Fuel-efficiency Rollback

Interested to see how this plays out for California.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.95d33e0e7570

 

No more trucks sold in that state?

Depending on the market effect for the manufacture, I seriously doubt they'd produce multiple vehicles to meet state standards... If I remember correctly they ship all of their vehicles (currently) to meet the most strict standards (at least the emission standards for CA). Again, depending on the market share they currently have in those states and how it effects profits I could see them just not selling those vehicles in those states... no more Tundra's sold in california... but you can buy all the Prius' you want...

Maybe not though. The Tundra powertrain has been around for over 10 years, and I imagine they'd like to design the next system to last them at least that. I imagine they'll be building the powertrain for the new Tundra to meet the guidelines currently expected for 2030.

All just speculation. I have no inside knowledge. As with all of this - We'll see

 

As funny as this sounds, seems like my cars were more fuel efficient 35 years ago. 74 Corolla and 79 Civic. Both got around 30-35 mpgs and didn’t cost any exorbinant amount of money (due to gubment regs). A friends VW Rabbit Diesel hatchback got 60-70 mpg! A Civic today gets around 30 mpg. Tundra is anywhere from 8-18 mpg based on comments here.

 

I would say some of it due to the 10% ethanol in basically all fuel nowadays.

 

1979 Honda Civic. First gen. Weight 1500 lbs. 50 hp 1170cc engine with available two speed automatic transmission. Safety features: chances are you’d die on impact. 40mpg.

2018 Honda Civic. Tenth gen. Weight 3000 lbs (hatchback). 180 hp turbocharged 1.5L with CVT transmission. Safety features: includes radar and controlled explosions. 34mpg.

There used to be a sign on the wall behind the parts counter. “Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?”

 

You are jogging my memory here. I remember getting a couple of 45 mpg tank fulls out of that 79 Civic. Still blown by my friends VW diesel 60-70mpg. Back then diesel was 20% less than regular octane gas.

 

I don’t doubt that for a second.

My point being, with all the performance/bells and whistles we expect in today’s vehicles it’s impressive they attain the economy that they do. Comfort and convienience add a lot of weight.

When I was younger I fantasized about replicating a build I read about in Sport Compact Car magazine where a guy crammed a Cadillac North Star V8 into a stripped out VW golf. 350 hp in a car that weighed 1500 lbs. Got 35mpg around town.