U.S. car buyers now have access to real-world fuel economy and emissions data on new vehicles, courtesy of a research group that helped reveal that Volkswagen was evading European emissions regulations in addition to cheating on U.S. tests.
Among the results, according to Nick Molden, founder and CEO of Emissions Analytics:
• Some brands — Ford, Fiat, Porsche and Mini — routinely score as much as 10% better in real-world driving than the window-sticker fuel-economy ratings generated in lab tests.
• Others — including Lincoln, Volvo, Ram, Mazda, Audi and GMC — regularly use more fuel than the window sticker indicates.
•U.S. EPA fuel-economy ratings are much more realistic than those used in Europe.
•Bigger engines — 3.0-liter displacement and larger — are likely to outperform the window-sticker rating, while the increasingly common small-displacement engines frequently underperform the window sticker.
To read more of the original article, go to Detroit Free Press.
