Trying to figure out how highway mpg vs city mpg will affect your overall<\/span> fuel mileage<\/a><\/strong> can be a headache. How do those numbers get calculated, anyway? And how close are they to what you\u2019ll actually experience in real-world driving? Sometimes the efficiency figures shown on your car\u2019s window sticker can seem like a bit of automotive voodoo, but there\u2019s actually research behind that rating that\u2019s years in the making.<\/span><\/p>\n Numbers Game<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n That sticker itself has a name \u2014 the Monroney \u2014 after the Congressman who lobbied for increased automotive standards at the end of the 1950s. The idea was to provide buyers with a more comprehensive list of data about the vehicle they were looking to purchase, and part of that package are the highway mpg vs city mpg numbers associated with its drive train.<\/span><\/p>\n Those mpg numbers are really estimates, which means that your actual on-road experience may vary. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for the criteria used to determine the efficiency of a given model. This involves a series of tests that are almost always performed by automakers themselves and then submitted to the EPA for review (a percentage of which are verified by the agency every year).<\/span><\/p>\n Best Estimate<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The tests are fairly basic and involve simulating a number of conditions, such as the steady driving you\u2019d encounter on the highway, as well as the stop-and-go style more typical in a city environment. As a general rule, cruising on the highway uses less<\/span> gasoline<\/a><\/strong>, while all the accelerating and braking you do in traffic tends to eat up considerably more fuel.<\/span><\/p>\n So why are they called \u201cestimates\u201d if the testing is standardized? It\u2019s simple really \u2014 no two drivers are alike, so their highway mpg vs city mpg is going to be different, even if they are piloting the same vehicle. It\u2019s also worth noting that no one drives in the perfectly flat, temperature-controlled conditions of a test track, and because weather and terrain play a big role in how much fuel is used by a given vehicle, there\u2019s bound to be some inaccuracies as a result. Finally, if you drive with a full load of passengers, you are guaranteed to hit the pump more often than if it\u2019s only you along for the ride.<\/span><\/p>\n Don\u2019t Sweat The Details<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n As long as you approach your vehicle\u2019s highway mpg vs city mpg ratings as more of a general guideline than a hard and fast rule, you won\u2019t be disappointed. It\u2019s normal to see a few mpg difference between the real world and the EPA\u2019s estimates \u2014 both above and below what they\u2019ve predicted.<\/span><\/p>\n For more information on gas mileage, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your local<\/span> NAPA AUTO PARTS store<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo Credit:<\/span>\u00a0Fuel Tank Gas Cap<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>by Andrew Beierle<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(<\/span>FreeImages.com<\/strong><\/a>).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, National Automotive Parts Association. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more\u00a0<\/i><\/span>automotive tips and stories<\/a><\/i><\/strong>\u00a0from NAPA, or here for more information on<\/span> the next Pomona Swap Meet & Classic Car Show<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":8876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[4819,3342,4825,4833,4832,4831,4828,4829,2835,2832,3054,2562,4826,4820,4827,4821,4822,4823,4834,4830,4824,1687,3037,3026],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/fuel-tank-gas-cap-1175164.jpg?fit=595%2C439&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-2j9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8875"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8878,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875\/revisions\/8878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}