Volkswagen is Moving in the Right Direction

VW has announced the revival of their 200mpg car project. Five years ago the company had produced a car that got 222mpg on an 8.5 horsepower engine. 8.5 horsepower isn’t practical for todays driving, but the company believes the time is right to create a car that can reach those numbers and still be usable at an entry level price. You can read more at Jalopnik.

This is in pretty sharp contrast to the 2009 Dodge Challenger with a 425 hp Hemi Engine. Who will be able to afford to drive this car at $4 dollar a gallon gas? Or a Ford F350 for that matter?

I do realize the entry level Challenger will come with a six cylinder engine…But I am saying, “so what”. Can’t we have horsepower and mpg too? The Mazdaspeed 3 gets 263 hourses out of a 4 cylinder. I bet with a little adjustment it could get 30 mpg (it is 20/28 right now)?

Also, I expected more improvement?

Here is a chart from  an article in MSN that shows our fuel economy per model has changed little in the last 15 years:

15-Year Flashback, Same Model Comparison [city/hwy]

Vehicle	1992	2007	Difference
Honda Civic	42 / 48	30 / 40	-12 / -8
Honda Accord	24 / 30	26 / 34	+2 / +4
Nissan Sentra	29 / 39	29 / 36	0 / -3
Toyota Corolla	31 / 35	32 / 41	+1 / +6
Toyota Camry	22 / 29	24 / 34	+2 / +5
Chevrolet Corvette	17 / 25	18 / 28	+1 / +3
Ford Explorer 4WD	15 / 19	15 / 20	0 / +1