View Full Version : MPG - a rip off......
On way home from work today, Radio5live were commenting on a Top Gear report that the quoted MPG 's for cars were crap.
They brought out some guy who went on about how it was the Euopean directive number blah blah blah that all cars went through the same mpg test, and that it was done under lab conditions. A surprise to the presenters of the prog.
He said that this was to give an accuratecomparison of all cars mpg's under controlled situations.
But,
what it surely doesn't take into account is all the external factors of the car.
ie it's aerodynamics, weight, drive train ie 4 or 2 wheel drive etc.
What i mean is that you could have the same engine in 2 or 3 different cars and have pretty much the same mpg "in the lab", but on the open road a totally different story due to the reasons i mention.
So, all mpg figures quoted by manufacturers must be taken with a large helping of salt:rolleyes:
Discuss............... ;)
There was an article in the Sun today The Sun (http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2002520782,00.html)
Yeah they test the MPG on a rolling road, takes no account of hills or wind resistance etc, bit of a con but the test needs to be standard otherwise it's even more useless
That is terrible!
The tests should be undertaken independantly by the Government, under normal driving conditions. (not that I trust them really).
Its a disgrace!
That's like Man Utd having a Man Utd fan as a referee in one of its matches (would be slightly biased!)
I call for a petiton to the Government or European Parliament!
Originally posted by golders
That is terrible!
The tests should be undertaken independantly by the Government, under normal driving conditions. (not that I trust them really).
Its a disgrace!
That's like Man Utd having a Man Utd fan as a referee in one of its matches (would be slightly biased!)
I call for a petiton to the Government or European Parliament!
But you can't do that unfortunately, it would make the results all screwy, if you test a car on the road and it got stuck in traffic, then tested another one the next day and it didn't get stuck, the second car would have the advantage in the fuel figures, same goes for out on the test track if it was windy one day and not another. Also, where do you get a British Standard Driver? Each driver would need his right foot calibrated ;)
This will really bake your noodle though, you know how they measure the consumption? You'd think they measure the actual amount of fuel used from the tank, but no, they work it out based on measuring the C.O. output of the car :eek:
Jesus they don't even measure the fuel!!
I agree with you that each test would be different and therefore not fair either.
Damn!
Just have to take it with a shovel of salt from now on.!
Yep, arm yourself with a salt shovel mate ;)
Pauly_Boy
12-11-2002, 00:55
Who wants some Salt, with a couple of chips on top?
Get them quickly before i run out :rolleyes:
Chris_Lacey
12-11-2002, 17:28
Why not test them on a test track at constant speeds, with inclines and traffic lights set to hold the car up for X period of time?
Easily doable and would actually mean something!
Yeah but it'd have to be inside to avoid wind changes, but then that wouldn't account for wind at all!!
Dave
But wind resistance has feck all effect below around 50mph, so the "simulated urban cycle" is pretty realistic on the whole, and manufacturers know the drag coefficients of their products, so they should be able to quote fairly accurate results across the board if they really want to....
Why am I defending manufacturers?:confused:
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