Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
The 40-MPG Challenge
Edmunds.com
Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
The 40-MPG Challenge
Edmunds.com tests six cars that claim to get 40 mpg: Chevy Sonic, Ford Focus, Hyundai Veloster, Kia Rio, Mazda 3 and VW Passat TDI. Can you get 40 mpg in the real world?
Tagged:
0
Comments
Yet another reason why diesel should be considered as part of our energy savings regime.
The emissions and green house gasses are even quite good - lower than the the 2.5 ltr Passat according to feuleconomy.gov.
A win all around!
Not surprised by the TDI or the Mazda3 Skyactiv, those have an established track record of great economy. Obviosuly, the two best choices of the group.
The Golf TDI was very tempting, but adding the diesel engine boosted the price by $4k for a comparably equipped car.
And we have yet another fuel economy test where the Hyundai/Kia models come in well under their EPA-rated fuel economy. Even on the EPA's fuel economy site, the Hyundai Elantra shows a "real world" combined mileage barely higher than city rating. By comparison, the "real world" ratings for the Mazda3 and Ford Focus are at or above the combined EPA rating.
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=yourMpgVehicle&id=31216
It seems that the shenanigans continue, as their new Elantra GT and Veloster Turbo models also sport flashy EPA fuel economy ratings. It's high time that the EPA do its own independent testing with Hyundai (the EPA only tests ~20% of car models, the rest of the tests are done by the manufacturers and submitted to the EPA). It happened with the BMW 3-series, which saw its original highway rating revised down from 36 MPG to 33 MPG after the EPA did its own validation test.
Chevy sonic 5 = 36.8 mpg, sample size = 5
Hyundai Veloster = 40 mpg, sample size = 4
Kia Rio = 33.3 mpg, sample size = 8
Mazda 3 = 37.5 mpg, sample size = 2
Ford Focus SFE = 31 mpg, sample size = 7
VW Passat tdi = 41.5 mpg, sample size = 8
The passat is the most fuel efficient and the most expensive, plus it has the biggest and most luxurious interior. However for the same price you can also get a camry hybrid with same consumption and the same class but more efficient in the city driving.
Diesel engines are more efficient than gas engines.
1) A Passat? Really? Why not a similar sized, lower priced Jetta or Golf TDI? Sorry, but whatever reason you may give, is simply not valid.
2) A Mazda 3 i Grand Touring 3 instead of a i Touring? Could have saved $4K and maybe keep it close to $20K
3) Sorry but the Sonic MPG reading is suspect at best...Most drivers, when they do the math at the gas station, find out that the readings are a bit optimistic, maybe by 2 to 3 mpg.
4) The fact that non-diesel engines are at or near 40 mpg, which is diesel territory, albeit a smaller class of cars, makes diesels less appealing. The nextgen Altima will take it one step closer at 38 MPG Highway. Maybe that's the car that the Passat TDI should be compared to.
5) If there is one thing that Mazda should do pronto would be to make the Skyactiv engine standard....This would send a message to all competitors: Mazda, who has NEVER been known for excellent fuel efficiency, is now a leader in the field.
6) Should have included the Cruze Eco as well.
(source: Edmunds.com)
List Price 2012 Passat TDI= $28,665, 12K mi/43 mpg = 279.06 gal x diesel $/gal (3.73) = $1,040
(source: Carsdirect.com)
Yearly cost fuel difference = $74
Cost per vehicle difference= $5,385
If you follow the article's guidelines on fuel operating costs alone, it would take 72 years for the Passat TDI to gain an advantage with today's prices.....A bit lofty. You think the VW has an advantage in maintenance? Those fuel injectors cost 5 times more to replace and the high pressure fuel pump costs 10 times more to replace!
http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/
My city all around MPG is 46.
I guess the trade off in new cars is performance as 9 or 10 sec to 0-60 is too slow for marketing to consumers.
38.88 mpg in a 2011 GMC Terrain!!!!
Here is the story most of us know. There are two reasons to buy a fuel-efficient car: financial (saving money on fuel) and environmental/political (lowering your emissions and lowering your consumption of crude oil). If you compare a Golf TDI to a gasoline-powered Golf, diesel comes out ahead. To put it another way, if you use MPG as a proxy for your fuel costs per distance traveled, diesel is better than gasoline, at least for the Golf.
The environmental side more of a mixed bag. CO2 emissions per distance traveled are lower for diesel than gasoline. There are other diesel emissions whose health impacts are more controversial.
Emissions aside, though, here is a fact most people don't know: according to the United States Agency for Energy Information, it takes almost twice as much crude oil to produce a gallon of diesel as it does to produce a gallon of gasoline (http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_refining). One barrel of crude produces 19 gallons of gasoline and about 10 gallons of diesel. If all cars ran on diesel, we would need almost twice as much crude as we would if cars were to run on gasoline. (Yes, it's possible to make diesel from agricultural products too, but never enough to satisfy a significant part of the demand, and doing so means lowering food supplies.)
So if you want a high MPG car because you are concerned about the environmental and destabilizing influence of pumping crude oil out of the ground, diesel is worse than gasoline. That's one reason I didn't buy a Golf TDI.
Diesel engines are well known for longevity and reliability, and this leads to excellent resale value compared to other drivetrain configurations.
So, just because the Passat TDI has a higher price tag than the other cars in the test, does not mean that it will cost more to own.