Here’s the top 10 most fuel efficient cars, according to the 2008 Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy’s fuel economy guidebook, published this Saturday. Prius tops the charts.
2008 Model Year Overall Fuel Economy Leaders
Class Model City/Highway MPG
10. Honda Fit (manual) 28/34
9. Toyota Corolla (manual) 28/37
8. Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD 29/27, Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4WD “, Mazda Tribute Hybrid 4WD “
7. Toyota Yaris (automatic) 29/35
6. Toyota Yaris (manual) 29/36
5. Toyota Camry Hybrid 33/34
4. Ford Escape Hybrid FWD 34/30, MazdaTribute Hybrid 2WD “, Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD “
3. Nissan Altima Hybrid 35/33
2. Honda Civic Hybrid 40/45
1. Toyota Prius (hybrid-electric) 48/45
If you want to save on gas, hybrids are the way to go.
Lowest Fuel Economy by Vehicle Class for 2008 Model Year
Class Model City/Highway MPG
Two Seater Lamborghini Murcielago (manual) 8/13
Minicompact Car Aston Martin DB9 Coupe, Volante (manual) 10/16
Subcompact Car Bentley Continental GTC 10/17
Compact Car Bentley Azure 9/15
Midsize Car Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (auto) 9/16
Large Car Bentley Arnage RL 9/15
Small Station Wagon Audi S4 Avant (manual) 13/20
Midsize Station Wagon Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Wagon 12/18
Sport Utility Vehicle* Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG 11/13
Minivan* Toyota Sienna 4WD 16/21
Pickup Truck* Rousch Performance Stage3 F150 11/15
Van (Passenger and
Cargo)*
Passenger Chevrolet G1500/2500 EXPRESS 2WD 12/16
” Chevrolet H1500 EXPRESS AWD “
” GMC G1500/2500 SAVANA 2WD “
” GMC H1500 SAVANA VAN AWD “
Cargo Chevrolet G15/25 VAN CONV 2WD “
” Chevrolet H1500 VAN CONV AWD “
” GMC G15/25 SAVANA 2WD CONV “
” GMC H1500 SAVANA AWD CONV “
*Trucks over 8500 pounds gross vehicle weight rating are currently exempt from federal fuel economy requirements
Highest Fuel Economy Models by Vehicle Class for 2008 Model Year
Class Model City/Highway MPG
Two Seater Audi TT Roadster (2 liter engine,auto) 22/29
Minicompact Car Mini Cooper Convertible (manual) 23/32
Subcompact Car Toyota Yaris (manual) 29/36
Compact Car Honda Civic Hybrid 40/45
Midsize Car Toyota Prius (hybrid) 48/45
Large Car Honda Accord 4Dr Sedan (manual) 22/31
Small Station Wagon Honda Fit (manual) 28/34
Midsize Station Wagon Passat Wagon (manual) 21/29
Sport Utility Vehicle Ford Escape Hybrid FWD 34/30
Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD “
Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD “
Minivan Dodge Caravan 2WD 17/24
Chrysler Town & Country 2WD “
Pickup Truck Ford Ranger Pickup 2WD (manual) 21/26
Mazda B2300 2WD (manual) “
Van (Cargo&Passenger)Chevrolet G1500/2500 Van 2WD 15/20
(4.3 liter engine)
GMC G1500/2500 Savana 2WD Cargo “
(4.3 liter engine)
Lowest Overall Fuel Economy Models* for 2008 Model Year
Rank Manufacturer/Model City/Highway MPG
1. Lamborghini Murcielago (automatic) 8/13
2. Bugati Veyron 8/14
3. Lamborghini Murcielago (manual) 9/14
4. Bently Azure/Arnage RL 9/15
5. Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (automatic) 9/16
6. Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder (manual) 10/15
Ferrari Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (manual) “
Bentley Arnage (auttomatic) “
7. Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder 10/16
Aston Martin DB9 Coupe “
Aston Martin DB9 Volante “
Mercedes-Benz Maybach 57 “
Mercedes-Benz Maybach 57S “
Mercedes-Benz Maybach 62 “
Mercedes-Benz Maybach 62S “
8. Lamborghini Gallardo Coupe (manual) 10/17
Bentley Continental GT (automatic) “
Bentley Continental GTC (automatic) “
Bentley Continental Flying Spur (automatic) “
9. Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG 11/13
10. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD 11/14
Mercedes-Benz Ml63 AMG “
EPA, DOE Release Fuel Economy Lists for 2008 Vehicle Models [AutoSpectator]
2008 Fuel Economy Guide (PDF) [Fueleconomy.gov]
(Photo: hanapbuhay)
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Shouldnt this be the 10 worst performing cars list? How about they put the 0-60 MPH speed next to them. I doubt any of them will be less than 11 seconds which makes them very dangerous to merge onto a highway with. And of course they are all VERY light and easily smashed when they hit something so they are deadly as well.
