Most important is the coasting. Most people feel they should be on the gas or on the brake all the time.

Also, even use of the gas while driving is important. I have a friend that burns through transmissions and gas because he constantly pumps the gas as he is driving. Many people do this for some reason, like a nervous habit.

Good grief, why? I like driving … but only when you can actually move. But like any rational person, I thoroughly detest the stop-n-go city commute, and would be very happy to fob that pathetic job onto a robot. Consider this: if a computer could drive any car in a way that is (say) 10% more fuel efficient, then the potential exists to retrofit large swaths of the current fleet in a time-span that is probably much shorter than junking them and building more fuel efficient cars (with the autonomous driving ability factory installed).

GPS + video camera(s) + computer. The hardware is inexpensive, the computer program only needs to be written once. Sounds like good bang for the buck.

I totally want an Insight. They may be a bit ugly, but they are a purpose built mileage machines, lightweight and tossable and had an available 5-speed.

I drove an MX-5 for a while, I could handle the space limitations as well.

I hope one of Hondas new hybrids come close to the Insight and offers decent performance great economy and a manual transmission. Not holding my breath though.

http://www.hondanews.com/categories/1097/releases/4510

Driving style has a huge impact on the mpg numbers – journalists just haven’t taken that factor into account. But this kind of news is a big seller, that is why magazines produce them.

You can keep you driverless car, thanks. My favorite thing about the Toyota Prius is that it begs you to beat the mileage from your last tank the way a an old RWD sedan begs to be hooned. I found it genuinely entertaining for the handful of times I’ve driven one.

Try a Honda Insight – it’s a hoot. Porsche 356 of the 21st century. Only better.

# Bytor :
May 20th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

Bring this over and I might be interested.

My long term average in my Insight is 85MPG (imperial). It also hits 60 in less than 11 seconds (although I wouldn’t average 85MPG if I did it more often than rarely!)

Only two seats though and you can’t buy them new anymore.

I find that the average MPG indicator keeps me trying for higher fuel economy, I am now shifting into neutral and coasting on the downhills – even on the highway. I wish the car had a 6 speed stick and stop/start

Not entirely correct. There is a gas guzzler tax for cars with low fuel economy, and manufacturers not meeting CAFE requirements must pay additional taxes.

EPA numbers are great for vehicle comparison and are accurate for most drivers. They’re also easily surpassed with conservative driving.

Bring this over and I might be interested.

When I bought my 2006 TSX the window sticker said 22 city, 31 highway. The EPA’s new revised numbers are 20 and 28 for the same car. In my local driving I rarely drop below 22 mpg and generally average 25 or 26 in a mix of highway and errand duties. On a recent long trip I averaged 76 MPH and 31.5 MPG, and crossed mountain ranges twice doing it. When I cruise at 65 MPH the fuel economy runs 35-36 MPG.

Maybe some vehicles or some drivers have trouble hitting the EPA numbers, but that has never been my experience.

If the tests are so broken that they are not giving the lowest numbers to the most efficient cars, then the tests need to be fixed.

This is not an indictment of testing, nor of the idea of a carbon tax.

Thanks for the heads-up on mileage estimates. Makes those carbon taxes look pretty silly, if the government is overestimating efficiency.

The ultimate might be a computer program that can drive a car. I suspect a great amount of speed is related more to driver stress than actual need.

Edit to add: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driverless_car

I understand it is fun to poke at the bad advertising/marketing practices and poor testing standards but can’t someone just say X car had the lowest emissions of the seven tested?

That’s not to say ALL diesels are bad. BMW do some fantastic diesels. They also come with a BMW pricetag which cancels out any benefit!

I’m a bit surprised at the Honda hybrid. I thought they were quite good?

BTW, I have a mixed city/rural/highway route that I drive every couple of weeks and can vary my mileage by roughly 35% simply through driving style. The biggest factors (in keeping mileage in check) seems to be coasting wherever possible and easing off the throttle up hills…

I think maybe Norway was on to something by banning car companies from advertising vehicles as green.

It’s because of these Euro tests that we keep hearing about 63mpg Honda Accord diesels, etc. They need to revise them.