Chevy Cruze ECO earns an astounding 42 MPG EPA Highway rating!

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by SAV912

Today's EPAs are not as easily beaten as people think. A website of enthusiasts is not a generally good sample of the owners of the car as a whole. The largest sample on fueleconomy.gov of Yaris owners are coupled in the 2007 and 2008 models.

'07 AT = 35 MPG
'07 MT = 38.1
'08 AT = 36.3
'08 MT = 38.4

That covers a field of 203 users just over those four model years. Personally, using the miles travelled/gallons filled method, I've never gotten better than 39.9 MPG, and that was after a week of steady 65 MPH commuting on I-95 to and from work during cool weather. No, nothing is wrong with my car either. Plugs are new, and I run full synthetic oil and have had new low rolling resistance tires on the car since May '10. So most people do not get at least 42 MPG on average. Most people will not get 42 MPG in the Cruze ECO either.

Who ever said that the Yaris get's 42 mpg average, or that it's expected too?
It's rated 29/36 for the MT. That's 32-33 mpg average. Even the fact that you can get 39 mpg is a significant amount more than what the EPA says you'll get.

Originally Posted by SAV912

The new EPA cycle only tests AC usage as a small portion of the ratings they issue cars. The average speed of the car while using AC is only 22.2 MPH and only over the course of 9 minutes while only travelling 3.6 miles. For the other four parts of conducting the EPA tests, the AC is off. The highway cycle's average speed is 48 MPH while touching a top speed of 60 MPH. They do have a section where the top speed they achieve is 80 MPH, but only over 8 miles and 10 minutes. The bottom line is, while the new EPA numbers are CLOSER to those achieved by the average American driver, they are still a bandaid rather than the full overhaul fix that the EPA system needs. While you can achieve the highway rating or better, the point still stands that you have to concentrate harder than most Americans are willing to do in order to get there.

I just disagree that it takes any special effort to achieve or beat today's EPA estimates. Using the Yaris as an example, I'd have to drive a consistent 90mph just to get it down to the highway rating of 36mpg. To get the city mileage down to 29mpg, I'd have to either drive it like a rally car or be stuck in gridlock.

Originally Posted by SAV912

This isn't all a bag on the Cruze ECO. I appplaud tremendously that a car larger than ours with more luxury items is able to be more efficient while simultaneously offering more power. This is hopefully a sign of even better things in the pipeline. I just don't care for the misrepresentation and such disparity between city and highway numbers. Advertising a 42 MPG rating, when the car is not likely to touch anywhere near that on average occasion (you must take into account the 28 MPG city rating, and the 35 MPG average), is what irks me.

-SAV

Well, the 42mpg rating is clearly stated as HIGHWAY. No one is claiming that this will be your average mixed with city. I don't see anything misleading about it. Since everyone has a different "average" based on how much city and how much highway they drive, stating an average isn't very helpful. Most of us just care about the highway number as a bar that is set for how fuel efficient a car is. People should look at both numbers to get an idea of what is good for them.