Top 10 Fuel-Efficient Cars, Both Little and Luxury...
Feb 20, 2008
Top 10 Fuel-Efficient Cars, Both Little and Luxury
Europe and Japan trounce American makers on two top ten lists
Using the EPA’s new fuel efficiency estimates, The Daily Green blog has rounded up the top ten most-efficient vehicles for 2008. Not surprisingly, the Toyota Prius sits atop the heap, with 48 mpg around town and 45 mpg when it’s cruising along the highway.
The rest of the field is made up of the usual suspects, including the Honda Civic hybrid, and the Nissan Altima hybrid. A couple of non-hybrids made the cut, such as the compact, jelly-bean-like Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit. The surprise may be that there was a three-way tie for the number four most fuel-efficient vehicle—between three SUVs. The Ford Escape hybrid, its sister the Mercury Mariner hybrid, and the Mazda Tribute hybrid all rated 34 city, 30 highway.
On the EPA’s new web site, www.fueleconomy.gov, they lay out all of the ratings and offer a PDF for easy printing or download. They also break down ratings by class, which is where we find the 2008 Smart fortwo at 33/41 mpg.
As long as we’re in a top-ten mood, ForbesAutos.com compiled a list of the ten most fuel-efficient luxury cars. The winner was the Mercedes-Benz E320 Blutec, a large, two-ton, diesel sedan that returns 23 mpg in the city and 32 on the highway. Second place went to the Audi TT 2.0T, which gets 22 city/30 highway in either hardtop or convertible form.
While the EPA list is mostly Japanese makers with the occasional SUV from the Big Three, not one American car maker made Forbes’s luxury list. Volvo filled a couple of slots with the S40 and new hatchback C30; Audi had two more make the list, the A3 2.0T and A4 2.0T; and Lexus (with its 450h hybrid), Acura, and even a Porsche polished off the rankings.
