Designing a 40 MPG car is easy. Just designing a safe 40 mpg car which people would buy is not. Yet again the US-Market has next to no choice when it comes to buying economic cars. I have compiled a list of cars which have a mileage of 40 mpg and more. In europe we define the mileage differently. The fuel consumption is measured in 3 cycles: City, Freeway 80 mph, highway 65 mph)So 40 mpg would be 5,88 L/100km. I drive a seat ibiza 1.9 Sdi a slow diesel not one of the insanely fast ones. My freeway speed is 90 mph and most of my driving is in the city. I get 47 mpg.I have not added any hybrids.Here goes my list.:
Alfa Romeo 147 JTD 5.8 L/100 km 40.00 mpg Diesel
Alfa Romeo 156 JTD 5.8 L/100 km 40.00 mpg Diesel
Alfa Romeo SportWag. 5.9 L/100 km 39.40 mpg Diesel
Audi A3 2.0 TDI 5.5 L/100 km 41.90 mpg Diesel
Audi A3 1.9 TDI 5.1 L/100 km 45.56 mpg Diesel
Audi A4 1.9 TDI 5.6 l/100 km 41.26 mpg Diesel
Audi A4 2.0 TDI 5.7 l/100 km 40. mpg Diesel
Audi A6 2.0 TDI 6.8 l/100 km 38.75 mpg Diesel
BMW 118d 5.6 l/100 km 41.61 mpg Diesel
BMW 120d 5.7 l/100 km ~40.00 mpg Diesel
BMW 318d 5.8 l/100 km 40.00 mpg Diesel
BMW 320d 5.9 l/100 km ~39.50 mpg Diesel
Citroen C2 1.1 5.9 l/100 km ~39.50 mpg Premium unleaded
Citroen C2 HDi 70 4.2 l/100 km 56.00 mpg Diesel
Citroen C3 1.1 6.0 l/100 km 38.75 mpg Premium unleaded
Citroen C3 hdi 90 4.4 l/100 km 52.85 mpg Diesel
Ciroen Berlingo HDi 5.7 l/100 km 41.42 mpg Diesel
Citroen Xsara Picas 5.5 l/100 km 42.75 mpg Diesel (Mini-Van)
C4 to C5 all diesel models around 40 mpg
Ferrari JUST JOKING
DAIHATSU has a few 40 mpg gas models all horrible cars (the snob is speaking)
FIAT has a lot of 40 mpg Diesel models
Ford Ka 5.9 l/100 km 39.5 mpg unleaded
Ford Fiesta 1.3 5.9 l/100 km 39.5 mpg premium unleaded
Fusion-Focus-Mondeo all 40 mpg diesel models available.
Honda Jazz 5.5 l/100 km 42.5 mpg premium unleaded
Civic CTDi 5.0 l/100 km ~47.00 mpg Diesel
Accord Diesel 5.4 l/100 km
Honda CR-V 2.2 i 6.7 l/100 km 34,71 mpg Diesel (SUV example)
Lancia has a few 40 mpg cars
Mazda has a lot of 40 mpg cars all diesel
Mercedes A160 4.9 l/100 km 47.40 mpg Diesel
Mercedes C220 CDI 6.1 l/100 km ~39 mpg Diesel Top Speed 140 mph
Mini One D 4.8 l/100 km ~49 mpg Diesel (not comparenle with the nifty Cooper S)
Nissan Micra 5.9 l/100 km ~40 mpg premium unleaded
Opel Corsa 1.0 5.3 l/100 km ~44 mpg premium unleaded (This is a General Motors Car 100% American!)
Opel (General motors) has the usual Diesel 40 mpg diesel cars up to the Minivan Zafira
Peugeot 206 HDI 4.3 l/100 km ~55 mpg Diesel
Peugeot has lots of 40 mpg diesels.
Renault Twingo 1.2 5.0 l/100 km ~47 mpg unleaded! (My favorite car, cheap with airbags and pretty)
Renault Cleo 1.2 5.9 l/100 km ~39 mpg unleaded!
