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Would I buy one? It's a question I ask myself whenever I slide behind the wheel of a car. Would I drop my hard earned money on one of these? Would I want to own it? Drive it for years? Look at it in my driveway? Tell people it's mine?
It's also the question you the reader ask me the most. So I've decided to go through all the cars we now have in our fleet and decide whether or not I would buy one. I also included a few recently departed vehicles. Seems appropriate since they just left us.
Here are the fuel economy figures for April 2009. As usual, we've listed the best and worst tanks and the average over the entire life of the vehicle.
We're missing a couple of cars that were out of town or unavailable at the time we took the readings.
| Car | Best | Worst | Average |
| 2009 Audi A4 Avant | 26.8 | 17.5 | 22.3 |
| 2008 BMW 135i | 27.7 | 9.5 | 19.8 |
| 2009 BMW 750i | 21.8 | 14.6 | 19.1 |
| 2002 BMW M3 | 23.5 | 12.3 | 17.5 |
| 2009 BMW M3 | 16.8 | 9.6 | 14.8 |
| 2008 Cadillac CTS | 32.5 | 9.9 | 19.2 |
| 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T | 18.1 | 10.3 | 16.3 |
| 2009 Ford Flex Limited | 26.7 | 13.7 | 19.6 |
| 2008 Ford Focus SES | 40.6 | 16.6 | 26.7 |
| 2007 Honda Civic GX | 47.3 | 12.7 | 31.7 |
| 2009 Honda Fit Sport | 39.0 | 26.0 | 32.0 |
| 2009 Hyundai Genesis | 24.8 | 15.5 | 20.7 |
| 2009 Infiniti FX50 | 21.8 | 10.7 | 17.1 |
| 2009 Mazda 6 | 29.1 | 19.5 | 23.5 |
| 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X GSR | 22.6 | 11.0 | 17.2 |
| 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X MR | 21.3 | 11.7 | 16.8 |
| 2009 Nissan GT-R | 21.8 | 11.5 | 16.5 |
| 2008 Pontiac G8 GT | 19.4 | 14.1 | 17.3 |
| 2008 Smart Fortwo Passion | 43.4 | 23.5 | 33.7 |
| 2009 Suzuki SX4 | 25.0 | 18.6 | 22.5 |
| 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI | 43.0 | 28.7 | 35.3 |
| 2005 Volkswagen Jetta on Biodiesel | 49.1 | 26.2 | 38.8 |
After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
What's it like working at Inside Line?
I get this question almost daily from somebody, and my answer usually blows their mind. I say, "Well, everyday this guy Mike walks up to me with a clipboard that contains a list of 15 to 30 cars ranging from a Smart to a GT-R and he says, 'Scott, what do you want to drive home tonight.'"
It's true.
I was thinking the other day (always a dangerous proposition, I know) and wondering how all the current (or really, really recently departed) Edmunds/Inside Line long-term vehicles stack up against each other in fuel economy, at least the fuel economy we've been recording during their time with us. So I made a list. For you and for me. In case we were both wondering.
The only current vehicles missing from my list are the Audi R8 and the Dodge Grand Caravan, and that's because no one has entered any fuel data into the tracking spreadsheet for those vehicles yet. The very top and the very bottom of the list aren't going to surprise anybody (I don't think), but the middle is kinda interesting. Seeing the Rondo and the WRX so close to each other made me raise my eyebrows. Ditto the Ford GT's spot above the Veracruz. Ready to check it all out? Follow the jump with me.
It's been a long time since we've tallied up our fuel economy numbers for this car. So here's the scoop:
Mileage: 33,944
Best tank: 28.45
Worst tank: 15.55
Average MPG to date: 20.40
That's pretty mediocre considering the EPA estimate for this model is 26 mpg combined.
After a long time away from it, I was pleased to be back in our long-term 2006 Lexus RX 400h this weekend. There are many things I like about it. OK, it's a little creepy to turn the key and hear. ...
Although our Lexus RX 400h long-termer has mostly been retired from the fleet and is now driven by non-editorial Edmunds folks, it occasionally falls back into our hands to make sure everything's running smoothly with the goal to test the long-long-term reliability of hybrids. After driving the RX to and from Willow Springs International Raceway, I'm happy to report everything is A-OK.
I can't really say the same about highway fuel economy, however. With cruise control set at 75 mpg there and back, I only managed 25.4 mpg (according to the trip computer)...
This month signifies two full years of Lexus RX 400h ownership. Our reasons for keeping it in service this long are primarily to test the durability of its hybrid system. This is also why it doesn't receive too many blog posts.
Now that we recently eclipsed the 30,000-mile mark, its about time for a fuel economy update. The numbers are unimpressive and well below 31 city and 27 hwy EPA estimations...
Hey, everybody, I'm green. Or am I?
EPA estimates for our 2006 Lexus RX 400h are 31 mpg city and 27 mpg highway. That's better than the average SUV and certainly better than Lexus's non-hybrid counterpart, the 2006 RX 330, which is only rated at 19 city / 25 hwy...
It's not all trips to the country club for our 2006 Lexus RX 400h. This past weekend, the Lexus pulled garage sale duty instead. Our friends, the Calderons, were having a garage sale and we couldn't resist the opportunity to haul over some junk of our own.
The last run consisted of just three items, a couple of Ikea wall shelves, the longest one measuring 75 inches, and a picnic basket...
Last night I had the very good fortune to spend some time behind the wheel of our Lexus RX 400h. When I first started at Edmunds, I had a well-documented disdain for SUVs, but there have been several in the fleet that I enjoy. The Audi Q7 is super-deluxe, the RAV4 is a great little truck, the Cadillac SRX is fantastic, the FJ Cruiser could ford streams, haul tree stumps and chase down the Abominable Snowman, the Edge has... uh, .....
Our RX was due for a 25,000 mile service. Coincidentally the alignment was off, so we had that addressed as well.
We received prompt and friendly service when we called Lexus of Santa Monica. The service included typical visual inspections, fluid top-offs, an oil and filter change and tire rotation...
Cars without engine braking bug me. As a result I spend much of my commute all balled up. You see, the majority of the non-shifting masses here in L.A. don't think twice about slapping down the brake pedal in 70-mph traffic. Why?..
My commute is ridiculous. It takes me between 45 to 50 minutes to travel eight miles. I could ride a bicycle home faster -- that's if there was anything resembling a safe bike lane. But my stop-and-go drive home with speeds that top out at 30 mph perhaps once, is a great laboratory for testing our hybrid Lexus RX 400h's maximum gas mileage...
I headed north a few days ago to interview two experts about the new plug-in hybrid developments at the Detroit Auto Show. It was appropriate that I would make this journey in a hybrid, albeit a "muscle hybrid," a 2006 RX 400h, which has recently been getting 19.9 mpg around town.
Two summers ago I took this car on a 3,000-mile trip to Whistler, Canada, and got about 26 mpg. On this shorter journey I got 24.7 mpg until I got back into Los Angeles where the reading crept up to 25.1 mpg...
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