Who says they don't build 'em like they used to?
Monday March 3, 2008
1990 Honda Civic
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I was looking up some fuel economy figures on www.fueleconomy.gov and noticed that they've updated all of the cars in their database (which goes back to 1985) with new-for-2008 fuel economy numbers. I often get emails or blog comments asking why today's cars don't have the phenomenal fuel economy figures they once did.
People tend to cite cars like the Honda CRX HF -- a flyweight two-seater that was advertised at 50 MPG city/56 MPG highway.
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For a better picture of where we've come, compare today's Honda Civic sedan with its counterpart from 20 years ago. Using the 2008 formula, a 1988 Civic with an automatic transmission got 25 MPG city/32 MPG highway.
A 2008 Civic with an automatic transmission scores 25 MPG city/36 MPG highway. At first glance, it would seem that we've made little progress -- but bear in mind that in 1988 the Civic had a 92 horsepower 1.5 liter engine, while the 2008 Civic has a 140 horsepower 1.8 liter engine. Furthermore, the
'08 Civic weighs over 500 lbs. more than the '88 Civic -- largely because of safety hardware like front and side airbags, anti-intrusion door beams, anti-lock brakes, and a high-strength-steel safety cage, none of which will be found on the twenty-year-old Civic.
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Check out more cars and you'll see the same story. 1989 Toyota Corolla,
23 city/28 highway. 2009 Toyota Corolla, 27/35. 1988 Toyota Camry V6, 17/22. 2008 Toyota Camry V6, 19/28. (All these figures are for cars with automatic transmissions, by the way.) Even our performance cars are getting better: The 245 horsepower 1988 Chevrolet Corvette is rated at 15/22 with a manual transmission. The 2008 Corvette has a bigger V8 that produces
185 more horsepower, 79 more lb-ft of torque, and gets to 60 MPH nearly 2 seconds quicker -- and it scores 16/22.
Which means the new Corvette can kick the old Corvette's butt in a drag race, and use less fuel while doing it.
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And what about the old Civic CRX HF? Recalculated for the new 2008 tests, its EPA fuel economy estimates are
41 MPG city/50 MPG highway. The closest Honda came to a modern-day CRX HF was the Insight (which went out of production in 2006) -- 48/58 with a manual transmission. Today's Honda Civic Hybrid has EPA ratings of 40/45 -- and unlike the CRX HF, the Civic has a back seat, airbags, air conditioning, an automatic transmission, plus it won't get squashed like a bug if it gets hit by a mid-size car. All in all, I'd say we've come pretty far. -- Aaron Gold
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