Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

Even the Japanese cars haven't advanced that much in mpg over the last 30 years. My 77 Accord Hatchback's 1.6 liter carbed engine got 38-40 mpg hwy and 35 mpg overall. My Dad kept impeccable records of mileage and gas receipts because he the car for business road trips. A brand new Accord with the fancy efi v-tec four banger doesn't get those numbers. Why? The Japanese didn't have the cheap gas prices we've had the last decade.

[Two Lane Blacktop]

Re: Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

Weights on many foreign cars have almost doubled.

One example: 1985 Civic = 1600#s. // 2008 Civic 3000#s.



(Had a brandy-new 1980 Datsun 210. EPA 37/51. Did better!)

[Fordplay0621]

Re: Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

They base the Economy on how much the Big investors are making and Losing not on the Poor workers that make it for them. Then they get all the Tax Breaks and we pay for that too. Raise the Prises and we will pay the price because we have to get to work to make them more money. It's a Visious Cycle and we pay for it everyday we wake up. What they don't get, the Ex Wife does. F*** them all, I gonna build a Big Block 4 MPG Weather Changing, Smog Belching, Ex Wife Hating Machine. That'll Show them! Then I'll put Gas in my Kia and Go to work to pay for it.

[VTJUNK]

Re: Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

Everyone knows that our new cars can get better mileage, and the reasons why they don't.
I have a 60 Falcon with a 6 and a 3 on the tree. Back when this was my primary mode of transport this car got 31 mpg on the highway with no special tuning or driving. Why can't a new Focus get much better than that? I've been asking that question for years.
In the meantime, you make the best of what you've got. In my case, I got 11/13 mpg with a 97 F150, and by modifying my driving habits was able to get 17 mpg combined. My SAAB is rated by the EPA for 28 mpg, I get close to 40, and haven't even begun to explore the possibilities with this car.
There's alot to gain just by putting some simple practices in place. Google the phrase "hyper miling" and do some reading. It goes beyond just low restriction air filters and correct tire pressures. Some of it may seem crazy but remember, A dollar saved is a dollar spent on your hot rod.

[DanStokes]

Re: Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

The lab where I worked is where the EPA mileage estimates are derived, so I know a bit about this. Mostly, I wanted to comment on the necessity of Government regulations to get this done.

The implementation of catalyst technology is a good example of what the regs can get done that nothing else can. The auto makers knew about cat technology for years, but nobody was going to do it (and add the expense to their sticker price) unless they HAD to. It was going to put Auto Maker X at a price disadvantage to auto maker Y and Z. So when we (the Gov) passed the regulations that mandated tighter standards and therefore most likely required cats, there was only token resistance and we now have cat technologies that are durable and pretty invisible to the driver.

A NOTE: The EPA NEVER requires a specific technology. We demonstrated that cats could work, and the automakers decided to go this way to get to the required standards, which were based on air quality needs.

Same deal for FE standards. As several of y'all pointed out, there are disincentives for manufacturers to increase mileage without a push from the Gov, and a perception that the marketplace will NOT support the technology - in other words, people won't really pay more for a car with better fuel economy. So this way, all the manufacturers are impacted in the same way at the same time, and we get cars with better FE.

Hope this helps clarify this part of the discussion
Dan

[BangShiftChad]

Re: Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

The beauty of the squirt is that it's so easy to load another tune. Diesel Geek and I even talked about a way to do it with just a switch. We haven't gotten there yet, but if we try it and it works look for it on the MS boards. Otherwise, all you do is plug in your laptop, grab the new MSQ (tune) and tell it to burn to ecu. It's that easy, and super fast. So you can switch it anytime if you are one of us that carries a laptop to and from work. Plus, the data logging is killer. If you have an O2 sensor always running on it you can data log that channel on the road, at the track, whatever. Ask Bill Fowler. He used this feature all during Drag Week to tune his car with more and more "pump shot" as the carb world would call it, or "accel enrichment" as the EFI guys call it. As I've learned, hanging out with Scott, guys that are good carb/engine tuners turn into pretty damn good EFI tuners.

[dieselgeek]

Re: Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

Chad, you have to enable Overrun Fuel Cut. New trick I learned. Guys around here are picking up another 10-20% mileage with it! Lots of locals around here have been having me do economy tuneups, I'm getting better at it...

[HoosierGTA]

Re: Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

Trans Am 87 350 TPI 3.26 rear .Had a 700R4 air and ever option except T -tops . This is the heaviest 3rd gen F body made . On flat interstate going to Springfeild , Mo for PT '04 I was pulling 23 mpg at 75mph . As long as I get over 20 mpg and no car payment I'm happy . Just wish I could do something about the aroud town driving .16 stinks but hey I like to hear it wail going throuh the 5speed.

[VWMMP]

Re: Your thoughts about the gas mileage laws......post em here

We had better do something fairly soon. The price of a gallon of gas is going to become really expensive in the next 5-10 years. One reason - CHINA. China is selling new cars to the tune of a 1000 new cars a day. Projections by the World Bank are that in 12 years China will have more cars than the US. They are allready number 2 in new cars sold. Don't forget about India either. A middle class is starting to develop. With a middle class comes car ownership. So with the amount of growth and the demand for oil the price will climb. One estimate shows that China in 10 years will need more then the current world output of oil per day.