Introduction

This report uses the built-in R **`mtcars`** dataset to analyze the relationship between vehicle power and fuel mileage.
# Load the dataset
data(mtcars)

Dataset Summary Statistics

Below is a statistical breakdown of all components in the dataset, including standard metrics for weight, speed, and engine cylinders.

summary(mtcars)
##       mpg             cyl             disp             hp       
##  Min.   :10.40   Min.   :4.000   Min.   : 71.1   Min.   : 52.0  
##  1st Qu.:15.43   1st Qu.:4.000   1st Qu.:120.8   1st Qu.: 96.5  
##  Median :19.20   Median :6.000   Median :196.3   Median :123.0  
##  Mean   :20.09   Mean   :6.188   Mean   :230.7   Mean   :146.7  
##  3rd Qu.:22.80   3rd Qu.:8.000   3rd Qu.:326.0   3rd Qu.:180.0  
##  Max.   :33.90   Max.   :8.000   Max.   :472.0   Max.   :335.0  
##       drat             wt             qsec             vs        
##  Min.   :2.760   Min.   :1.513   Min.   :14.50   Min.   :0.0000  
##  1st Qu.:3.080   1st Qu.:2.581   1st Qu.:16.89   1st Qu.:0.0000  
##  Median :3.695   Median :3.325   Median :17.71   Median :0.0000  
##  Mean   :3.597   Mean   :3.217   Mean   :17.85   Mean   :0.4375  
##  3rd Qu.:3.920   3rd Qu.:3.610   3rd Qu.:18.90   3rd Qu.:1.0000  
##  Max.   :4.930   Max.   :5.424   Max.   :22.90   Max.   :1.0000  
##        am              gear            carb      
##  Min.   :0.0000   Min.   :3.000   Min.   :1.000  
##  1st Qu.:0.0000   1st Qu.:3.000   1st Qu.:2.000  
##  Median :0.0000   Median :4.000   Median :2.000  
##  Mean   :0.4062   Mean   :3.688   Mean   :2.812  
##  3rd Qu.:1.0000   3rd Qu.:4.000   3rd Qu.:4.000  
##  Max.   :1.0000   Max.   :5.000   Max.   :8.000

Visualizing the Relationship: Horsepower vs. Mileage

We expect cars with higher horsepower to consume more fuel, resulting in lower miles per gallon (mpg). The scatter plot below visualizes this negative correlation:

# Create a clear scatter plot
plot(x = mtcars$hp,
     y = mtcars$mpg,
     xlab = "Gross Horsepower (hp)",
     ylab = "Miles Per Gallon (mpg)",
     main = "Vehicle Horsepower vs. Fuel Efficiency",
     pch = 19,         # Use solid circles for plotting points
     col = "darkblue", # Point color
     las = 1)          # Rotate axis labels horizontally

# Add a trend line to illustrate the path
abline(lm(mpg ~ hp, data = mtcars), col = "red", lwd = 2)

Analysis Conclusion

As clearly shown by the downward-sloping trend line in the plot, there is a distinct negative correlation between horsepower and miles per gallon. Cars built with more powerful engines generally sacrifice fuel efficiency.