[patssle]

One thing that has always bugged me is how my college car, a 1996 Chevy Beretta, got great gas milage (37 mpg highway), yet it wasn't an undersized piece of crap - it was a regular car. Whereas today, still most small cars average in the mid to higher 30s for highway MPG. You often hear the argument that engine technology has increased, but MPG has not skyrocketed because of safety equipment adding weight to cars.

Fact or myth?

1996 Chevy Beretta: 120 hp, 2700 lbs, 33 mpg (37 according to old EPA estimates)
2011 Chevy Aveo: 108 hp, 2500 lbs, 35 mpg
2011 Ford Fiesta: 120 hp, 2400 lbs, 37 mpg

How can 15 years later, the numbers be all the same? Is there an explanation?