What's the Future of Small Cars in the U.S.?

[bronsin]

1990 civic got 35 mpg.

What's a 2016 civic get? Bet it's not 35.

[Thirty-Nine]

Originally Posted by bronsin

1990 civic got 35 mpg.

What's a 2016 civic get? Bet it's not 35.

31 cit, 42 highway, 35 combined.

Comparing a 1990 Civic and a 2017 Civic is hardly apples to apples. The only thing similar is the name.

Chevy Sprint got upwards of 50 mpg back in the day. It was also a deathtrap, uncomfortable, and tinny. However, it does prove two things:

- People would buy "poverty spec" cars back then.
- With fewer safety/comfort/performance amenities, you could get better fuel economy.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by Thirty-Nine

Comparing a 1990 Civic and a 2017 Civic is hardly apples to apples. The only thing similar is the name.
.

Sure it is. The public wants big cars and the manufacturers oblige by making every model larger and larger with ever larger more powerful engines as time goes by. Burning more and more gas and costing us more and more to by our cars.

Crazy.

[scratchpaddy]

Originally Posted by Thirty-Nine

Chevy Sprint got upwards of 50 mpg back in the day. It was also a deathtrap, uncomfortable, and tinny. However, it does prove two things:

- People would buy "poverty spec" cars back then.
- With fewer safety/comfort/performance amenities, you could get better fuel economy.

There's still an enthusiast community around the old Suzuki Swift (The Sprint, and Geo Metro that followed, were rebadged Swifts). A guy I know has a small collection, one turbo 3-cylinder and two twincam 1.3L 4-cylinders.



These cars only weighed 1600 pounds, and man, they can haul. This guy drives around with this sticker in his back window, and this is in Arizona. He's got guts.



Yes, big trucks have the mass advantage in a crash, but we've come a long way from the tin cans of the previous century. Even Smart Cars take huge impacts amazingly well.

If I needed a lot of space, I'd wish for a wagon, but buy a minivan because no one sells wagons in this country. Contrary to apparently everyone, I feel less secure when sitting up high on the road. I like it down low.