Consumer Reports tested some new compacts and a sporty car and found twelve cars with the most fuel efficiency. Some of them even bring in numbers close to what the best hybrids can offer.
Rank / Car / MPG (overall / city / highway)
12. Mini Cooper S 30 / 22 / 38
11. Mazda3 30 / 21/ 42
10. Kia Rio5 SX 30 / 23 / 36
9. Hyundai Accent GS 30 / 23 / 36
8. Honda Civic EX 31 / 22 / 40
7. Honda Fit automatic, base 32 / 22 / 43
6. Toyota Yaris automatic, base 33 / 23 / 44
5. Honda Fit Sport 34 / 26 / 39
4 .Toyota Yaris, base 34 / 26 / 42
3. Toyota Camry Hybrid CVT 34 / 28 / 41
2. Honda Civic Hybrid CVT 37 / 26 / 47
1. Toyota Prius CVT 44 / 35 / 50
(Photo: Getty)
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Aren’t the hybrids supposed to have better City mileage than highway mileage due to the braking powering the batteries? All of the stuff in here shows hybrids with high highway mileage and low city mileage.
ok so for my commute I get only ~28-32mpg… but proolly have a hell of a lot more fun… (well as much as you can in boston traffic.. 2006 Lotus Elise hardtop touring package… fun and semi efficent
My car is on the list!!! I always knew my car got good mileage but it’s nice to know it’s in the top 10.
Dunno about these numbers – we’ve had a Honda Fit Sport manual that gets 29-30 in the city and 34-35 on the freeway, sometimes as high as 38-39 depending on driving conditions.
I would prefer to not own a car at all but, until local voters and the state kick in more money for public transportation, there’s really no other option.
Is there a good list for best mileage cars in the past 20 years instead of just this year? I’m looking to buy my first car, used.
@Nakko:
Suzuki DL650- 52 MPG
Buy fewer cars and more Motorcycles.
I don’t know why I don’t find it on these lists, but I get 42 mpg in town with my 2005 Hyundai Accent. It’s a three door hatchback, and a five speed. I get high thirties on the highway, and mid thirties when I’ve got my snow tires on. It’s a great little car.
I’m bringing over a microvan. 35 mpg, and room for the whole family.
hey the mini cooper..nice.All the other suck. When my 87 sube turns 50 years old maybe I’ll go seek the little cooper. For now the record of 56mpg on a beautiful summer day is with a 20 year old carbed sube…and it does it more than once.oh no. stick that in thier marketing?
@Nakko: More realistically, about 55-60 city, I own one and only have to fill up about once every 3 weeks.
How do you not include the Corolla??
@OSIRIS7: Take a look at http://www.fueleconomy.gov
It has mpg estimates for US-sold cars back to 1994.
my 1979 Univega gets 0 gallons per mile, which is pretty good.
Excuse me, where is my Jetta TDI?
I get an average of 45mpg!
We need more diesels.
My 2001 Corolla averages about 45mpg… I’ve gotten up to 50mpg on long trips.
I love my Mazda 3. My 2004 averaged 40 mpg on a recent road trip. I was commuting an insane amount for my last job and this little car saved my butt. I went from a Honda CRX (that died, bless it’s soul, with 275K on it) so I was a little spoiled with good gas mileage.
I love my Mazda 3 as well. Car really offsets my 16mpg in my Firebird. I could get 20 mpg in the city w/ that f-body, but my foot doesn’t want to.
There’s some apples/oranges comparison going on here. The big thing about the Prius, as some have mentioned, is that it, unlike most of the other cars on the list, is not a compact car. It has a mid-size interior (once compared it to a Chrysler 300, and it matched up pretty closely). The other thing is that, while the Mini Cooper does sip gas, it requires higher octane gas, so those looking to pay less for gas should look elsewhere…
Let’s think about this…
In Southern California, diesels will save FUEL, but they won’t save MONEY. They generally cost substantially more to buy (like a hybrid), but even more disturbing, the fuel is ridiculously more expensive than good ‘ol gasoline.
Many years ago the oil companies explained that diesel fuel was cheaper because it required less refining than gas. What happened? Demand? If so, putting more diesels back on the road in California will only make the fuel more expensive. Where are the wood-fired steamers when you need them?
Anyone look at the new Suzuki sx4 Sport 2008. It has 143 hp and 136 lb.-ft. of torque and that torque is in the 3000K range. It’s not the gas sipper sadly, at 31 mgp with the auto. But 143hp in a 2800 lbs car not to bad. It’s basically loaded @ 14,500. power everything, 6 airbags std.
[www.motortrend.com]
It looks like a fun car. Need to test drive one.
I currently have a 93 Sentra with 275K miles. She’s on her last leg. I might make it to summer. Great car and I’ve been avg 30mpg. Everywhere I read it’s the fit this or that. Get the Honda FIT. Great gas and roomy. But a redesign is already loose in Japan and on it way to the states soon. So buying one while young to the us it is, with a redesign on the way the current one is long in the tooth.
@synergy: Hah, I’ll be the exception to the rule and say that I take the bus and subway to work, and I live near DC.
@synergy: I would love to metro or take the bus into DC to work, but it would add more that 3 hours to each day and the fares aren’t exactly cheap
Glad to see my Honda Civic EX is on the list! I looked at the Civic Hybrid on the car lot and figured the extra $$ I was going to have to shell out to purchase a Hybrid wasn’t worth it. As far as gas mileage there wasn’t that much of a difference and I would be saving a few thousand dollars picking the EX over the Hybrid.
As far as the bus/metro vs. drive in DC commute I opt to drive in DC and they just raised prices on the metro! It would cost me over 10 bucks a day on the train.
@WarShrike: My Mazda 3 hatchback is the best car I’ve ever had. Speedy, sporty, relatively roomy (and flexible roominess, which is important b/c for my job I sometimes haul a bunch of weird stuff in my car), handles well, gets great in-town mileage, and it is quite inexpensive. My only complaint is that it is so ubiquitous I have attempted several times to get into someone else’s in a parking lot.
These numbers are way off. Remember two years ago when the Honda Civic Hybrid got 50/50? It’s the same car! If you floor it I guess you get 26 mpg in the city.
@harryhoody: EPA changed the mpg testing method to reflect a more accurate data.
This list shows exactly why everyone buys Hondas and Toyotas.
I’m actually selling my Ford Excursion which gets 12 miles per gallon and buying a Yaris this weekend!
Yay, my mazda 3 is on there, I love that car.
26 in the city for Civic Hybrid? What are they doing at consumer reports, I own one and the worst we ever got in the city was 38.
By the way, Road and Track got 40.7 for Honda Civic, and 41.0 for Prius. And them dudes are real heavy on the gas pedal!
good thing my 97 escort is getting 34 actual MPG. Granted the A/C is not working. but i think if it as sweat therapy for weight loss.