The Geo Metros I rented in the early 90s got over 50 mpg, and that was driving and treating them like a rental. Nothing comes close today.
The administration doesn’t give a hoot about gas mileage. If they got rid of the alcohol requirement (the gas today has double the alcohol content of beer) fuel mileage would jump from 12 to 25% depending on the vehicle.
seems to defy the laws of physics
10% of the fuel has 67% of the energy content and you claim that much degradation?
True, and many other cars in the 1980s and early 1990s got better mileage than comparable cars today. I had a VW Scirocco in the 1980s that even when driven with performance in mind managed close to 30 MPG. Cruising with attention to mileage it got around 32 MPG. Lightweight design, fuel injected four cylinder engine, etc. generate high mileage and performance.
“The Geo Metros I rented in the early 90s got over 50 mpg, and that was driving and treating them like a rental. Nothing comes close today.”
They were also pieces of crap. Some of these high-mileage modern diesels are also nice comfortable cars.