Is Your Fuel Economy "Poor," "Below Average" or "Good?"
Earlier this week I asked you what you thought of as getting "good" fuel economy. I got a lot of interesting opinions about what good fuel economy is and whether or not it matters. Many people said it depended on the vehicle class. Good fuel economy for a truck would be terrible for a small car.
I bring this up because here at Edmunds we are wrestling with how best to educate consumers about fuel economy so they can make good car buying decisions. One reader wrote that 30 mpg was "the magic number." I had always thought of 30 mpg as an important benchmark of good fuel economy too. But recently I've realized that 25 mpg (combined city/highway) is pretty darned good.
The Edmunds data team took all the cars on the market, crunched the numbers and found the average was 21.7 mpg. They then created categories corresponding to that midpoint. It was decided that from 22 to 27 mpg would be labeled "good" fuel economy (combined hwy/city mpg). From 27 to 31 mpg would be "excellent." Above 31 mpg would be "best." That makes from 18 to 22 mpg "average" and 18 to 14 "below average." Last, and very much least, below 14 mpg is "poor."
By now you're saying, "Interesting... But why should I care?" Well, first of all, it's nice to know where you stand so you can feel smug or pleased, apathetic or flat out bummed. Secondly, when car shopping, it's nice to know, at a glance how a car stacks up to the competition. Sometimes, name calling does make it easier to see the truth.
So how does your car compare? And does this categorization seem like a lot of hot air? Or is it need to know information?
- Posted by
- Philip Reed August 29, 2008, 3:00 AM
- Permalink
- Categories:
- Car Buying, Fuel Economy
- Technorati Tags:
- car buyers, Fuel economy, gas consumption, gas prices
According to fueleconomy.gov, my 2003 Honda Civic has a rating of 29 mpg combined.
[Bill and Ted mode on]
Excellent!
[Bill and Ted mode off]
This is why Honda has the highest average fuel economy rating of all the manufacturers.
On the highway I average best in my 4 cly 04 Camry, around town I get excellent. I have noticed that fuel economy has gone up since crossing the 100K mile mark. At 165K miles and a pretty heavy foot these are the numbers i get:
Highway: 33mpg+
Town: 26mpg
Any idea why mileage would go UP after 100K? Did you change to synthetic oil or something?
Sweet, these last few months have just squeezed my truck into average! I got a .5 bump in my lifetime average to 18.2 MPG. The stick helps around town but on the highway its geared too deep. :-(
Nope, still running dead dino oil. Same make and model of tires too. The only thing that happened was a move from College Station, Texas to Santa Barbara CA. If anything I carry more weight around now than before.
I average 215-230 miles per tank in my accord. This equates to 18mpg City(Haven't done much highway driving).
I beat Fuel economy.gov's rating of 17/23 with 18mpg. Once I get a new suspension, I'm pretty sure it will go up! Hopefully, I'll have a a mini cooper S w/ 6mt by then....
-Cj
Summer: 20.5mpg
Winter: 19mpg
Vehicle weight: 7,000 pounds
I would only feel smug or pleased if I was driving a FUEL EFFICIENT car. Fuel economy is mostly a function of vehicle size. If you want to drive a little car, feel free, but that doesn't make it fuel efficient. You are simply doing less work.
For a rudimentary stab at fuel efficiency, multiply vehicle weight in pounds by mpg. Using hwy mpg, 140,000 is impressive; 100,000 is not.
How is this a measure of efficiency?
pound*mile/gallon ~ work/energy in fuel = a unitless efficiency.