U.S. vehicle fuel efficiency has increased only 3 mpg in 80 years

Gizmag ^ | 08/05/09 | unknown

[jwparkerjr]

Gizmag is always on the lookout for alternative means of powering vehicles and saving precious fossil fuels. But, in truth, the vast majority of us still drive exclusively petrol-powered cars. And the even sadder truth, outlined in a new research from the University of Michigan, is that the average fuel efficiency of a US vehicle has improved only three miles per gallon since the days of the Ford Model T.

[Venturer]

Well???? every 10,000 miles.and at 100,000 miles it was junk.

Yeah plugs and points didnt last long and most women didnt know how to use the choke.

[Uri’el-2012]

it always takes a fixed amount of energy to move a given weight over a fixed distance

Isaac Newton knows more about gas mileage the the EPA

[Roccus]

If the writer had his head any farther up his @, his colon would be considered a snorkel.

LOL!!! I am SO gonna steal a variation of that.

[mewzilla]

Gee, I wonder why Bubba never raised CAFE standards when he had the chance...

[Iscool]

I owned a couple of Ford Falcons which got 30 mpg...They likely weighed more than a model T...

Whoever authored this article is lying, or nuts...

[Roccus]

My first car was a 61 Falcon purchased in 66 at the age of 21. It got just about 30 mpq.......of oil.

[Kolokotronis]

“My first car was a 61 Falcon purchased in 66 at the age of 21. It got just about 30 mpq.......of oil.”

I had a 51 Pontiac Chieftain convertible with a flat head straight eight which got the same sort of mileage. It was like driving the fogger at the drive-in theater, but Chief Pontiac's head on the hood ornament lit up when the lights were on...cool! :)

[Iscool]

Ha...I didn’t have trouble with the oil...The wheels kept falling off the front end with mine...But the mileage was good...

[Roccus]

I loved that orange Chief’s head!

[Kolokotronis]

"I loved that orange Chief’s head!"

[Roccus]

Living in the pothole capital of the world at the time (NYC) my biggest problem was keeping the shock towers in the front attached. In the rear, the shocks were attached to the trunk floor and were constantly blasting through the sheet metal no matter how big the washers were that I used.

[Roccus]

We used to play roller derby and hockey in the streets. Checking someone into one of those or the jet on an Olds guaranteed putting an opponent out of action for a bit. LOL!!

[sportutegrl]

Are we comparing cars traveling at the same speed? My sportute gets good gas mileage at 20 mph.

[Little Ray]

No, it just had deal with muddy, unpaved, and sometimes impassible roads that were the norm once you left the city.

If I have a choice between a traffic jam and being mired in mud, I’ll choose the traffic jam.

[wildbill]

I drive a 1994 Pontiac Formula (big powerful V-8) which still gets 21-22 actual mpg on the road and 15-18 in town.

I drive about 5000-8000 miles per year. I don’t think immobilizing this beautiful powerful car and picking up a slightly higher mileage car is going to make any meaningful difference to the planet.

[jwparkerjr]

Absolutely! There are lots of places we can offset the fuel used by such great icons of America at its best as your Pontiac! I frequently drive by a baseball field operated by the city late at night, 10 PM and after, and several nights a week every light on the five or six fields is on, shining brightly on completely deserted baseball diamonds. There are all sorts of place we can find enough energy being wasted to trade off for the operation of great classic cars!

[wildbill]

They can take my Formula when they pry my dead cold hands off the gearshift and steering wheel.

By the way, I bought it off a doctor in 97 when it had 35,000 miles on it. It now has 109,000.

Fully loaded, T-Tops, black on black leather. Nice ride for a 69 year old geezer.

[jwparkerjr]

Thank you! I got locked up in an endless loop. Kept going from one page to another and back again. I see from most of the posts the article is not exactly chock full of facts. I had not read it when I posted it, just thought it was an interesting tidbit. I fear some of the posters were confusing the message with the messenger. It was not my intention to vouch for the info in the article, just to call attention to it.

[Beagle8U]

No problem.

Finding the link to the story wasn't exactly ‘user friendly’ at that site.