11-08-2005, 02:09 AM
Why do Miatas get such poor mileage anywho? Is the top just poorly designed and drag is terrible? I was amazed that even the new ones are rated at only 30 MPG highway. I mean, I'm sorry, my car gets that. And it's a BOX. It can't even pass emissions it's so rich and the O2 sensor doesn't work. And Jess' Accord gets ~35, with a bigger engine (2.2 vs. 2.0) and again, can't present less of a frontal area than a Miata, right? And it certianly doesn't have any fancy engine stuff going on. Neither does mine. Certianly a 2L DOHC 4 cyl with variable valve timing should be able to make both 170 HP and run very efficiently when taking it easy. Isn't that the point of VVT? My E36 had some of that fancy stuff, it got ~32 MPG, bigger engine, more HP, bigger, heavier car. You know what? All the last few sedans my parents have owned have done better than that. Camry, Acura goofy 5cyl TL thing, another Camry, they are heavy sleds. WTF is going on. Does Mazda just not care or not know how to make-a the v-tak?
In fact, I'm dissapointed by a lot of newer-ish car mileage from any company. It just seems to have hit a wall, and that wall hasn't changed much since the late 80's. The increasing weight of cars shouldn't be affecting it, that doesn't matter much at highway speeds. Drag coefficients keep going down, variable this and that technology keeps going up, and it seems like many companies have been shooting for something around 30 MPG highway for a long time and figure that's enough for anyone. Even an efficient car like the Civic has been pretty much stuck at high 30's for what, 20 years? And like the Camrys I mentioned earlier, anything less than 35 MPG in the ~98ish Camry we had was like, wow, I must have been doing something crazy. And in the ~02ish one, it hasn't ever attained 35. Obviously changes in CAFE standards would force them to try harder, but I'm surprised the market hasn't already demanded it. Do you think the increasing fuel costs of recent will finally bring about some change? Discuss. I haven't even been drinking. :?
In fact, I'm dissapointed by a lot of newer-ish car mileage from any company. It just seems to have hit a wall, and that wall hasn't changed much since the late 80's. The increasing weight of cars shouldn't be affecting it, that doesn't matter much at highway speeds. Drag coefficients keep going down, variable this and that technology keeps going up, and it seems like many companies have been shooting for something around 30 MPG highway for a long time and figure that's enough for anyone. Even an efficient car like the Civic has been pretty much stuck at high 30's for what, 20 years? And like the Camrys I mentioned earlier, anything less than 35 MPG in the ~98ish Camry we had was like, wow, I must have been doing something crazy. And in the ~02ish one, it hasn't ever attained 35. Obviously changes in CAFE standards would force them to try harder, but I'm surprised the market hasn't already demanded it. Do you think the increasing fuel costs of recent will finally bring about some change? Discuss. I haven't even been drinking. :?