Understanding EPA Ratings Part 1

With gas prices starting to sky rocket yet again as a result of Hurricane Isaac, you are probably really reconsidering your driving plans for the upcoming holiday weekend.  The reality is that gas prices are high with or without a Hurricane on the horizon and most shoppers these days are most concerned with fuel economy when purchasing a new or used car.  There are some important things you need to know about EPA ratings when you are deciding between cars.  Over the next few articles we hope to inform you about those ratings and how they work.

One of the first components we will look at is city vs. highway driving.  According to Edmunds.com “a key element in assessing the EPA rating for a vehicles’ average fuel economy (EPA combined) is the split between highway and city driving.”  There are some assumptions made in that combined rating that may or may not be a reflection of your driving experiences.  The biggest of these assumptions is that you drive 55% of the time in the city and 45% of the time on the highway.  For many people this is just not the case, therefore changing your actual combined mpg.  You also have to take into consideration your speed on the highway.  These rankings assume you are traveling in the range of 50mph and for many, you are going faster than that, or if traveling into and out of a large metropolitan area, you may even be traveling slower in stop and go situations (which would actually be more indicative of city-like driving).

Toyota sells some of the most fuel efficient vehicles on the roads today, like the new Toyota Corolla St. Louis.  We want our drivers to get the best performance out of their Toyota as possible with these helpful tips.