Real World MPG & emissions data

[Draigflag]

May I suggest making this a sticky topic at the top? I feel it's pretty important as reference material. EQUA conduct and compile real world data of hundreds of new cars currently on the market. According to them:

"The EQUA Index provides an easy and honest picture of vehicle performance in real-world driving. It puts accurate fuel consumption and air quality data in the hands of the car buyer so they can make an informed decision.

EQUA sets the standard for independent, real-world emissions data."

EQUA Index - Real-world driving data

There is everything there from MPG (including US MPG and litres/100 KM) carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and general air quality. It makes for an interesting read.

Note, the top 20 worst rated MPG vehicles are all petrol, all automatic and all SUV's or estates. Almost all the bottom 1000 worst rated MPG cars are automatic transmissions, so if you prioritise economy, DON'T buy an auto!

The top 144 best MPG rated cars are diesel (no surprise) with manual gearboxes. In fact, taking the Toyota Auris hybrid, which is rated higher than the Prius, out of the equation, the top 650 ish highest MPG cars are all diesel. The worse MPG hybrid car is the BMW X5 hybrid, getting just 26 MPG. The best is actually the Auris hybrid, which along with the Peugeot 508, Mercedes C class, E class, the Yaris and a few other hybrids, are rated higher than the famous Prius.

The lowest carbon dioxide emitting car is the Honda Civic diesel, then Lexus CT and the Toyota Auris hybrid (same platform)

The lowest emitting ICE only Petrol car is the Honda Jazz (Fit in the US) The majority of the low C02 cars are German or Korean diesels.

The diesel car with the best air quality rating is the Audi A5, rated cleaner than many petrol cars, even hybrids. On the flip side, the Audi A8 diesel is one of the worse for air quality. The worse petrol car for air quality is the mighty Audi RS4, ironically followed by the tiny 1.0 litre Ford focus, with the same rating!

Audi also make an appearance in the carbon monoxide ratings, with the Audi A3 diesel being the lowest carbon monoxide emitting diesel car. The highest emitting car in this sector is the Mazda 3 petrol, which got a dismal "H" rating (A is good, H is very bad...) the highest emitting 34 cars here are all petrol.

So, perhaps your opinions of certain cars will change? Perhaps your perceptions of certain fuels will change too? Diesels are obviously great for economy, low C02 and low carbon monoxide, but many are bad for air quality. Of course some are cleaner, just as clean as hybrids. Petrol cars, high carbon monoxide and climate destroying C02, and poorer economy too, but better air quality perhaps in some instances. Food for thought.

EQUA Index - Real-world driving data

[SteveMak]

Draigflag: How dare you introduce facts in this emotionally charged topic?

People in North America (USA specifically) are busy hating VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) because of Dieselgate -- which proved that VAG's diesels are the worst polluting cars, and VW is a law-breaker and cheater, and everyone else isn't -- and you go messing about with facts. Sheesh! Double-sheesh!!

-Steve

[Draigflag]

Well the facts are here in black and white, people can now form opinions based on them, and not fairytayle media nonsense. The truth is, it's not actually that clear cut, some diesels are bad, some are clean, the same for petrols, and hybrids. The only way to avoid emissions now is to ride a bike or go electric lol.

[BlueRover]

Originally Posted by Draigflag

Well the facts are here in black and white, people can now form opinions based on them, and not fairytayle media nonsense. .

Or could the report with glowing endorsement from VW be fairy-tale media nonsense as well

[SteveMak]

Originally Posted by BlueRover

Or could the report with glowing endorsement from VW be fairy-tale media nonsense as well

Possible, but who knows. A WhoIs search reveals the domain was created by someone in the UK on 2015-11-30T11:08:13Z, just a couple of months after Dieselgate exploded onto the scene.

Rather than speculating, I suggest if it's important enough to readers, then do your own research and come to your own conclusions. Otherwise, we're just talking confirmation bias.

[Draigflag]

Originally Posted by BlueRover

Or could the report with glowing endorsement from VW be fairy-tale media nonsense as well

It's not a report as such, it's an independent company and thier collection of data is ongoing, so far they've tested over a thousand cars from multiple auto makers. Some of thier experts are from the uk and USA.

[14Corolla]

Originally Posted by Draigflag

... fairytayle media nonsense. ...l.

The media in the US is incapable of anything else.

[OliverGT]

Paul,

You beat me to it, I was going to post about the EQUA site as well.

I know you are a Diesel fan through and through, but one thing that I noticed is that the gap between real world and official figures for Diesel cars is much greater than the gap for petrol cars for example:

2016 figures:
Petrol Real World 39.5 official 50.1
Diesel Real World 45.0 official 60.0

This gap has been widening over the last number years and the Real world figures have been going DOWN.

With the additional emission controls being added to Diesels, the complexity that they add and the closing of the gap between petrol and diesel, I can see people returning slowly to petrol over the coming years.

The governments need to move to a better testing system because at the moment people are being duped into buying cars that are not as economical as claimed. Mercedes were singled out in a recent document for having official figures that were some 50% higher than real world figures. I'll try and find the document and post a link.

Oliver.

[OliverGT]

Here you go:

Describes the Gap between Real and Official figures. It makes interesting reading.

https://www.transportenvironment.org...ars-four-years

The full PDF is worth a scan through if you have a spare 15 minutes.

Oliver.

[Draigflag]

Yes Oli, it's gone from a 9% gap in 2001 between official figures and real world figures, to a staggering 42% in some cases, quite scary, but with car makers allowed to manipulate the cars and test cycle, it's no wonder the gaps been increasing year on year.

I don't think diesel sales will drop significantly until the government starts banning them from cities, that's if. Most people who buy diesels live rural where everything is far away, or are people who drive for a living, sales reps etc, so probably won't be affected by new measures. The stricter regs will see petrol cars requiring similar equipment to diesels now, such as GPF's, gasoline particulate filters, as diesels filter out 99.9%, probably 100 if the sulphur free city diesel is used.