MPH: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Every automaker wants to boast that a number of its cars are members of the environmentally — as well as politically — correct 30 mpg club. The Toyota Prius hybrid goes one better: It’s a member of the 40 mpg club, with a sticker on its window boasting 48/45 mpg city/highway.

While Congress debates dictating higher fuel economy from all vehicles in the near future, I couldn't help but notice the mileage labels on some of the new cars recently tested at a media event.

The midsize Hyundai Sonata sedan's mileage is rated at 21/30 city/highway, while the subcompact Toyota Scion xD hatchback's mileage was an even more impressive 26/32, meaning both are members of the 30 mpg club.

But those same cars carry another set of numbers that raise a question.

Comments

The sonata has the 150 mph spedo because the v-6 version apparently has some legs under it. Remember the infamous article about the guy in california. I couldn't find it ( didn't look that hard) but its referenced here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Sonata

i know some people who drive their american cars with the speedometer hanging in the "beyond." does it really work on most people? or even some people? if so, why stop at 85? that speed is highly illegal in most states anyway. why not top out at, say, 65 mph? how about putting in an electronic speed governor at a certain upper limit? would that help? there was an old blog about putting in more trip computers that would read out your fuel economy. that seems to me would make a bigger impact since i dare say most people are not driving at or above 85 mph most of the time due to road and traffic conditions, let alone the fact that most people are law-abiding citizens anyway. just my 0.02

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/14/1482.asp

the 85 mph speedometer was a mandate, not a choice made by auto manufacturers

God no..65 mile per hour speedometer limit?

Are you kidding? Lets take all the joy out of peoples lives.

I travel states with a speed limit of 70 mph, I'd hate to see nothing but Bare land and rocks for over 120 miles of nothingness.

Besides even Europe has the Audobon. Does that mean they arnt environmentally friendly? No.

This is just another stupid plot by Prius owners so they don't get passed as often.

I think what would be more effective is to put either a gage or readout of your instantaneous fuel economy. I have seen these for many years in many of the European cars like MB and BMW. We rented an Impala with a digital instantaneous readout and it was interesting to see depending on how hard you accelerated how much that number went down. I know Prius owners enjoying seeing how high they can make the number go up but I think many do not realize how much damage they are doing by hard acceleration. If the gage was as prominent as the tach, gas gage or speedo I think people would see the damage being done. In cases where you are driving the city and constantly stopping and not just starting but rocketing away you are really consuming fuel at an incredibly fast rate even if just for a short time. If drivers accelerated at a more moderate rate their are big gains to be had here where numbers are usually at their lowest. This is a good of the reason hybrids thrive in city for their gains since they attack the area we do the worst at for fuel economy. I know in putting over 100K on our V6 Grand Am on many different long trips that my highway speed as long as I do not accelerate hard to get up to speed has little affect on my fuel economy. The difference between 65 and 75 on a tank of gas on a highway trip is about 1 mpg returning 32 and 31 respectively. In the city and around town is where we can gain the most and I think a consumption gage of some sort will help people appreciate the damage they are doing and change their ways. I have heard enough hybrid drivers say that had to relearn how to drive to get their best fuel economy, same here.

That is really stupid logic and it didn't work before. People who are going to drive over 85 will do that anyway.

For that matter, why not have fuel gauges that always show almost empty and always have the red low-fuel light on? Perhaps a spike mounted on the steering wheel pointed toward the chest? That would slow 'em down big time!

Any human alert mechanism must be on an exception basis, otherwise human behavior dictates that it will become ignored.

In fact, a fast moving car is not the car using the most gas. It is the slow moving or stationary car that is the gas burner, which leads to the question... why are the morons who design our roads, intersections and traffic lights not educated to focus on keeping traffic moving.

Perhaps the DOT and local governments need to step up, and not just the auto manufacturers.

