Cars with best mileage (Forbes)

[JPaul]

As a side note, Forbes published a recap on the cars with the best mileage, at least according to "mile-per-gallon fuel efficiency as measured by the EPA and five-year total fuel costs as measured by Vincentric, an auto-consulting firm based in Bingham Farms, Mich.". Note that the smart gets only an honorable mention because evaluation over a five years period was not available; though it's the best of the lot, of course! More at:

Cars With The Best Gas Mileage - Forbes.com

[jose3030]

I like how the Smart Fortwo gets honorable mention out of 10 when it's the highest rated gas mileage car that runs on pure gasoline in the USA.

Shows you how biased they are.

[theguywiththelongestname]

autobytel ranks the smart at #4:

Gas mileage - High mileage Compact Cars - Top 10 cars and trucks at Autobytel.com

[Z06-LITE]

Originally Posted by theguywiththelongestname

autobytel ranks the smart at #4:

Gas mileage - High mileage Compact Cars - Top 10 cars and trucks at Autobytel.com

One through three are Hybrids, not gas only. Smart still #1 gas only.

[cowancom]

Our smart after 2 years and 25,000 miles has averaged 36mpg. We needed another car so we just ordered a Ford Fiesta. It's rated at 40mpg hwy. I'll let you know. We'll have 2 gas powered cars that both are listed at 40+mpg. I said I would never buy a Ford. Times are a changing.

[rfernatt]

Originally Posted by cowancom

Our smart after 2 years and 25,000 miles has averaged 36mpg. We needed another car so we just ordered a Ford Fiesta. It's rated at 40mpg hwy. I'll let you know. We'll have 2 gas powered cars that both are listed at 40+mpg. I said I would never buy a Ford. Times are a changing.

I've reserved a Fiesta too, but the MPG data is still preliminary and requires the 6-speed dual clutch trans as well as a special SFE package that isn't available on all trim levels or in combination with other options. And, of course, premium fuel will probably be required with that 11:1 compression ratio.

It will be interesting to see how it actually performs and how it is rated by the EPA. Even without the SFE package, the dual-clutch 6 speed is still projected to return 38 mpg highway. Overall, it looks very nice and should be a strong competitor for the Fit.

[GregoryR]

I'm getting a very consistent 42 - 44 mpg in my 2009 Passion coup. Since I bought the car I've never experience mpg as low as the top EPA rating. I'm mainly driving a 42 mile each way commute, so that limits my cold starts to 8 per tank for the most part.I think that may be one of the factors that determine the mpg, number of times the car is started, especially cold per tank. I've also seen some higher mpg per tank, up to 46 to 47, but I think that may be due to earlier pump shutoff after really loading up the previous tank. The consistent 42 - 44 seems to vary with temperature, lower mpg in quite cold weather very hot weather (AC running?) and higher in moderate temps.