EPA can drop the city/hwy FE format just give combined far as I'm concerned

I was refering to the Toyota Prius specifically. If you look at your side by side, you'll see the gen. II Prius got 46MPG combined every year (pre-2008 and 2009). The gen. III got 50 in 2010. Looking at some users on this forum, some have milages below the EPA estimate, and quite a few have ones above. I was merely commenting on my own estimates...which seem to be the inverse of the EPA rating (no matter how much I try, I get better milage with highway then I do city).

 

The Gen 3 has a 1.8L engine instead of a 1.5L, much of its hybrid system components were redesigned, the body changed shape and the tire choices changed too. (Watch videos at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/60002-prius-technology-video.html and download the PDF there for more info.)

Correct that all the 2nd gens get 46 mpg combined, after adjustment by formula as it doesn't seem the test was rerun on 08s and 09s. The pre-MY08 method numbers and thus those on the Monroney sticker for the 04-07 models were 60 city/51 highway, 55 mpg combined. Look under "Official EPA Window Sticker MPG" and the note to the right of it.

Remember, these are EPA estimates and even the EPA says YMMV at Your Mileage Will Still Vary. Their test isn't run on a real road. They don't measure actual fuel usage but rather tailpipe emissions. Their city test is is 31.2 minutes long and uses very gentle acceleration. You can imagine that the ICE being off part of the test and thus no tailpipe emissions can skew the results of the city test.

Per the 2010 data file at Download Fuel Economy Data, the 2010 Prius got 71.9537 unadjusted city mpg and 69.404 unadjusted highway mpg. Prior to MY08 (and after a certain year, sometime in the 80s), those raw dyno numbers were adjusted downward by 10% for city and 22% then went straight onto the Monroney sticker. You can see that if you download the 2007 data file and compare the unadjusted numbers there and apply the above fudge then compare to the old EPA method numbers.

As data points, here's what CR got on their tests (very different from EPA cycles): http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...ce/most-fuelefficient-cars/overview/index.htm. For 2nd gen see http://replay.web.archive.org/20081...-advice/most-fuelefficient-cars-206/index.htm.

 

I'll side on city/hwy reporting.
Information is never bad when it is accurate. Granted that way too many Americans are dumb and getting dumber, but high cost has a wonderful way of encouraging people to ferret out the information they need to save money.

As for the social engineering aspect of this discussion, I value mandate of manufacture transparency but not attempts to influence buying patterns through regulation. The regulation is costly, leads to influence peddling and gaming; and in the end is typically futile because the consumer simply does not care. If the Cruze marketing that focuses on highway MPG really succeeded in hoodwinking a large group of consumers, the backlash from disappointed owners would correct the situation quick enough, *and* give a couple extra lashes to GM for their effort.

Nah, mostly the highway MPG spin angers (or delights) car enthusiasts throwing bullet points at each other. I'm willing to bet that it would be a rare Cruze owner who thought that the highway MPG was city, too.

If I was inclined to mandate anything, it would be a fuel economy meter in every car.

 

The problem is that the quoting the highest number game (which happens to always be highway) on non-hybrids isn't limited to the Cruze nor GM. Even though I skip through most TV commercials thanks to TiVo, I still see or intentionally watch car ads. Given high gas prices (by US standards), the same dumb Americans are, in theory, more inclined to look for more efficient vehicles and also paying more attention to the mileage they get.

As I asked for earlier, I think that if marketing is only going to state one number, it should be combined, not the highest #. If they want to state multiple numbers, they must state all three w/equal prominence.