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Industry trends suggest that there isn’t much of a need for capacity in the first place

https://www.axios.com/2023/01/23/pickup-trucks-f150-size-wei...

The image on that article really makes me miss my '79 Ford that as a teen I bought not running and fixed/replaced just about everything including the straight-6 300 engine. I tracked my MPG by hand and remember I got 16 in town and 21 on the highway. It blows my mind that something like a modern Tacoma can't blow that away, even while gaining 1,000 pounds over the old Ford.

The Tacoma and small trucks in general are odd. The engine is small but the truck is still quite heavy and is geared to handle it's own weight plus any towing or bed load. This gearing makes them inefficient.

I was wondering why Toyota Tacoma mpg was worse than the F-150. Now I know, the reliability took a nose dive and it will take a while to match mpg and quality/reliability. Toyota is stubborn about reliability.

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