Istapundit pointed me to
Ten Least Expensive 2007 Cars . They aren't really cheap, ($13K-$15K) and the gas mileage sucks on all of 'em. Worst was 20 city 28 highway. My Cadillac DeVille gets 22 city 28 highway. A low end econobox that doesn't get better gas mileage than a 4000 pound V8 luxury barge is hardly worth buying. Even the best gas mileage wasn't very exciting, a mere 29 city 36 highway. Thirty years ago a diesel VW Rabbit would do 40 mpg.
Maybe the revised Environmental Pollution Agency gas mileage test is giving unrealistically low numbers. Maybe the engines are too big. One of 'em had 155 horsepower. Great big seven passenger Dodge minivans used to have smaller engines. Maybe they dropped the compression ratio again to reduce the NOx emissons. The Caddy runs 10.6:1 and does it on regular gas. A lot of less advanced engines are detuned down to 8:1 to meet the NOx requirement. This costs gas mileage.
The industry is already crying about higher CAFE standards which seem to be coming right at them. Judging from this sample of new cars, they wouldn't be able to meet the proposed 35 mpg standard even if they made nothing but econoboxes. Forget about family sedans, SUV's, pickups and minivans.
Either the industry (worldwide, not just Detroit) has lost the secret of decent gas mileage, or the EPA test, the industry yard stick, is unduly pessimistic.
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