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.

Safety requirements.

@Saboth: Explorer's maybe. Suburbans, heck yeah! Hummers, OMG yes!
@sshole? Come on, that's just rude.

@JustAGuy2: can't get close enough. I'll get it recalled instead

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)

WHERE'S THE DIESELS??

WE GOT EM IN OZ.....

!!!

and the new supercharged/turbocharged VW golf too....

When the first Ford motorcar came off the assembly line it got 20 miles to the gallon..

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

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.

@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.

Except 2 or 3 extra seats and a trunk ;^) But, I'd take a diesel any day over a gas hybrid...

I'd like to see a fuel to weight to horsepower sort of a thing.

Interesting, the full size GM vans are the best AND worst in their class. lol.

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.

Also, I bet all those top 10 cars are way safer than most 10-20 year old cars, regradless of size.

@JayP71:

Have you seen one the new Accords on the road? The thing is huge compared to older models. It's as big as a Ford Taurus.

After all saving money on gas for $90/hr repair bills is a bonus right?

/sarcasm

@Cassifras:

There's lead in the paint on the Mona Lisa - you going to key that too?

Those MPG number come from the England, where they have Imperial Gallons that are 20% larger than US gallons. Once you correct for that, the mileage is only 45 MPG US combined. Then you account for the tougher US test, and you're probably at 40 at best.

Also, the 1.9 Jetta emits 143g/km CO2. True.
But the hybrid Civis has only 109 and the Prius is rated at 104g/km in same test in England. That's WAY lower for the hybrids (plus they are faster).

And in case you're wondering, we're getting the 2.0 TDI version of the Jetta here next May as a 2009 model.

For all those with anecdotal evidence about those old cars that get great MPG.....cars today are heavier, safer, faster, and much cleaner. That costs you some MPGs. The MPG per weight and MPG per horse power has gone up significantly in the past 10-20 years. It's our own fault that we kept wanting bigger, faster cars over the years.

For all I care, I can call a camry a compact....it fits into those compact parking spaces...

You are an idiot. So the car gets 10 MPG. Big whoop. You think someone is going to commute or take road trips in a lambo? Meaning, if he only drive it 10 miles a day, down to the golf course, who cares?

How about keying those Ford Explorers that get 15 MPG, and soccer moms are driving them 60 miles a day to run errands?

Or how about you keep your keys in your pocket and respect other people's property @sshole?

Because nowadays we have nanny states telling us we need 500 lbs of saftey cages/airbags/traction controls/black boxes/etc in every car.

"The H2 is a tax loophole. Under the current tax laws, business owners can deduct nearly half the cost of their H2s. If you are in the highest tax bracket, that's a tax savings of nearly $10,000! The government rewards you more savings for buying an H2 than you'd get for buying an electric car."

As Miran said, much can be determined by driving style.

As for mileage numbers, my '99 Escort with a 5-speed does 42 in a 70-30 blend of gentle highway and city miles. It also cost only $1000, and no swaths of earth needed to be strip-mined to make a bank of batteries or large electic motors for it. So I guess what I'm saying is--suck it Prius.

Still, for a large car, the 4 cylinder Accord manual gets pretty good gas mileage.

That's not a hybrid.

@d4005:

Just about all of the Europeon diesels wouldn't pass US emissions standards.

It's not the fault of the diesels though - American emissions standards are built around gasoline engines, and no matter how much less CO2 your diesel emits it's still "dirty" when it comes to NOx and particulate emissions.

What we need is a bit of common sense (and appreciation for basic chemistry and thermodynamics) and maybe then diesels won't be hamstrung in the States.

Also, had a 1983 Buick Skyhawk in 1996, which got 36 mpg with 130,000+ miles. Was still getting that mileage when the transmission went out. I miss you, Skyhawk.

Wow you guys have some bad cars over there if the Prius can make it into the top 10. It wouldn't get into a top 20 in Europe.

@JayP71:
Although the new Accords seem massive compared to my old (2001) model, which is now about the size of a Civic. Go figure.

@topgun: Sounds like something is wrong with your car (unless the engine design really IS that bad). I drive a Crown Vic and average better than that.

Huh? Since when is the Accord a large car??

On first read I didn't notice the S4 Avant on the list for "Worst Mileage"... F*ck! Now I need to debadge my damn car to avoid scorn from my hippie friends and vandalism from ecoterrorists.

You know, I'd like to see a list like this that excludes the hybrid models. I love the idea of hybrids. They're great! They're just expensive. So for those of us who don't want to fork out the cash for a hybrid, what are our best choices for fuel efficiency?

Personally I love my Saturn Ion 2. It drives great and 33 mpg on the highway is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, it's an American car. They may not have the reputation of foreign models, but it's always good to support our own economy.

@Colonel35: Yeah, and an Aston DB9 is a minicompact (same classification as the Mini)???

Diesel FTW!

The older VW diesels got better mileage than most of the hybrids listed.

i bought a MINI Cooper this year. it's manual, but not a convertible. gets great MPG. on the list, it's 32/40.

i also own a 1974 AMC Javelin. i put in a 4-barrel carbuerator + duel exhaust. it gets about 7/8 MPG.

@FLConsumer - Unfortunately, VW is still up in the air about importing a 2009 Passat TDI. The Jetta SportWagen TDI is coming in 2008. Are you a member of the forums over at www.tdiclub.com?

The spelling is atrocious.

Bugati? Rousch? Bently?

Buy a used Ford Escort from the last decade. My '98 sedan gets 30/40.

Jeep Grand Cherokee at 11/14? One would think that Jeep could do more than 3 mpg better than the wicked Veyron.

@FLConsumer: Just wait for VW to start making TDI Passats again. I got the last model they made (2005) and I average 37 mpg for a tank (42+mpg on the highway ride to work).

wait a sec, I thought for sure that the VW Jetta TDI's would have been on this list. Am I missing something?

just another reason to key a lamborghini if you see one. yeah, that's right Jalopolinkers, I said it.