-Manual cars manufactured nowadays have short gear ratios. Since automatics are becoming the norm, manuals are seen as "performance options". Thus, they are given wannabe racer gear ratios. A mistake in my opinion.
-There are a lot of ways to improve fuel economy. Generally, drive gently, change gears early, and avoid idling. If you want to do further research, give this a read. Read section II carefully. In section III, focus on DWB and DWL. The rest of the techniques are for people who have mastered the basics.
-By using DWL, DWB, NICE-ON, and a special acceleration technique, I have been able to achieve 18 kml from an old automatic Civic. The drive was 90 km, with 32 km of rural roads, and the rest was a motorway drive. You can easily beat that figure in your car, provided you drive it with the proper technique.
