Looking at the glass half-full, the one Honda prefers to drink from, the current Accord four cylinder — ridiculously roomier, faster and more luxurious than the primitive '70s version — gets only 4 mpg less on the highway.
The glass half-empty argument, of course, asks how much better the mileage could be if automakers made lightness and efficiency the top priority. Today's V6 family sedans can't touch 30 mpg even on a highway cruise. The Altima gets 26 mpg, the Camry 28.
Sure, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. Today's family sedans are virtual space shuttles, loaded with sophisticated crash structures, safety gear, luxury toys and technology that would have boggled drivers of just a few decades ago. Bottom line, America's across-the-board fuel economy has actually declined over the past 20 years, and it's not all the fault of SUVs.
With federal fuel requirements demanding a 35-mpg average for cars and trucks by 2020, at some point cars — and not just trucks — are going to have to get smaller, or at least lighter and vastly more efficient, to get anywhere near 35 mpg.
Still, there's one welcome development. With people fleeing from SUVs as if they were the latest hurricane, some truck buyers are already trying a sedan on for size — some for the first time in years. These larger sedans should better fit their family lifestyle.
And there's no doubt those same buyers will enjoy vastly better mileage in a big midsize sedan than in the Explorers and other guzzlers they're trading in — especially if they go with the four-cylinder versions. Chevrolet recently rolled out a Malibu sedan that gets 33 mpg on the highway with the combo of a four-cylinder engine and six-speed automatic transmission.
But if you were expecting automakers to trim down their most popular four-doors, forget about it. For knockout mileage, a compact, subcompact or hybrid will have to do. The American family sedan is living large.
A Michigan native raised and forged in Detroit and a former auto critic at the Detroit Free Press, Lawrence Ulrich now lives in Brooklyn, New York. His reviews and features appear regularly in The New York Times, Robb Report, Popular Science and Travel + Leisure Golf.
For commentary on the latest auto industry trends or in-depth analysis of developments affecting consumers, turn to MSN Autos’ Industry Insider for the real story behind the facts and figures. Written by respected veterans in the field, Industry Insider delivers expertise and insight that helps make sense of the automotive world.
No comments:
Post a Comment