The 85mph speedometer was instituted when speed limits were 55mph across the country. While there are situations in which it may be necessary, or at least acceptable to go above the speed limit, 30mph over the limit should have been plenty of high speed precision.
Today the highest modern speed limit in the US is 80mph (Texas). Therefore, again, 30mph over should be sufficient, so set speedometers to 110mph.
A smaller range speedometer is better anyway. It's easier to see and the needle is more precise. I remember driving a '66 Mustang which due to a small gauge and a large range on it, had a 5mph wide needle! With a larger, 85mph speedometer, it's easy to determine your speed within 1mph. (assuming, ofcourse, that your speed sensor is properly calibrated)

Dan,
Funny you mention the visibility thing. I was in a test car recently (CX-9?) and had to adjust the wheel to see the 0-20 MPH range while at the top was the 100+ range. Gee great. Like I'm going to hit 100 in a 3 row crossover.

It all depends on the car. A Smart Car does not need an 150 mph gauge, while a Corvette shouldn't have an 85mph one. Each car has different limits and different types of drivers.

On a side note; being from Australia, our speed limits are strictly enforced at typically 100km/h on the freeways with speed cameras, radars, and squad cars. Any reading over the 100 mark (even if it's only 3km/h over) results in heavy fines. Local manufacturers have adapted to this and while renting a locally made car, a Mitsubishi Magna, a yellow warning light reading "SPEED" would come up on the dash once I hit 101km/h. It was an interesting feature that would probably never make it to the States

would you rather people that WILL drive over 85 have no idea whatsoever how fast they are going? that is far more dangerous that getting 26 mpg opposed to 27.

Even when I was a kid riding in my dad's wagon with the speedo topping at 85, we had the darn needle buried on the right side anyway, so what's the point?

My 2001 Audi has the instantaneous MPG display.

It also has a nice feature, a speed alarm. I can set a speed at which an alarm goes off and a warning is displayed on the dash. Really can save you from letting it get away from you on long boring trips.

As for driving 85, anything below 80 in San Diego meant you stayed in the right hand lane.

I think making speedos top out at 80 MPH is a good idea.

Why not just make them digital? Easier to read and takes up less space on the dash.

woogie,

If I remember correctly, in Atlanta's I-75, the speed limit is 55, and the average is also 85. Which means anything under 85 will be on the right side too.

It is not like cars get 30mpg@70mph, 25mpg@75, and 20mpg@80mph. If they did, then it would behove you drive 70 instead of 80. Even something like a Suburban gets 20mpg@60mph, 15@80, 10@100.
The people define the speed limit, 85-90th percentile is where it should be set. (but just look at the stories of intentional underposting for increased 'revenue' at www.thenewspaper.com)
The US could have 100mph daytime, 80mph night now. Iit could be the same if US headlights were improved for reduced glare and better distribution.

Another point to consider with very high limit speedometers: The "useful" range of 0 to say, 80 mph, is crammed into the lower 1/2 of the dial sweep, making it much harder to read. I preferred the old 85 mph speedos because you can actually use almost 100% of the dial sweep, with plenty of space between tick marks and numbers. Very legible. I think one of the wors offenders was the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe which maxed out at 160 mph, and the dial sweep was only about 230 degrees of a circle, meaning the useful area was only about a 90 degree sweep of the needle. Very hard to read. The top 50 mph was utterly wasted space. I also think the terminal velocity of a car falling out of an airplane is about 125 mph.

Anyone able to tell me how to set the speed alarm on a Toyota Townace?

I drive a 2005 Prius and get an actual 50 mpg in a rural area. Cars waste the most gas when they are stopped with the engine running (0 mpg). The Prius shuts the gas engine off when the car stops. Imagine the saving in heavy-traffic areas (LA, Atlanta, or almost any other large city). People notice when my car starts noiselessly (the electric motor starts the car; the gas engine kicks in around 10 mph).

Perhaps the Congress should pass a law requiring that EVERY car shuts the engine off when the car stops. That alone would cut our national fuel bill in half; hybrids prove that it can be done at a reasonable cost.

Really. Where is the logic of car manufacturers making cars that go in excess of 120 mph? And even that speed is far too fast for a person to legally drive. Where is it in this country that a person can drive 120, 140, 160 and so on....mph??? And the way most people drive these days, there are already too many accidents to people's stupidity, and inconsiderate actions. Doesn't speed of this nature just increase the risk?