SKROM – that’s exactly the problem (and the answer to all those whining about old high MPG cars). The cars have gotten much bigger, faster over the last 10-20 years (and cleaner and safer too).
0-60 in 10s used to be respectable, and a 2000-3000 pound cars was just fine until the big SUV safety myth came along (can you say rollover?)
Also, I bet all those top 10 cars are way safer than most 10-20 year old cars, regradless of size.
FLConsumer has a good point. The 1989 Honda CRX has a mpg of 50/41. I have nothing against hybrids, but if you’re going to shell out the dough, shouldn’t they be MORE fuel efficient than a car that was built almost 20 years ago?
Skrom: have you driving a Prius? They’ve got quite a bit of kick. Mine accelerates faster than my wife’s ’96 Camry.
@Saboth: Most of the cars you can buy these days aren’t diesels. Why they claim diesels won’t sell when VW sells every one it can make and winds up with huge waiting lists I don’t know.
@FLConsumer: Don’t get me wrong … I’m a HUGE fan of the Mercedes diesels and can instantly recognize the sound of one, and you can run them off biodiesel. The 240D might have had excellent fuel economy then and now, but the fact that it had some 72hp powering 3300 lbs of car meant that 0-60 took somewhere in the area of 20 seconds. Try maneuvering onto a highway onramp with that. The ubiquitous 300D/300SD 5-cyl turbo diesels might be a bit more acceptable, and they’ll easily last half a million miles as well.
Now, since the US market is so hungry for gobs of power in their cars, it makes sense that BMW will be importing their diesels from Europe. The 535d – it has 286hp and over 400 lbs of torque, which makes it very, very fast. That’s perfect for the North American market, and the kicker is that it gets 35mpg – combined. And don’t forget, a lot of the new-generation clean diesels actually have a lower carbon footprint compared to their gasoline counterparts.
Interesting, the full size GM vans are the best AND worst in their class. lol.
@FLConsumer: Because that car had 67 horsepower.
I’d like to see a fuel to weight to horsepower sort of a thing.
I prefer my 2001 Honda Insight 55/65 (got 72 from Amarillo to Denver one time). Too bad they quit making it (its a two seater).
@plaincorgi: “Averaging 74mpg in my ’06 Smart ForTwo CDI, Prius has nothin on me
”
Except 2 or 3 extra seats and a trunk ;^) But, I’d take a diesel any day over a gas hybrid…
My Geo Prizm (manual) gets about 38-40 mpg consistently. For folks like me that drive highway miles, those Hybrids are a real joke. The only REAL way for people to get decent mpg is to buy smaller cars. The ForTwo looks great, but good like finding one in the U.S. – it makes me really suspect a conspiracy by the American auto makers. Someone in an insanely-run country like France or Germany can buy a small car and I can’t. It’s just wrong.
