Lately I keep seeing these commercials about this manufacturer or that auto maker has 5 or more cars that get better than 28 MPG. In these days of highway robbery gas prices, I'm sure this seems like a big deal. After all, we have to make every drop of the precious petrol count, right?
Funny thing, though, I had a 1974 Plymouth Valiant with a 318 (V8) that had well over 150,000 miles on it, and I got around 28 MPG (highway) with it. A car from the days of "goes really fast and gets really shitty mileage" gets about the same miles per gallon and we should enthralled that auto manufacturers are doing the same thing now?
I have vague childhood memories of my Mom having to wait in long lines with her Duster at the gas stations when we had very little oil. Iran had stopped oil production, the Saudis were jacking up their prices, and here we had the "Energy Crisis". The sudden lack of fuel gave everyone of the day a reality check, as one could get gas only every other day, some stations had no gas, and fist fights were common as angry crowds jockeyed to be next at the pump before the gas ran out completely.
By the early 80's, things had gotten better, but the shadow of the Energy Crisis stilled loomed like a rider on a pale horse. Gas was around an appalling $1.25-$1.50 a gallon. I remember thinking about my first car and seeing the ads about Honda Civics that were rated at 48 MPG. I think the advertising lasted a year but the cars were not fully allowed into the American market. (I smell Big Oil lobbyists here!). Some imports were accidentally sold with advanced carburetors that allowed their vehicles to get some amazing mileage results. However, these carburetors were usually replaced with "regular" carburetors due to "smog restrictions", NTSA guidelines, or the current alignment of Mars with Jupiter.
The 90's came and there were always rumors of new carb designs, vehicles that ran on water, and every other invention that basically cut the need for gas down from 50% to 0%. Oddly enough, the inventors, prototypes, and designs usually disappeared without so much as a whisper. Some were even found dead, with the cause being ruled as suicide. ("Wow! I just invented a 60 MPG engine! I should go kill myself now!")
Now it is 2007. In over 30 years, you're telling me that with all the new technology and so many people working on more efficient engines, we've only managed to add about 2 MPG more to new cars? And this is touted in advertising as something incredible? WTF??
