57 mpg? That’s so 20 years ago

Want to drive a cheap car that gets eye-popping mileage? In 1987 you could – and it wasn’t even a hybrid.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Car makers are confident they can meet new government rules calling for a national fleet average of 35 miles per gallon. But it will take a big technological push, they say.

You might wonder why, since twenty years ago the car that got the best mileage in the nation was a real techno-wimp compared to what’s on the road today. It wasn’t even a hybrid. But it got better fuel economy than any car sold now – even the Toyota Prius.


Looking back at the 1987 Honda Civic CRX shows us why cars use so much more gas today and about the trade-offs we’ve had to make.

The CRX HF got an Environmental Protection Agency-estimated 57 mpg gallon in highway driving. Today, the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid Civic you can buy gets an EPA-estimated 34 mpg on the highway. Even today’s Honda Civic Hybrid can’t match it, achieving EPA-estimated highway mileage of just 45 mpg. The Toyota Prius, today’s fuel mileage champ, gets 46 mpg on the highway.

CNN