BinaryJay

Lately I've been seeing a lot of Chrysler and GMC commercials stating fuel economy numbers that have been making me scratch my head. I finally decided to look into it after the last commercial for a GMC Terrain came on...

Then I realized why, they are putting small engines into these things. The Terrain comes with a 2.4L linline 4. What the heck? These things aren't that small (3800 lb base curb weight). Are they putting weak little engines into large vehicles just to claim these amazing fuel economy numbers. Do people not drive them and leave immediately when they discover they probably drive like school buses?

I don't get it. I got used to thinking of my car as having a small engine, but it seems like the trend these days is going towards grossly under powering everything. Has anybody ever driven one of these things, are they better than they sound on paper? Just curious.

*Batman*

There are lies, damned lies and statistics.

ivanz

Most people just want a car to go from A to B using as little gas as possible...they couldn't care less about performance. Most of these cars are programmed so that the first 10% of pedal travel gives you ~40% of the available power...hence making them feel more powerful than they really are. They perform adequately for most peoples needs, and are hardly underpowered in terms of what they are used for most of the time (i.e soccer mom/mall duty).

LexFather

GS 450h ftw

IS350jet

Marketing hype. I remember a commercial for the 32 MPG Chevy Equinox. At first, I couldn't believe it. 32 MPG from an SUV? They make the Equinox look huge on TV. It even looks quite large on Chevy's web page. I had to LOL when I actually saw one on the road. Yikes! is that thing small. It appears to be smaller than a Rav4. Tiny SUV + 4 cylinder = good (slow) MPG.
BTW, the GMC Terrain is the Equinox twin, and it's not a large SUV. It's not even a mid-sized SUV, it's a crossover. Large SUV's don't weigh 3,800 lbs.

SLegacy99

I'm not getting thte correlation here. Put a 4 banger in the GS and you could havea 32 MPG as well.

BinaryJay

I get pretty close to 30mpg on the highway as it is when the wind is at my back. =) 4 banger be damned.

Lexus 4 ME

What the Chevy claims cannot be achieved with normal driving, unless you go down the hill. They claim 24 MPG for GMC Sierra V6, my neighboor has Sierra V6 the most he got was 17 MPG.

IS-SV

I'm making an attempt to always drive with the wind at my back, if I remember.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Fuel economy ratings are nonsense. All moderns cars are more or less the same, as long as their weight and drag coefficient are equal, everything else is all about your driving style, period.

nthach

GM's using tall gearing, different tranny programming and some other superfluous tweaks to their MPG figures to be approved by CEO Obama.

BS I call. GM's bread and butter has always been V8s.

Fizzboy7

^^^ That is the answer. The average buyer is not an enthusiast like we are here. They are more concerned with eocnomy and safety than straight line performance. Of course, the true leading manufacturers are the ones who can build an efficient engine WITH some decent performance. I credit Toyota for their powerful 3.5 V6 getting good economy. I believe Car & Driver and Consumer Reports have also pointed this out in some recent tests.

IS-SV

Current (2008 on) EPA gas mileage data is useful for comparison purposes mainly.

But since I generally treat most advertisements as casual garbage, I haven't noticed. But I know GM is a bit better than some at gaming the EPA gas mileage ratings with junk like variable displacement, specialized economy tires, forced upshifts on manual trannys and ultra tall OD gears (this is nothing new).

I8ABMR

yup its the 70's all over again. The muscle era is ending (again) and we are going into HP hybernation. That is what makes cars like the Veyron, v12 Ferraris, etc so unique and special. They are a dying species of car

J.P.

Thinking of my second gen GS's and my FJ, they did not hit the EPA numbers either, nothing really new here.

Unless you baby a car people never hit any of those numbers.............

BTW my Silverado over the last few tanks is at about 17mpg in the city, I average about 22mpg towing my small boat at 55mph on CC.