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Most fuel-efficient vehicles by category  

11/21/2006

Among Consumer Reports' vehicle test criteria are measurements of fuel economy. Our fuel economy numbers come from our measurements using a precision flow meter and are rounded to the nearest mile per gallon (mpg).

CR's overall mileage and the amount and cost of fuel used in 15,000 miles are calculated from equal portions of city and expressway driving and on a 150-mile trip, figuring fuel cost at $1.50 per gallon for regular or diesel, and $1.70 for premium. Annual cost is rounded to the nearest $5. Cruising range is calculated based on CR's overall mileage in the 150-mile trip.

The charts that follow feature rankings of vehicles' fuel-efficiency by category--from family sedans to sporty cars to SUVs.

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

FAMILY SEDANS

1 Honda Accord EX (4-cyl.)

24

16

38

28

2 Toyota Camry LE (4-cyl.)

24

16

35

29

3 Saturn L200 (4-cyl.)

24

15

36

30

4 Honda Accord EX (V6)

23

15

34

26

5 Volkswagen Passat GLS (4-cyl).

23

15

35

28

6 Mazda 6 i (4-cyl.)

23

16

33

27

7 Pontiac Grand Am SE (4-cyl.)

23

15

38

28

8 Chevrolet Malibu LS

22

15

32

26

9 Mitsubishi Galant ES (V6)

22

15

30

27

10 Volvo S40

22

14

31

27

11 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

22

15

32

28

12 Nissan Maxima GXE*

21

14

31

27

13 Chrysler Sebring LX (V6)

21

14

30

27

14 Ford Taurus SEL

21

14

30

26

15 Volkswagen Passat GLX (V6)

21

14

30

25

16 Hyundai Sonata GLS (V6)

21

14

30

27

17 Subaru Legacy L Special Ed.

21

14

30

26

18 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE

20

14

30

25

19 Chevrolet Impala LS

20

12

31

25

20 Mazda 6 s V6

20

14

30

23

21 Oldsmobile Alero GL (V6)

20

13

31

25

22 Toyota Camry XLE (V6)

20

13

29

25

23 Hyundai XG350 L

19

13

30

23

24 Pontiac Grand Prix GT*

19

12

31

24

25 Dodge Intrepid ES

19

12

30

24

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

UPSCALE SEDANS

1 Lincoln LS (V6)

23

14

39

27

2 Acura TL Type-S

22

14

34

27

3 BMW 330i

22

15

32

26

4 Mercedes-Benz C320

21

15

29

25

5 Lexus IS300

21

15

28

25

6 Volvo S60 2.4T

21

14

31

25

7 Lexus ES300

21

14

34

26

8 Chrysler 300M

21

13

34

25

9 Infiniti I35

20

14

29

25

10 Audi A4 3.0 Quattro

20

14

29

23

11 Mitsubishi Diamante

20

13

34

25

12 Jaguar X-Type 3.0

19

13

29

24

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

LARGE SEDANS

1 Buick Park Avenue Ultra

21

13

32

26

2 Toyota Avalon XLS

21

13

31

26

3 Pontiac Bonneville

20

12

33

25

4 Buick LeSabre

20

13

31

25

5 Lincoln Town Car Signature

17

11

27

22

6 Mercury Grand Marquis LSE

16

10

25

21

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

LUXURY SEDANS

1 Acura RL

21

14

28

25

2 Volvo S80

21

13

33

25

3 BMW 5-Series

20

12

30

25

4 Jaguar S-Type

20

13

30

25

5 Cadillac DeVille

19

12

29

23

6 Audi A6

18

12

27

23

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

SMALL SEDANS

1 Honda Insight (manual)

51

36

66

61

2 Volkswagen Golf GLS TDI (manual)

41

29

54

50

3 Toyota Prius

41

30

49

48

4 Toyota Echo (manual)

38

29

46

44

5 Honda Civic Hybrid

36

26

45

44

6 Volkwagen Jetta GLS TDI (Diesel)

32

22

46

41

7 Toyota Corolla LE

29

20

39

35

8 Honda Civic EX

29

20

41

36

9 Chevrolet Cavalier LS

26

18

37

30

10 Hyundai Accent GL

26

18

38

33

11 Mazda Protégé LX

26

19

34

30

12 Nissan Sentra GXE

26

18

36

32

13 Mitsubishi Lancer LS

26

19

35

31

14 Ford Focus ZTS

25

17

35

31

15 Hyundai Elantra GLS

25

16

35

30

16 Suzuki Aerio GS

25

18

32

29

17 Dodge Neon SXT

24

16

34

29

18 Saturn Ion 3

24

17

34

29

20 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS

22

16

27

25

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

SPORTY CARS

1 Mini Cooper

30

23