@Karkus: Take a Mercedes 240D vs. a brand new Honda Civic / Toyota Prius… which would you rather sitting in during a collision? I can already tell you which one’s safer, and it ain’t the newer cars.
@Eric Lai: Yep, I remember it well. I put 86,000 miles on a 240D before I sold it (sold it at ~196,000 miles); wishing I hadn’t sold it now. Sure, it had no acceleration above 20mph, but get it up to speed and it’d stay there all day long. GREAT car, great handling, great brakes too. Because of the lack of power, it made you THINK about driving rather than just reacting. It was a great first car for me.
If one of the better tier of carmakers (VW,Audi,Mercedes,BMW,Saab,Volvo,Lexus,Infiniti, hell even Nissan) came out with a good full-size diesel, I’d buy it. Biodiesel’s cheap & easy to make, diesel engines are bulletproof and efficient. Petrol stations carrying diesel are a bit more difficult to come by in the `states, but I’m sure this is because of the idiotic environmental regs we have.
Does anyone know what happened to Volvo’s turbine-electric diesel project? That looked like it was going to have quite a bit of promise. Not to mention, a turbine engine generator would have sounded really damn cool. Does Toyota make a diesel hybrid by chance? That also could make for an interesting combination and efficiency.
@FLConsumer: Actually, the newer cars would likely be safer in an accident, even though the 240D has amazing build quality – and lots of metal. The Volvo 240DL was THE benchmark for crash testing and had the lowest death rate of any car in the U.S. for a number of years, but you still have airbags and ABS in newer cars. It’s not just about the passive safety features, but also the active ones (ABS, stability control, powerful acceleration) that will keep you out of an accident in the first place.
Lots of top tier carmakers will be coming out with clean diesels in the next few years. We’ll be getting the Accord Diesel in 2010 (62mpg rumored – unlikely, but hopefully it comes close), Nissan will have a diesel in their Maxima around the same time and is considering one for the Titan. You’ll be able to buy VW TDIs again after a couple years on hiatus, and Mercedes has their E320 Bluetec available now. That gets around 30mpg combined – almost 10mpg over the gas version. And I’m lusting over the dual-turbo diesel 3 and 5 series that we’ll get in a couple of years – we already know that the 335/535d will get around 35mpg, and if the 330/530d are sold as well, expect those to top 40mpg. That’s as good as the real-world numbers of some hybrids, nearly as clean emissions-wise – but you get a ton more power and acceleration. Important to gearheads like me, anyway
A diesel hybrid is the next logical step and I can guarantee that automakers are working on them, but the problem for now is that even independently, they’re both very expensive technologies (if you buy a diesel or hybrid, you’re expecting a several thousand dollar premium). When you put the two together, that might mean phenomenal mpg, but the increased cost is something that would be very hard to recover in better fuel economy. Electric hybrids are a decent solution today, but I don’t think it’ll stay that way for long.
@rainmkr: Ditch the Element gas hog for the upcoming Jetta TDI – the new generation is far better than the 4th gen cars.
I’ve found nothing wrong with my MKIV Golf (2001) TDI. Still gets over 47mpg and has 327,500 miles on it as of tonight. No problems. Think I’ll keep it until the new batch of turbodiesels come out.
the TDI Jetta is already available if you fancy a trip into Canada
the 2006 volkswagen Canada TDI (diesel) lineup also
include the Golf TDI, Beetle TDI, and Jetta TDI as well
though the mileage is rated in Liters per 100km
rather than in miles per gallon
so far on the current VW.ca site only lists a Jetta TDI though
Consider that a stock 98 geo metro–while really cheap– gets 40 mpg city. while driving it really hard. 49 mpg cruzing from seattle to spokane. (0-60 in under 20 seconds, or at least it sounds loud enough to) take it up to 60 in third gear as fast as possible then you still have two more gears for driving down the highway. someone needs to take a 4 banger and down tune it until it makes a solid 75 horsepower or less. Hybrids take care of emissions, but mean nothing when you have an engine that still makes over 100 horsepower. Make the car weigh less, and everybody wins.
