Do EPA mileage ratings still reflect real-world driving, or are they increasingly misleading?

[-]

MysticMarbles@reddit

It has been brutally easy for me to best EPA ratings on my last 5 new vehicles by between 5 and 15%.

[-]

stu54@reddit

Yeah, I'm convinced that the EPA intentionally refuses to update the testing method for manuals to help automakers kill them off in favor of a more profitable automatic only product lineup.

[-]

We also just have shorter gearing here. I don't know why my Mirage needs to run at 3500rpm on the freeway. All the European little hatches have a top gear that can just maintain speed and run at reasonable revs, meanwhile the few I have had don't even need to downshift to pass. Micra was worse, 75mph fucking running 4000rpm. .821@4.055 vs the European. 892@3.438 WITH ⅔ the power.

[-]

Downtown_Reward_6339@reddit

I think the answer might be the EPA drive cycle. When I got my 6 speed manual Fit I never expected to use 6 around town.

But I will easily pull 6th on 45-50 mph roads around town. MPG around town is amazing. It revs higher than I care for on the highway and the mileage is not impressive for what it is.

US EPA has made some blunders over the years, like forcing people into SUV’s by basically banning large cars. Now we’ve got the footprint rule which has bloated all our light trucks. There is just no good way to legislate fuel economy other than a gas tax that’s so regressive.

[-]

stu54@reddit

You should learn about section 179 tax deductions and bonus depreciation. Turn out CAFE is small potatoes compared to the tax incentives America's 35 million businesses enjoy.

[-]

Whiskeypants17@reddit

Do euro countries still tax engine size?

[-]

Downtown_Reward_6339@reddit

I don’t know.

[-]

MysticMarbles@reddit

Haha, yeah. The Mirage is happy in 5th gear all the way down at 25mph. The Micra, if memory serves (fuck that car) was comfortable in 5th at 30mph.

The WRX is obviously a different machine, 6th isn't seeing use below 555.

[-]

Several_Ad_6576@reddit

EPA mileage ratings are much more accurate today than they were 30 years ago. They used to not even break it down between city and highway.

[-]

stu54@reddit

Ok, but they didn't revise the tests to account for the fact that cars have 6 speed transmissions instead of 3 speeds. Automatics are allowed to select gears as they will.

[-]

Several_Ad_6576@reddit

The EPA ratings are based on lots of data and represent an average. Not the absolute best you can possibly do.

Also EPA has highway vs city driving mileage. You may be doing a lot more highway driving in your average daily use.

[-]

MysticMarbles@reddit

Unless one compares highway mileage to highway rating...

[-]

Hersbird@reddit

The epa requires manuals to be shifted at a certain rpm based on redline in the testing. It is ridiculously high for someone just driving normally or driving for economy. Short shifting at a lower rpm puts the engine in a high load/low rpm situation which lowers vacuum and lowers pumping losses, making the engine more thermally efficient. Automatic can be programmed to shift better and for an automatic the test is just run in drive.

[-]

MysticMarbles@reddit

Makes sense. Can't remember the Mirages city efficiency but that was far and away the largest gap to EPA. I usually returned 60-70mpg without stop and go traffic, and it was rated for 36. Of course get on the highway and it flipped, rated 43 and I usually got 35. Again, screaming in gear.

[-]

KaleidoscopeRound721@reddit

I dunno, I usually get better than rated highway mileage on my Hondas but slightly worse city mileage, although our CR-V hybrid is spot-on with the EPA rating.

[-]

kerberos824@reddit

I think the mileage ratings for most turbo'd vehicles are misleading, or at least based on driving styles that just don't exist anymore. All the small 3 and 4 cylinder turbos get pretty disappointing mileage if you drive like everyone else does, i.e, floor it away from red lights, hammer it on the highway, and lots of speed up slow down because you're tailgating the guy in front of you.

If you drive like a sensible person, you're probably fine.

It's hilarious hearing my friend with the 2.7tt Ranger complain about gas mileage when "it's just a V6!" Mate floors it from every red light and averages 80 on the highway.

[-]

noladutch@reddit

Depends on lots of factors really.

All your trucks with small turbo engines will drink a substantial amount of driven hard or up a grade.

Modern engines don't turbo for high end HP it is for low end torque.

It is over a friend's head why his 3.5 turbo f150 gets bad mileage. If under a load it produces 20 pounds of boost you also used the amount of fuel for the air flow increase.

So if just off idle you get 20 pounds of boost you have more than doubled the amount of air. Therefore you double the amount of fuel. So that 3.5 burns as much as a huge na engine.

[-]

mpgomatic@reddit

YMMV. Always.

It’s all about when, where, and how you drive.

[-]

IKnewThisYearsAgo@reddit

For everyone claiming to beat the EPA number, if you are looking at your trip computer, you might be fooling yourself. Use the old school method of filling the tank twice and doing a manual calculation.
My Subaru reads 7% high. My Mazda reads 9.3% high— indicating 35 MPG when the real mileage is 32.
I suppose manufacturers are inclined to let the mileage read a little high, to boost their customer satisfaction rating.

[-]

Hersbird@reddit

I have no problem beating the epa average on any car I have owned. It's all in the way you drive. They have gotten easier to beat over time which means they are probably more realistic for the average person. The cars that are harder to beat are hybrids. Hybrids do all the good tricks automatically, although an idiot can still drive a hybrid to lower MPG as well.

[-]

jstar77@reddit

I have an F150 that I can consistently get higher highway MPG than the rating if I pay attention to how I drive. If I don't pay any attention I get about 3 mpg below the rating on the highway.

[-]

Sad-Celebration-7542@reddit

I think increasing accurate actually. I get 36 in my SUV - combined rating is 37.

[-]

ClickKlockTickTock@reddit

Its always been lower than what I actually get in my cars and I'm not exactly light on the throttle.

[-]

AwarenessGreat282@reddit

No test can match every conceivable type of driving so it's a base to work from. They just do as "average" as they can. A city test and a hwy test. The city portion is stop/go, idling and average speed of 20mph, the hwy steady but averages 48 and maxes at 60mph. Sure each of those may be different than most of us drive but no matter what they chose, people would argue.

As they say, "Your mileage may vary."

[-]

SkylineFTW97@reddit

Even as more of a leadfoot, I always beat the EPA numbers.

[-]

EvelynClede@reddit (OP)

I would say they are still useful for comparing cars under same conditions, but not super accurate for real-world driving anymore - too many variables like traffic, driving style, and newer tech (like hybrids/EVs) can skew the actual mileage quite a bit.

[-]

yodas_sidekick@reddit

I do think you’re wrong. They are much more accurate, and variables like traffic are less different between cars. Newer tech is taken into account with the mpg estimate so I’m not sure why that will “skew” actual mileage.

[-]

ScaryfatkidGT@reddit

They are pretty accurate now

[-]

_eg0_@reddit

Depends on the car. I actual think ratings got more accurate again.

My car even beats its rating in normal careful driving (no short trips, no driving fast, using efficiency mode). But more realistically your are looking at a match. The newest WLTP cycle is actually the exact same as my long term consumption which includes a lot of spirited driving as well.

[-]