Dave Hinz wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 06:36:32 -0500, Prometheus wrote:
On 27 Jun 2005 15:25:25 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

Well, if it's going to be relevant when we're talking about a
transportation device, yeah, it's kind of important.

VAUXHALL Astra, MY2004 1686 D 80.7
VAUXHALL Astra, MY2004 1686 D 80.7
CITROEN C1 1398 D 83.1
HONDA Insight 995 P/ E 94.2

Would any of those pass USA'n crash tests?

FORD New Focus 1560 D 70.6

I sure hope so, considering the Ford dealership just sold me one.
Doesn't get 70 mpg, though. I've got 41 without A/C so far, though-
that's with the manual transmission and approximately 20% stop-and-go
city traffic. With the A/C on, it drops to about 32 mpg.

So, why does this table show 70.6 and you see 41? Even the empirical
vs. USA'n gallon size doesn't wash with the numbers.




The tests are simply that--tests. What bearing they have on actual
driving results is minimal, at best. Their only value imo is to compare
gross differences between themselves, but in most cases that is
self-evident anyway. Miniscule differences between models, otoh, while
perhaps "statistically significant" in the scope of the test, will be
completely overshadowed by the difference in conditions between the test
environment and actual usage.