I believe highway speeds were 55 back then.

Another factor is weight.
1982 Civic's curb weight was around 1500lbs. Today's Civic is around 1,000lbs more and has a larger engine to match.

Today's Civic is radically different in almost every way since then. Although the acutal MPG has gone down, the overall efficiency has gone up if you take it all into consideration.

Anyone remember the early 70's Chevy Vega? It had good sticker numbers. But you had to drive it floored for any acceleration at all. (0-60 in what? 20 seconds?)

-Steve

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT