Quote:
Originally Posted by Homeslice
Nice, but most of that is probably just gearing, seeing as how the city rating is only 19.
Having 6 speeds in an automatic is nice, but if it's anything like the Fusion, it will change gears twice before completing a simple right turn. 
What happened to 20 years ago, when fuel economy wasn't considered impressive unless it was 30 city? |
Two things happened. First the EPA changed the way they rate fuel economy in order to make them closer to real world driving conditions. Look at fueleconomy.gov and see if the cars rated 30mpg+ city 20 years ago aren't given significantly lower numbers now.
Second, the cars today are much more powerful. This is a base Mustang. The most powerful factory Mustang in 1990 (the 5.0) made 225hp. In 1990 you couldn't get 300hp+ in a standard engined Corvette or Porsche 911. The Ferrari 348 came with an even 300hp. Power isn't free.