The title should read “Top 10 Most Fuel Efficient Cars in US”, here is a link to german giude for the year 2007 to fuel consumption and CO2 emissions “http://dat.de/leitfaden/LeitfadenCO2.pdf”. The numbers for fuel consumtion are in l/100km. Conversion fom mpg to l/100km is 1 mile per gallon = 235.214584 l/100km. As you can see there are a couple of diesel cars that beat all hybryds (except prius), and not only that, they have some real power (like 100kw, prius 57kw).
When the first Ford motorcar came off the assembly line it got 20 miles to the gallon..
WHERE’S THE DIESELS??
WE GOT EM IN OZ…..
!!!
and the new supercharged/turbocharged VW golf too….
Good list guys, one correction though:
The Jeep listed is the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT/8, 11/14 mpg for an 420hp SUV that does 0-60 in 4.4 seconds is not bad. The other JGC’s have higher mileage #’s (and lower performance #’s)
@JustAGuy2: can’t get close enough. I’ll get it recalled instead
@Saboth: Explorer’s maybe. Suburbans, heck yeah! Hummers, OMG yes!
@sshole? Come on, that’s just rude.
[dat.de]
has incorrect data for the Prius. The 57kW is for the ICE only. The combined net power is 82 kW – that’s the highest of any of those cars listed in the top 10 lowest CO2 emitters.
>> How come the manufacturers could make
>> good, sturdy, full-size cars which
>> got great mileage but can’t now?
Safety requirements.
I have a ’83 VW Rabbit Diesel pickup that gets 45 mpg and a ’02 VW Jetta TDi that also gets 45 mpg and that’s highway AND city driving. I laugh in the face of people who think that 30-35 mpg is being “fuel efficient.” Sure maybe I pay 3-5 cents more per gallon for my fuel but I get double or triple the miles that you get out of your vehicles. And I want to to know why diesel car owners don’t get a rebate or a tax break like the hybrid owners do. How is that fair?
@MYarms: They should, but there’s something called politics …
Flexfuel E85 vehicles are a horrible solution as well. At worst, it costs an automaker a couple hundred dollars to adapt existing vehicles to be E85 capable. This typically involves changing seals and some piping in the fuel system, since E85 is highly corrosive. Remember as well that E85 gets only 2/3 the mpg as gasoline, so it has to cost 2/3 as much in order for it to make sense to fuel your vehicle with it. But the reason automakers are using it is because it’s kind of a shortcut to achieving higher CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) numbers, especially from big, heavy cars – that’s why you will see a lot of ‘Flexfuel’ badges on the back of full-size SUVs. If I recall correctly, by making the new Suburban E85-capable, GM raised the ‘effective’ mpg rating to almost 40mpg, although it’s actual fuel economy comes nowhere close to that.
Add that together with massive subsidies for corn farmers (which has resulted in skyrocketing prices for stuff like milk and meat), and the fact that other technologies that are capable of increasing fuel economy (such as hybrids and diesels) are expensive – costing an automaker thousands per car – and you begin to see the bigger implications.
In light of all this, diesels present themselves as a pretty good solution. Prior to last year or so, diesels have never had a significant market share in the U.S. because the sulfur content in diesel fuel was too high for most diesel cars that were coming out of Europe. Now that those standards are revised, many roadblocks have been removed for marketing diesel cars in the U.S. again … but the challenge that remains is overcoming the stigma (dirty, slow, stinky, noisy) that surrounded it in the 70′s and 80′s, when diesels were last popular here. Like I said in a previous post, the BMW 535d (which we will be getting in the U.S.) that gets to 60 in 6.5 seconds and has 272hp and 413 lbs of torque (more than a V10 powered M5!) while returning an average of 35mpg is a pretty damn compelling argument.