Big List of Fuel Economy

oh sorry i didnt realize you said that some were not available

So why would anyone buy a Smart Fortwo instead of a Honda Fit?

I'm impressed with where the Flex placed. The only ones that beat all 3 of its numbers were the Fit, Focus, Fortwo and the Jettas.

It is rather disappointing to see two thirds of your cars average less then 20 mpg.

I guess it's good you have a pair of Jetta diesels and another Fit to balance things out a bit.

Interesting to see that the A4 and the 135 got identical mileage (on average); I suppose the 135 gets driven more aggressively, has more power and is a tubby little bugger...

What? 16.3 mpg for the GT-R? You guys where not driving it hard enough.

It's interesting that all of these crossovers and sporty cars are huddled just below 20 mpg. It also appears that sporty 4-banger turbo cars don't seem to realize a big advantage over larger displacement engines.

How the heck do you guys get less than 20 MPG from your A4?? My friend averaged 27 over the life of his V6 A4.

Great my 300e gets about the same average as the R8 and GTR super cars. Too bad it doesn't have the same acceleration; it's damn slo.

For all of the bashing that the ForTwo takes for not getting 50+ mpg, at least it's at the top of the heap, right?

what is actually impressive is that 2+ ton 4wd v8 infiniti got 17.5 mpg. Compared to the recent X5 mpg update it's actually pretty economical.

Mike mentioned that I had included some of the track sessions in the list. So I went in and slightly adjusted the R8, GT-R and 135i. It didn't change their places in the order. -- Donna

Man you guys must drive those things like you stole them. But yes, if you want affordable fuel economy, there is no reason not to get the Fit. Great car.

STI > Evo! :o)

Wow! I'm not a big fan of the 1 series, but I have to say I'm very impressed with the 135i's standings, it's the most fuel efficient performance-oriented car there. Strange though how the twin turbo I6 135i beat the three Japanese turbo I4s, and by quite a considerable margin (compared to the Evos at least)
must be the effect of all wheel drive? cause all three (or four in this case) have pretty similar curb weights

commuting in LA = crappy mpg

I'm closer to 20mpg in my M3.

Your best mileage for the Fit is what I get in my 09 manual transmission fit pretty much on a daily basis. Yes, I drive in heavy traffic as well in my 40 mile round trip commute. Dallas traffic sucks, as do most of the drivers here.

Anyway, your 32.1 seems a little on the low side to me. And don't get me started on the EPA rating of 33 hwy as something is seriously wrong with that number. They must have tested the Fit with the A/C running and the car going 90 mph because under normal driving speeds of 65 mph I'm easily doing 10 mpg better than the EPA highway number.

There's no such thing as a 2009 (or any other year) Volkswagen Jetta BLUETEC. There is a 09 VW Jetta TDI in your garage though (no urea needed).

FrankZappa22 - Good one...=)

This only confirms what we've known; The Smart is woefully under-engineered, overpriced transportation device that relies on novelty to make sales and has not one practical advantage (at least for the US) over similarly sized cars like the Fit and Yaris.

Throw that together with the excellent dealer network and support that you get when purchasing a Honda or Toyota and it's amazing that US Consumers consider purchasing the Smart at all...

"This only confirms what we've known; The Smart is woefully under-engineered, overpriced transportation device that relies on novelty to make sales and has not one practical advantage (at least for the US) over similarly sized cars like the Fit and Yaris."

There is one advantage you're overlooking: diminutive dimensions for places where street parking is at a premium, since you can park these perpendicular to the curb.

"How the heck do you guys get less than 20 MPG from your A4?? My friend averaged 27 over the life of his V6 A4."

No car with a V6 is going to average that in mixed driving.

Mileage for the EVOs and STi is terrible. Flex's mileage is impressive. The A4's mileage is pretty disappointing as well considering it's a four cylinder.

The closed place I've seen to ask this...what happened to the Edge? (The last time it showed up in any post was "The Big List of Fuel Economy" on 9/28/2008)

Donna, Donna!

I think I get it! The Smart is a small, tiny car that doesn't use much gas. You parked it in front of an oil rig to show us how it stacks up against other cars.

Am I right? I really want to know!

"No car with a V6 is going to average that in mixed driving."

My brothers 2003 Impala with a 3.4 averaged between 8 and 9 L/100km over the 5 years he had it. That's about 27 mpg in a large V6 sedan.

Yes! Glad to see the G8 pulling it's weight.

You guys might not be trying hard enough though, I've managed to crack the 10mpg barrier before. I mean really, who knew a 6l v8 in a 4k lbs car would be bad on gas???

