Although I have only been driving an extremely yellow Fiat 500 Pop for three days, five people have come up to me asking about the fuel economy. When I tell them the car gets 34 MPG on the EPA combined cycle, they have all said something I found funny: I got better fuel economy in my 19XX Geo Metro. While I’m sure they did, many people fail to realize that modern cars are actually more efficient than they have ever been. Why then does the Fiat not get 60 MPG? The reason us you and me, the buyers. We are demanding creature comforts and performance rather than efficiency. The Fiat 500 delivers more than 100% more power, and an entire laundry list of safety and convenience featured which make it 50% heavier than a Geo Metro. In the mean time we also drive faster than we used to.