Topic: Popular Mechanics tests 40mpg fuel economy claims, with sexy results!

[carcrazy]

I would love to test drive a bunch of small cars, let's say a week at a time, but my way.  That's usually left lane driving   That would produce "real life testing" results.

I have the chance to do this and the results are very interesting.

[Juke1]

You mean you've done it already?

[Juke1]

With so many variables in play, I never take any of these test as the final answer.

I do like their formula though.

That's why the 50L-challenge was so awesome.  Multiple compacts driving down the same road, at the same time, at the same speed.  No other variables.  Cruising like a herd of turtles...  When are we going to see a new one?

Of course, just because vehicle X got better milage than vehicle Y at Z km/h, doesn't mean a graph of delta XY versus different values of Z will have a slope of 0...  Sorry, I was getting into that Pop Mech formula too!

The 50L challenge is flawed, adding 50l of gas to an empty car(not really) and then driving till it sputters.  An empty car to me is one that wont start in the first place, bone dry.

Here are examples of test we could do:

Full tank to the rim

1 - All compacts in the left lane Montreal to Toronto and we drive like we don't want to miss that Habs and Leaf game

2 - All compacts in the right lane following an Hybrid to the opera

[airbalancer]

Gen 3 Prius does not hold 50L of gas so lets do a 40 l test 

[Mike]

Just to stir the pot 

Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press just posted this on twitter:

2013 Malibu Eco final verdict. 234 highway miles, cruise set at 70 mph: 44.4 mpg. I'm stunned.

Anyone know what the is rated at officially?  Seems like crazy mileage for a non-hybrid mid-size

[airbalancer]

Just to stir the pot 

Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press just posted this on twitter:

2013 Malibu Eco final verdict. 234 highway miles, cruise set at 70 mph: 44.4 mpg. I'm stunned.

Anyone know what the is rated at officially?  Seems like crazy mileage for a non-hybrid mid-size

metric please ( this is a Canadian site  )

[Mike]

Just to stir the pot 

Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press just posted this on twitter:

2013 Malibu Eco final verdict. 234 highway miles, cruise set at 70 mph: 44.4 mpg. I'm stunned.

Anyone know what the is rated at officially?  Seems like crazy mileage for a non-hybrid mid-size

metric please ( this is a Canadian site  )

roughly 5.3

[Keh-vin]

53.3 Imperial mpg...yeesh...if that's correct, that's qway-zy...

[airbalancer]

downhill with a tailwind maybe

[SaskSpecV]

Just to stir the pot 

Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press just posted this on twitter:

2013 Malibu Eco final verdict. 234 highway miles, cruise set at 70 mph: 44.4 mpg. I'm stunned.

Anyone know what the is rated at officially?  Seems like crazy mileage for a non-hybrid mid-size

metric please ( this is a Canadian site  )

roughly 5.3

That would be a great result, and at a real-world speed.  But was it from the trip computer, or actually calculated from a fill-up?  At 44.4 mpg, 234 miles is only 5.3 gallons - hardly a full tank.  The result may not be totally accurate.  But likely not off by that much, and even if they are, anything over 40 mpg is impressive for such a large vehicle.

[carcrazy]

You mean you've done it already?

Yes, I did it with few cars so far and hopefully few more to come in the near future. Compacts, I only tested Cruze and Impreza to date.

[DKaz]

That would be a great result, and at a real-world speed.  But was it from the trip computer, or actually calculated from a fill-up?  At 44.4 mpg, 234 miles is only 5.3 gallons - hardly a full tank.  The result may not be totally accurate.  But likely not off by that much, and even if they are, anything over 40 mpg is impressive for such a large vehicle.

The Passat is rated 4.4L/100km here... or if you don't buy the Canadian figures, 40 US MPG. But a look at Fuelly shows that Passat TDI owners can easily get 5L/100km, if not better.

downhill with a tailwind maybe

I was thinking the same thing. 40mph tailwind?