My '96 Chevy Tahoe (V8, 4x4) gets 20 mpg on the highway. Not bad. ...and the same as the new ones. And I remember some Japanese models from the '70s getting over 40 mpg.
I bought a Mazda B3000 pickup, nearly the same as the Ford Ranger (actually built by Ford, but sold by Mazda) and am alive because of it.
I was in a head on accident in January of 2008. The bigger car meant that I wasn’t decelerated so fast. The other driver was going over 70 miles an hour. I was stopped, waiting to take a left turn. He had 30 feet of rubber left in the road leading up to the impact.
With lighter and smaller cars you get better gas mileage. You also get higher death rates from accidents.
An example: Take a basketball and a tennis ball. Old each out at arm’s length, with the tennis ball on top of the basket ball. Drop them. The momentum of the Basketball will go into the tennis ball with a nearly elastic collision. Do this outside kids.
In an accident the change in momentum is not elastic, but rather it does work on your car and on you. A bigger car is safer for its occupants.
Interesting I have too have one the good ones, a 2000 Explorer XLT 4x4 with the HP V6, gets 14-16 city, 20 mpg when I drive the new speed limit of 80 Hwy and if I am nice about 22+ Hwy on average. The best car and engine I have ever owned (and I have owned a few name brand muscle cars). Most of this is noise! You really have to ask yourself, if we use less gas will the price stay low, they have to make profit on all those gallons, also if we use less and pay more will the Chinese pay the same; I doubt it. Once we are committed to supposedly using less and saving, will the rest of the world do the same equitably, again I doubt it, so much for everyone working together...
My 2000 Acura 3.2TL has become my commuting vehicle for a 100 mile daily round trip, and with a few tweaks such as better tires and a K&N high-flow air filter, I’m getting 31-32mpg on the highway.
A brand new Ford Focus trumpets 33mpg highway.