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Tuesday, July 3, 2007 12:00 AM

Hip, hip, CAFE!

Some Dems celebrate a new Senate bill to boost gas mileage. But it's premature to toast the end of our high-octane bender.

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  • Tuesday, July 3, 2007 11:13 AM

    Horsepower does not equal poor mileage

    Our Odyssey, which weighs 4300 lbs, gets 24-25 MPG at 80 MPH. That is not great gas mileage, but it is when you consider that it is carrying five people and lots of luggage. If I drove at 60 it would get 28-30. Gas would have to be $10 a gallon for that to happen. An SUV or pickup of the same weight and carrying capacity would get 10 MPG at 80 MPH. Why? It's called wind drag. The reason the Odyssey (and the Prius) get such good highway mileage (each for their size) is streamlining. At interstate speeds (75 here in Idaho) the hybrid nature of the Prius is not relevant, but the shape, narrow tires, etc, are.

    I know that in a few years gas will be $10 a gallon, due to market forces. By then there will be lots of highly streamlined cars to buy, not necessarily hybrid, which is not very advantageous where there is no traffic. I'll buy one. BTW, it will probably have lots of horsepower and go from 0-60 in 6 seconds. And that have no effect on the gas mileage, because if all it takes is 40 HP to travel at 80 MPH, that is all the gas it will consume, whether the peak HP is 300 or 90.

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