Do you have an example? I heard a Bimmer ad today. It was touting “average” not highway.

I don’t see the problem with GM’s propaganda machine for touting the base Camaro’s fuel economy. BMW does the same thing, even though you would think someone who can afford a BMW can afford bad gas mileage.

The whole thing smacks of the Attention Deficit Disorder that is commonly critiqued here. By the time that it arrives, we’ll all be bored of it. The general public won’t even know that they’re supposed to pay attention to it.

If they actually sell any, they’ll be taking sales away from Ford and Chrysler, instead of from the transplants who pose the greatest threat to their survival. Ironically, this car would prove to the American consumer once again that Detroit is only capable of building gas guzzling trucks and V8 coupes, and is not their place to shop for practical, useful efficient transportation.

That damage having been done, GM corporate will move on to the next flavor of the month, flogging the still non-existent Volt or whatever they have dreamed up whil forgetting all about the car that actually exists. Is it really any wonder that these guys don’t make any money?

To have gone full circle, we would have had to have left. We never did. It’s more no change than full circle.

The difference? With an SUV, you get lots more fuctionality and longevity along with your luxury. I say it’s an improvement.

OTOH, if certain folks with certain ideologies had never demonized the luxury car, maybe more people would be driving them, and getting better mileage than they are now in their SUV’s.

Hmmm. What will we come up with after the SUV?

Robotic minivans that look like normal minivans, but only seat four in reclining captains chairs? With hybrid labels?

Yes, and at 23 MPG the Camaro has 420 horsepower.

At your 26 MPG, the Camaro has 300 horsepower. You know… from a mid 3 liter DOHC V6 much like yours. Odd how that works.

So, you can lord those 6 horsepower over the V6 Camaro boys and brag about those 3 MPG to the V8 Camaro drivers.

Have fun with that.

You are absolutely correct. Cars used to mention both numbers, with the city value circled or highlighted in one way or another. I just looked through an old Popular Mechanics magazine that was touting the mileage of the new 1976 Chevrolet Impala. “How efficient is today’s Chevrolet? Very efficient with a 13 MPG CITY 18 MPG highway.” Nice numbers…just like today’s fullsize SUV’s. Seems to me we’ve come full circle…

“The new Chevy Corvette, the largest, most comfortable 2-seat roadster on the market, with class leading trunk space”

“The Chevy Volt, with the highest payload and towing capacity of any plug-in electric PHEV car in America!”

“The Chevy Silverado, the most aerodynamic pickup truck you can buy.”

“The Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, the most fuel efficient large SUV in America”

(Oh wait, they do use that last one)

I have been curious about that as well. I could have sworn that when the EPA fuel economy standards were developed, one of the rules was that both city and highway numbers had to be advertised if there was to be any mention of fuel economy. However, looking at the latest Federal regulations in this regard shows that quoting either, neither or both is legal. The present document shows a reference to [60 FR 56231, Nov. 8, 1995], so since at least 1995 this has been legal. I don’t know if my earlier recollection is wrong or if the rules changed. In any case, very few people spend the majority of their driving time doing “highway” miles.

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=2619bc4d757c68e9b57ad4531380f74f&rgn=div5&view=text&node=16:1.0.1.2.23&idno=16

Oh yeah, and the “value” proposition means it is going to be priced thousands over the Mustang.

Guess what folks, the ’stang can serve the entire retro-muscle-car market just fine on it’s own.

Market windows are a real phenomenon, and the window for this vehicle closed not long after it stared in the Transformers movie.

I wonder if this will be like in the 80s, when the V6 camaro was approaching mustang GT performance. Didn’t seem to matter, since I believe the mustang always outsold the Camaro, and continued production until now, whereas the Camaro died what, 10 years ago?

However, its main flaw is that it’s too small for me. I don’t fit in the thing. Legs too long. Belly too fat. Whatever.

The upcoming Asian RWD coupes may have the same problem. However, I think the Japanese brands have been more receptive to the reality of large American butts (like mine)…..while the Solstice is rather a “boutique” car with less utility and mass appeal.

That’s why I want the (larger) Camaro to offer a 4cyl.

The Camaro has almost always been nearly as fast as the Vette, but heavier and worse-handling. I don’t see anything changing with the latest gen. I don’t see it impacting Vette sales that much, if at all

whatdoiknow1:

The Vette can do even better than 26mpg on the highway, it’s pretty easy to get 28-30 mpg, especially if you drive near the speed limit. I’ve gotten 25 easily over 500+ miles in my 2006 (with a stick) while never even coming close to the speed limit (e.g. a steady 80-90 with occasional blasts up to 110-130)

I wouldn’t say that you can get the same mileage as an Accord in “everyday use” though, especially if your commute doesn’t consist entirely of highway miles with little to no traffic. Mpg decreases exponentially in city traffic. I get about 11mpg in town, although the streets in Boston are terribly designed and the vast majority of cars would return atrocious mileage during my daily commute

Like it or not the fact that a 436hp, v8 equiped car, weighing a good 3400lbs can manage 26mpg is GREAT! Lets also not forget about the tires and gearig on this thing either!

The majority of v6 powered family sedan has about the same mpg ratings.

What the 26mpg rating means is that the Vette is still a viable option today unlike many other high performance cars that can NOT even manage 20mpg! Yes, you can still use your Vette as a everyday car and get about the same milage as your smug looking neighbor with his Honda Accord!
On top of that the damn thing can be filled up with good ole regular gas!

What Chevy is doing by putting the EPA rating for the new Camaro is to let folks know that even with todays gas prices a v8 powered Camaro will be just as efficient as many mid-sized wannabe sport sedans!

Also, maybe this car (and high gas prices) will drive down the cost of used corvettes (I’ll take a 2005 in black, thx).

If GM replaced the Cobalt with a compact called the Nova and gave it evocative styling and their new 1.4L and 2.0L turbo engines in an SS geared to enthusiasts I can guarantee you would hear a lot about it in the press and it could make a splash in the compact market where GM’s Japanese “me-too” Cobalt failed.

GM has a slew of four cylinder cars on the market for people that care about fuel economy, maybe even performance. The Solstice, the Sky, the Cobalt SS turbo and the new (and strangely appealing and versatile) HHR SS turbo. Even the Astra is a nice little driver’s car.

That’s quite a few more four cylinder performers than V8 performers. It’s about time they threw something to those of us that love V8s.

The Vette gets 26mpg with a stick-shift…

…when driven like a grocery getter. This is why fuel economy numbers for cars like this are useless. If you have a Corvette, are you really going to drive it like an EPA tester?

If so, why did you buy a Corvette? Why not buy a Camry Solara and be done with it?