My 20 yr old diesel VW gets around 50mpg…why can’t auto makers still do that?

It’s unecenomical for them to do that. They’re starting to see that those types of cars are what people want. So not it’s going back. I’d love to have a hybrid. But it’s unecenomical for me to sell my large truck. I don’t drive enough to warrant selling it and getting a hybrid. And the only hybrid I could get is the Chevy Equinox. I’ve got three young kids, all in carseats. A Prius won’t fit that.

I miss terribly our old:
1. 1978 VW diesel Golf (50mpg)
2. 1992 Honda Civic hatchback (45mpg)

Neither was underpowered or difficult to deal with - both wore out at around 200,000 miles.
Our 2001 VW diesel Golf gets only 45mpg and we’re waiting expectantly for the automakers to realize that there ARE people out there who don’t need every convenience just to go to the grocery store.

The reason you can’t get the same mileage today as you did in those older model cars is that the new safety regulations in cars today make some of these smaller economy cars twice as heavy as they were back in the 80’s.

Example:

1985 Honda CRX Si 1,883 lbs
2008 Honda Civic Si 2,945 lbs

I am glad to see Honda reintroducing the Insight. I own a 2004 model and when we purchased it they were hard to come by. As a result one dealer in California kept sending me letters wishing to buy it at the price we had paid. While safety standards have changed, mileage for most cars hasn’t. I can safely say that prices at the gas pump these days doesn’t hurt our pocket book. My insight still averages 51 mpg.

i have a 91 honda civic get 40 mpg. has origanil moter and tranny. 260,000mil on it and still runs strong.

I have a 94 geo Metro XFI - bought it new. It has 310,000 miles on it. The highest mileage it got was 65mpg. The lowest, about a year ago, was 53mpg. With a 10-gallon tank, I drive from Washington DC to Miami FL and stop twice for gas. 1200 miles. I’m not a ‘hypermiler’, either. Just a normal guy driving a great car. Why doesn’t GM build the GEO again - they own the rights to it?

About a year ago, I finally bought my ideal commuter car - a ‘99 Mazda Miata. I paid about $5000 and it had 144,000 miles on it. I drive about 17 miles one-way to work in about 25 minutes and have been getting 28-29 mpg. When I head out to Myrtle Beach, I have the top down, music up, and get 35-40 mpg, depending on my route. Living in the Carolinas lets me drive year-round with the top down, even in winter (I just turn the heater on high and roll the side windows up.) This car is much better than any therapy!

I just returned from driving to the East Coast and back with a friend who owns a 2003 Honda Insight. We averaged over 50 mpg. The car performed flawlessly. It has air conditioning and power windows. The only fault I could find with it was with the assist battery. It tends to run down rather quickly on the long, steep hills through the Rockies. My friend says he may upgrade to a Lithium-Ion battery pack, or the flywheel energy-storage device. At times, we also did over 100 mph, so the car is certainly capable. All in all, a fine machine.

I had a 1996 Chevy S-10 with the four cylinder engine and five speed, it got around 25 m.p.g. so I checked the rear end gear ratio which was a 3.96 ratio and changed it to a street ratio of 3.07 and now get 34 m.p.g. installed at a shop cost of $700.00.
Why with today’s SUV and pickups don’t they have twin stick trany’s (High and Low) range I could never understand as it would be a clean and simple way to pick up 15 to 20% in mileage.