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Kyle Busch
Automotive ExaminerKyle is an auto enthusiast and consumer advocate with over 30 years of experience. Author of “Drive the Best for the Price…” He welcomes your comments and car questions on his website www.DriveTheBestBook.com . Kyle’s car has over 490,000 miles and he even has the same name as the #18 NASCAR driver.
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Miles Per Gallon - Where will it be in the next 30 years?
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by Kyle Busch, Automotive Examiner
The 1972 Honda Civic - People Had Fun
I’m sure this subject has been covered by others with much more educated minds than mine, but with the price of gas I want to throw in my two cents.
Thirty-six years ago in 1972 Honda released its first small car here in the U.S. market. The Honda Civic with its 1169cc four-cylinder engine that put out roughly 50 horsepower in a car that weighed about 1500 lbs. These cars were regularly getting 40 miles per gallon.
In 1985 Honda also released the CRX HF (High Fuel Economy) version with a 1500cc engine with 58 horsepower that was getting 52 mpg.
Let’s also throw in a few other “classic” cars from the same era that were pulling down some fairly comparable mpg figures. Do you remember the Mazda GLC, Dodge Colt and the Ford Fiesta? They were all listed as getting in the low 40 mpg range (all gas engine cars, no diesels).
Now for 2008, the Honda Civic is listed as achieving 34 mpg with an 1800cc engine that puts out 140 horsepower. There is quite a large handful of other cars (Scion XD, Pontiac Vibe, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent and Ford Focus to name a few) that are listed as achieving mpg numbers in the low to mid 30’s with engines from 1.6 to 2.0 liter and horsepower figures from 110 -140 range. It seems that if we want a car with mpg numbers in the 40’s we have to look at purchasing one of the new hybrid automobiles.
Automotive technology has come a long way since 1972, especially if you look at the horsepower numbers of the current automobiles and don’t take this wrong, horsepower is nice - there is still a thrill to be had in a sprint from 0 – 60 in 7 seconds or less.
Automobile manufacturers have invested a ton of money and time to get this type of performance from today’s engines. They also have had to meet much stricter emission standards so it is obvious that the technology advances must be incredible.
So, with that being said, why is it that we had cars reaching 40 plus mpg thirty-six years ago and now to get that kind of gas mileage in your car you have to buy a hybrid? You would think that with the amount of technology available today that higher fuel economy is achievable without having to go hybrid?
If the fuel economy numbers would have advanced at the same rate as horsepower figures have, we could conceivably have cars that would be getting around 80 mpg. What are manufacturers doing to help increase the economy of their cars? Where will we be in the next 30 years?
At today’s fuel prices would you be willing to forgo having a little 4-cylinder engine in your car cranking out 140 horsepower, for a car that gets even 60 mpg?
Topics: Gas prices , fuel efficient cars
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