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Consumer Reports has taken aim at at small-displacement, forced-induction engines, saying the powerplants don't manage to deliver on automaker fuel economy claims. Manufacturers have long held that smaller, turbocharged engines pack all power of their larger displacement cousins with significantly better fuel economy, but the research organization says that despite scoring high EPA economy numbers, the engines are no better than conventional drivetrains in both categories. Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, says the forced induction options "are often slower and less fuel efficient than larger four and six-cylinder engines."



Specifically, CR calls out the new Ford Fusion equipped with the automaker's Ecoboost 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. The institute's researchers found the engine, which is a $795 option over the base 2.5-liter four-cylinder, fails to match competitors in acceleration and served up 25 miles per gallon in testing, putting the sedan dead last among other midsize options.



The Chevrolet Cruze, Hyundai Sonata Turbo and Ford Escape 2.0T all got dinged for the same troubles, though Consumer Reports has found the turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder in the BMW 328i does deliver on its promises. You can check out the full press release below. You can also read the full study on the Consumer Reports site, or scroll down for a short video recap.Continue reading Consumer Reports criticizes small turbo engines for misleading performance, fuel economy claims [w/video]



Consumer Reports criticizes small turbo engines for misleading performance, fuel economy claims [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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faithofadragon

i love reports like this we have NO IDEA what sorta testing they did and yet we are supposed to take their word for it

majik

I think my car falls in line with these concerns, but I've seen many Veloster turbo posts at 40mpg or more.

faithofadragon

well do you gently ease the throttle to avoid jackrabbit starts, never go faster than the posted speed limit, dont use air conditioning, and not leave your motor running needlessly ever, and dont ever drive in stop and go traffic?



when i lived in minot and went around the "city" cuz of the flood and actually drove like normal person i got 27 mpg in the maxima which is higher than epa ratings



now driving like my usual jackass self i got 21mpg but that included several "trips to mexico" for high speed testing





your mileage may vary

majik

I punch it every time, and I routinely see 17.8mpg... but even when I'm gentle on the throttle and coasting to obey the speed limit (usually due to rain, traffic, or some other factor) I can't make it to 25mpg. Part of it is a bad tune, but before the tune it wasn't much better. I did see 32mpg once on a 30 miles stretch of 55mph country roads that I obeyed, but that's the only time I saw over 25mpg.

EPA est. 20city, 30hwy.



And I'm not aware of any 2.0 A/T that can achieve 25mpg unless really trying hard.

Stocker

How is this even a thing? My 2000 with a 2L got up to 30MPG with the automatic! Thirteen years of powerplant development and we're still getting the same fuel economy?

i8acobra

Weight. Everyone wants power this and automatic that and the government wants to protect us from ourselves. That, and the fact that "we, the people" are required to drive cars that exhale air that's almost cleaner than the air they ingest while industries with lobby groups (truckers, heavy equipment, factories, power plants, etc...) are free to spew sh*t into the air.



Compare the weights of your 2000 Elantra vs. a 2013 Elantra.

wheel_of_steel

What cobra said. Considering that the EPA tests powerplants in a standardised manner, you are getting COMPARATIVE mileage figures from them. Not real world figures...

faithofadragon

cobras right, a 2013 hyundai accent has ironicly almost the same hp, same weight, and same dimensions as a 2000 elantra

Stocker

None of which changes the fact that new cars still 'only' get 25MPG