than 3,300 pounds, compared with about 2,900 pounds 20 years ago. In 1972 the 3-Series predecessor, called the 2002, weighed about 2,200 pounds.

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 31, 2007 at 03:51 PM in Life | Permalink