Honda CR-Z boots a Toyota hybrid off EPA's top 10 list - Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive - USATODAY.com
Woah... I disagree w/the thread title. When I first saw this, I thought it was a HyCam owner "struggling with gas mileage problems". In looking at Side-by-Side Comparison, I see these ratings for the HyCam in city/highway/combined format: 2011: 31/35/33 2010: 33/34/34 2009: 33/34/34 It's unclear to me if the ratings change on the 2011 is due to a change in the car or the test methodology (e.g. 2010 and prior numbers being derived from pre-MY08 numbers then adjusted by formula) or due to EPA (re-)verification, bumping the rating down. It not making the top 10 list in EPA ratings is not my idea of a "struggle" for the HyCam due to "gas mileage problems".
Top Ten Lists "2011 vehicles are ranked by city, then highway MPG. In the event of a tie, multiple vehicles may share the same ranking." If I were a staff of EPA, I would do ranking combined MPG first, then city or highway. The combined number of Camry Hybrid (33mpg) is better than RX450h (30mpg). Does anyone know why they do ranking the city MPG first? Ken@Japan
Good point, Ken! For people that do a lot of combined driving, you have a very good point. For people that live in cities, and even when they do venture onto a rush hour highway, never get above 35mph, they would probably be looking at the city rating. Thank you for pointing this out. Regardless of the rating system, I'm surprised that Toyota has let the Ford Fusion and other midsized hybrids stay above the Camry for so long without improving the Camry Hybrid MPG for the 2011 model. I'm sure Toyota has learned a few things about hybrids since the first Camry Hybrid hit the streets.
Ken, my guess is that city mpg is more important for CARB. The combined number uses 55% city and 45% highway. You do have a point to use the combined number since yhe ratio of city and highway are already mixed in.
I guess this explains why the Ford Fiesta isn't on the list, with 29 mpg city and 40 mpg highway (for the automatic, not quite as good for the manual). It's combined value certainly beats several on this list.
You may be correct. In 1912 US education leaders at a national conference were unable to reach agreement. The compromise was alphabetical. Thus for the past 98 years students in high schools in the US go through the sciences. Biology Chemistry Physics