Those comparing anecdotal mileages should know better, especially since few people accurately track their mileage like car journalists do. Also make sure you are all using the same (US) gallons.

Stop using engine size and cylinder count to try and predict mileage. Mileage is a function of weight, power, compression ratio (efficiency of the engine), gearing, aerodynamics and then driving habits. Engine displacement and cylinder numbers don't matter.

"Engine displacement and cylinder numbers don't matter. "

Wow... really? Where'd you read that?

"Those comparing anecdotal mileages should know better, especially since few people accurately track their mileage like car journalists do."

Know better why? It isn't rocket science. Someone who owns a car for years will have a better idea about the real mileage then a journalist who uses a tank or two off and on. Calculating mileage down to the decimal point is meanless because there are too many varibles but within a couple mpg is perfectly accurate. If you normally fill your car and reset the trip metre, you will know how far it goes on how much fuel. From there the math is easy.

i.e. My Legacy goes 500 kms on roughy 45 litres of gas in the summer (26 mpg) and 50L (23 mpg) in the winter. Been consistant for the 4 years I've had it.

"Also make sure you are all using the same (US) gallons.

If I was using regular gallons I would have said Imperial. I translated into US gallons because most Americans don't normally use L/100km. It would make no sense to put it in Imperial gallons.

Added the Honda Civic GX -- Donna

The Evo GSR with all the performance mods does a little better than the stock MR. Hmm. That doesn't really stack up. Gain 100HP and get better fuel economy?

I may use this to finally get the wife to agree to a few little upgrades.

ibognar-
Far be it from me to stand between convincing your wife to allow some mods, but it really doesn't make much sense. A lot of their mods focus on reducing engine loads-exhaust and intake, cams, etc; still, they are still dumping more fuel into this thing to get the power. Maybe it's a result of more stop and go commuting in one than the other; I can't imagine that the GSR would fare well on a mileage run. The MR even has a more advantageous final drive ratio.

"My brothers 2003 Impala with a 3.4 averaged between 8 and 9 L/100km over the 5 years he had it. That's about 27 mpg in a large V6 sedan."

Either he was calculating mileage wrong or he did little city driving. Under the current EPA standards the Impala with the 3.4 would probably be rated at 18/27 or something similar which means you are not going to average 27mpg in mixed driving. My old car had the 3.4L V6 and it was good for about 15mpg in the city. When I see unrealistic mileage claims I figure its due to bad methodology or the driver's fuzzy definition of "mixed driving". If you live in Iowa or Nebraska your "city" driving probably isnt much like city driving in Philly or LA.

Your right about variations in mixed driving. My sister both drive Subarus and both commute to work in the same city (Vancouver). She lives downtown and I live in the suburbs. I average in the mid 20's and she averages about 17 mpg. Both are "city" driving though.

My brothers commute is simular to mine and he's a conservative driver. His numbers are correct.

BTW ...The Impala 3.4 is rated at 11 L/100 km city (21 mpg US) and 6.7 L/100 km hwy (35 mpg US) by the Canadian ratings so his numbers are right in the middle.

You must have really driven hard or had terrible traffic to get 15 mpg.

I agree with brian60. I recently reset my mpg on my M3 and I'm at about 19.5mpg. I commute 25 minutes each way in rush hour traffic daily and the only other driving I do is for fun (very very spiritied). Before I reset it was at 21. How can your best be 23? I get 25+ on the highway. In regards to the 12.3, were you on the track?? Hehe, no wonder your car is falling apart; hose are some hard miles your logging on that M ;) Then again, if I didn't have to pay for maintenance or tires I probably would run it at 3500rpms+ all day.

I feel bad for the suckers with the A4 that get the same mileage as me!

Added the Mazda 6 -- Donna

what I really want to know is what in the hell were you doing with the caravan when you averaged only 12mpg? Burnouts??? LOL. My family has had three different chrysler town and country minivans and have never seen figures like that, even with our fully loaded AWD with the big V-6.

That 30 on the DGC must have been a long didtance trip. Best I've gotten from mine with the 3.8 is 29 but thats also on a trip from Phila PA to Wilmington NC with a full load for a weeks beach vacation. Not bad

I take Edmunds mpg numbers with a grain of salt. They drive the cars hard & I don't think they pay for the gas out of their own pockets. Add in LA traffic & that equals poor fuel economy.

I have a 2009 Mercedes C300 4-matic rated at 17/25. I'm averaging 22.9 mpg in mixed driving as calculated by me at the pump & not the cars trip computer (which is typically 0.9 mpg higher than mine).