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When discussing small, specialty car makers such as Porsche, its important to remember that they produce very few cars and are just a drop in the bucket of fuel consumption. High powered sports cars and low volume specialty SUVs (such as the Hummer H1) are not the reason why the average fuel economy is so poor. A much more important reason for this problem is the shift to from midsize sedans to light trucks (SUVs, pick-ups) as the primary family vehicle. Collectively, the Ford Explorer and F150 are much worse for the environment than the 911 Turbo.
Another important aspect of this story, one that is almost entirely unmentioned in the popular media, is the rise in average horsepower among high-volume passenger vehicles. Over the past 20 years, the efficiency of the internal combustion engine has been improved remarkably. However, instead of using those improvements to increase fuel economy (while keeping horsepower down), the auto makers have boosted horsepower and kept fuel economy nearly constant. The average family sedan now has over 200 bhp.
Here is an example: According to Road and Track (5/06), a 2007 Toyota Camry with a 268 bhp V6 (the most popular engine choice for that vehicle) can go from 0 to 60 mph in 6.1 seconds! In the 1960's, this car would have been a hot rod! The testers at Road and Track observed an overall fuel economy of 26.3 mpg. 26 mpg is actually pretty remarkable for a car with 263 bhp. However, how much better would the gas mileage be if the car only had 180 or 200 bhp? That modest reduction would probably put the car at something close to 35 mpg, without sacrificing much acceleration.
Its easy (and popular) to blame the sport cars and hummers of the world for our current gas crisis. However, its untrue and intellectually sloppy to do so.
