Fuel Economy

I’ve been noticing a lot of automobile commercials on TV lately that sound like they are trying to make a point of the car and it’s outstanding fuel economy. They state that the car gets 32 miles per gallon! And I think to myself, “My 1998 Honda Civic gets 32 miles per gallon highway.”

Let’s take a look at this. The website www.FuelEconomy.gov has a nice feature that lets you look up the fuel economy on select vehicles. I used this to compare my 1998 Honda Civic with a 2008 Honda Civic. A 2008 Honda Civic with 5-speed manual transmission gets 34 miles per gallon highway. My 1998 Honda Civic with 5-speed manual transmission gets 32 miles per gallon highway. This tells me that in 10 years Honda has only improved the fuel efficiency in the Honda Civic by 2 miles per gallon.

I’m sure comparing other manufacturers will be very similar. Why after 10 years have we made such little progress in fuel economy? Is it as simple as 10 years ago we were not concerned with fuel economy? I remember filling up my car with fuel for roughly $14 or $16. Those were wonderful days.