38

35

2 Toyota Celica GT-S

28

21

36

32

3 Acura RSX Type-S

26

18

37

31

4 Volkswagen New Beetle Turbo S

25

18

32

29

5 Honda Civic Si

25

19

33

30

6 Mitsubishi Eclipse (V6)

24

17

32

28

7 Ford Focus SVT

24

17

32

29

8 Hyundai Tiburon GT (V6)

22

15

30

25

9 Subaru Impreza WRX

21

15

28

25

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

ROADSTERS
1 Toyota MR2

31

25

36

34

2 Honda S2000

27

21

33

30

3 Mazda MX-5 Miata

27

21

34

30

4 Mercedes-Benz SLK320

23

17

31

26

5 Porsche Boxster 2.7

22

17

28

25

6 Audi TT Quattro Convertible

22

16

30

25

7 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible

21

15

31

24

8 Ford Thunderbird Premium

17

12

25

21

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

SMALL SUVS

1 Toyota Matrix XR AWD

24

17

33

29

2 Toyota RAV4

22

16

27

26

3 Honda CR-V EX

21

15

27

24

4 Subaru Forester S

20

15

26

25

5 Saturn VUE (V6)

18

12

26

23

6 Mazda Tribute LX (V6)

18

12

24

22

7 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS (V6)

18

13

23

22

8 Ford Escape XLT (V6)

17

12

24

21

9 Suzuki XL-7 Touring

17

12

22

21

10 Land Rover Freelander SE

17

13

22

20

11 Jeep Liberty Sport (V6)

15

10

21

18

12 Nissan Xterra SE (V6)

15

11

21

19

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

MIDSIZED & LARGE SUVS

1 Honda Pilot EX

19

13

27

23

2 Acura MDX

18

12

27

22

3 Lexus RX300*

18

13

23

22

4 Toyota Highlander Limited (V6)

18

12

24

22

5 Nissan Pathfinder LE

16

11

22

19

6 Ford Explorer XLT (V6)

16

11

23

20

7 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (6-cyl.)

16

10

23

20

8 Buick Rendezvous CXL

16

11

24

21

9 BMW X5 4.4i

15

10

20

18

10 Mercedes-Benz ML500

15

11

20

18

11 GMC Envoy SLE (V6)

15

10

22

19

12 Toyota Sequoia Limited

15

11

20

19

13 Toyota Land Cruiser

14

9

20

18

14 Dodge Durango SLT Plus

13

8

20

16

15 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 LT

13

9

18

17

16 Chevrolet Tahoe LT

13

9

19

17

17 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer

12

8

18

15

18 Ford Excursion XLT

10

6

13

12

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

WAGONS & HATCHBACKS

1 Pontiac Vibe FWD

26

18

36

32

2 Mazda Protégé5

25

18

34

30

3 Ford Focus ZX5

24

17

33

29

4 Toyota Matrix XR AWD

24

17

33

29

5 Volkswagen Jetta GLS 1.8T

23

16

32

29

6 Ford Focus SE

23

15

32

28

7 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport

22

15

29

26

8 Saturn LW300

21

14

32

25

9 Volvo V40

21

13

32

26

10 Volkswagen Passat GLS (4-cyl.)

21

14

31

26

11 Subaru Outback H6 VDC

20

13

28

25

12 Subaru Outback Limited

20

14

28

24

13 Volvo XC70

18

12

26

22

14 Volkswagen Passat GLX 4Motion

18

12

27

23

15 Chrysler PT Cruiser Limited

18

12

27

23

16 Audi Allroad

16

11

21

20

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

MINIVANS

1 Chevrolet Venture LS

19

12

27

23

2 Honda Odyssey EX

19

12

30

24

3 Mazda MPV LX

18

13

25

21

4 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport

18

11

27

22

5 Toyota Sienna LE*

18

12

26

24

6 Ford Windstar SE Sport

17

11

24

22

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

COMPACT PICKUPS

1 Toyota Tacoma TRD (V6)

16

12

22

19

2 Ford Explorer Sport Trac

15

10

21

19

3 Chevrolet S-10 LS (V6)

15

10

21

18

4 Nissan Frontier SC (V6)

14

9

19

17

5 Dodge Dakota SLT Plus 4.7 (V8)

13

8

20

16

Fuel economy
Rank

Model tested

CR Overall mpg

City mpg

Highway mpg

150-mile trip mpg

FULL-SIZED PICKUPS

1 Toyota Tundra SR5 4.7

15

10

22

17

2 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LS 5.3

15

10

22

19

3 Ford F-150 XLT 5.4

14

10

19

17

4 Chevrolet Avalanche 1500

13

9

18

16

5 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 4.7

12

8

17

14

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