If Obama Can Improve Fuel Mileage Through Regulation

And the first unintended consequence will be that everyone will keep their 1972 Oldsmobile with the 455 Rocket V8 that they can fix and keep running by themselves. Welcome to the new Havana.

This is rich. The EPA fuel ratings are a scam to begin with. The Toyota Pious gets way fewer miles per gallon than claimed. Virtually all cars get poorer mileage in the real world. Especially the hybrids. Any of you that own a Toyota Pious know that all too well. I am thinking it is simply Hyundai/Kia's turn in the meat grinder. Probably didn't kick-up enough campaign cash.

Simple Formula:

Mass x Power = Range

Pick one and regulate accordingly.
(I'm saying There Is no such thing as a free lunch.)

You want Range, drop Mass, and the airbags, the steel unitbody, the 4 wheel drive crossover BS the super climate controlled touch screen utopia, bare bones, my 1989 Mazda 323 GT does 45 MPG if I keep my foot away from the Turbocharger.
Otherwise, 15 MPG, smiles per gallon........

d

Marketing is propaganda.

So obviously, more Government propaganda.

*reaches for "off" switch.

TrueNorthist: " Virtually all cars get poorer mileage in the real world."

Not really. Since the EPA revised their test several years ago, they are not a bad estimate and far better than Transport Canada's estimates.

The EPA figures for my 2011 Mazda3 are 10.2 litres/100 km combined and 8.4 for highway.

My 15 month old car has been averaging 8.1 litres/100 km. with about 2/3rds highway driving.

My nephew's Golf Sportwagon diesel also beats the EPA figures

Automobile repair shops (particularly dealerships) are diabolically clever. If the hapless owner has a newer car just out of warranty be prepared for a severe price shock for any repairs. Car owners are blissfully unaware of TCO (total cost of ownership). Fuel cost per KM are but a small contributor. Used hybrid electric cars only 3 or 4 years old will become quite worthless.

Typical thinking of a leftist: regulate to make it so. Obama and his minions have absolutely no idea how disruptive their continuing intervention in the marketplace is...or do they?

Yeah Dale ya gotta point.

There's a lotta stuff that affects mileage.

My 1100 Virago (about 550lb) did yeild about 80mpg once....under 60k and rolling up and down hills but it generally does 55-65mpg on short runs....65-70 highway (80k not superslab)

With overhead cams etc it is efficient enough, obviously manual transmission but remember with me on it, it is a real pig aerodynamically.

I'm gonna buy shares in Cheyekneez bycicle stocks

Mass x Power = Range

Hmm.. in simple units:

Mass = kg
Power = W
Range = m

kg x W = kg * (kg*m^2)/t^3 =(kg*m)^2/t^3

How you get that formulation to reduce to "m" in units is beyond me. Is that democratic algebra?

It's amusing, amazing, & irritating to me that the "Math is Hard" crowd become instant experts on things that they don't understand and never will be able to fully comprehend. The most blatant example of this are the legions of B.A. graduates who became "experts" on Climate Change nee Global Warming.

In my own area of expertise, software development, I frequently encounter legions of people who seem to instantly know exactly how long a very complex piece of software should take to build. This "attitude" appears to be more prevalent amongst Apple cult members.

Cyclist, you are cherry-picking. In my 30+ years experience as a mechanic I find that most folks tend to drive much harder and faster than manufacturers and regulators imagine. Honestly now, have you ever seen a Prius driving below the speed limit on the free-way? Neither have I.

I only ever saw 1 (one) Dodge Viper moving on the road....on a US superslab....abiding by the speedlimit....a few miles later he was parked with a state trooper....

cyclist said: "My nephew's Golf Sportwagon diesel also beats the EPA figures."

The VW diesels get 45-50mpg IF you keep your foot away from the gas pedal and drive like grandma.

My diesel F-250 four door 4x4 can get almost 25mpg on the highway if I drive like grandma too. I averaged 24.3 MPG from ~Hamilton to Toronto by using the cruise control for acceleration and braking, and having the wheezy slow dorks in the slow lane shaking their fists at me.

If you add water/methanol injection you can get even -better- mileage out of your diesel. But match the EPA rating? pfft. EPA does their measurements on a dyno. Not reflective of the Real World (TM)

Actual mileage I get every day with my fairly heavy foot is about 17mpg.

Ohbummer might as well decree that the Sun rise in the West.

This story is a couple of months old, and the linked article is dated Aug. 28.

canuck66 @ 12 p.m.: "Obama and his minions have absolutely no idea how disruptive their continuing intervention in the marketplace is...or do they?"

They don't care one way or the other. Their goal is to push people around, and they're succeeding.

But don't think it started with Barack Obama. It's been going on for decades. It's just worse under Obama.