Renaults Diesels have the 40 mpg stigma
Seat Ibiza Cupra 5.5 l/100 km ~42 mpg Diesel (If I had the money - top speed 140 mpg )
I am sorry I have become lazy, this is just too much, I though there were much less 40 mpg cars.
A British Imperial gallon and a U.S. gallon are not equal. What are the chances of the above not being properly converted to U.S. MPG? A Imperial gallon has .201 more volume per gallon.
Thats approximately 20% more fuel per Imperial gallon
I just checked 1 us gallon = 1.785 Litres , I actually caculated 1 US gallon = 1.75 Litres. So the MPG would be slightly better than showed. FYI 1 imp gallon ~ 4.5 Litres.
Okay just so there is no misunderstanding. 1 US Gallon = 3.854111784 Litres. 1 British Gallons is around 1.2 US Gallons. To caculate the list above I used the US-Gallon. So there is little error in the list. Just for any ones interest 1 mile = 1.6 kilometres . To make things more complicated there is a nautical mile = 1.8 Kilometers. Before you start to think the europeans used magic to get such mileages, just keep in mind most of the cars on the list (except for the A6 and the mercedes and a few others) are smaller than a prius. If you feel like it you can take the L/100 km value and put it into the sweat mileage converter web page and check if the list bares many errors. Maybe this will make a few people with gas guzzlers feel better. My Seat Ibiza takes 17 seconds to get to 62 mph. It is the slowest car on the market, oh I really need the turbo most other diesels have.
Can I be blunt. You are and IDIOT. Have you ever heard of supply and demand? The refineries in this country are running at full capacity now. THERE IS NO MORE GAS TO BE HAD. Blame China and India not the “treehuggers”. Ask the oil companies WHY they don’t spend record profits on more capacity. Ask the folks in the middle east why they have Mercedes junkyards in the desert with cars who only need an alternator. Don’t get me wrong. I would love to blast around in my 67 Z28, and would if I still had it. But a NEW Corvette that gets 26MPG highway wouldn’t be bad either. I know it is faster AND safer. I would bet you drive ALONE in your 4 wheel drive pickup truck everywhere. I am done. YOU are hopeless.
Thanks for the list. Now I am sure I want to move to Europe during retirement. In the US, it seems focus groups and not common sense govern what we can buy. My first car was an MGA, hence my handle, I miss the opportunity to buy a true foreign car. I noted the other day while looking at the Civic hybrid (made in Japan) how different it was from the “made in Ohio” standard Civic. Do you have any recommendations on where to live over there? My son was in the US Army stationed in Germany. Upon coming back to the states recently he said he missed living over there. I never got to visit him there. My loss I guess.
Germany is where I come from. Of course Germany has different areas which diverge from Slums to pretty areas . It rains a lot, we have wine regions etc. The living cost are high for a US-Income. The Dollar has lost a lot of its value in the last 10 years. Gas is expensive (the main reason for the small cars) 8,49 Dollars a Gallon (Due to enviroment tax). Languagewise britain is the easiest, but mostly one can get through with english in europe.
Government regulation plays a big hand in what you can buy. Many of the cars that are so beloved that are sold abroad don’t meet either crash or safety specification in the U.S.
I think sometimes people have an overly rosy memory of the gas mileage cars achieved in the 1960’s. I think sometimes people forget that 6-9 MPG was common in a lot V8 powered cars. There were efficient cars, but 30mpg was quite an achievement back then.
I have a vague recollection of VW boasting about the Beetle getting 27 mpg back then. Anyone recall the correct figure? Goshdurnit, it was an outrage to pay 33 cents for premium at the marina… you could get it for 25 up on the 'pike. Oops, sorry, time for my nap.
We have the Honda Jazz in the U.S. but its called the Fit here. It only gets in the mid to low 30 MPG mainly because its only offered with a High output Vtec engine. Maybe when the new designed Fit comes out it will be offered with the 1.3 liter dual spark engine that gets 42 MPG. (which is on your list). That in fact would be my next car if it was offered with the 1.3 L engine.
Suzuki is said to be bring the Swift back into the U.S. 2010 after it gets its freshing up. It to could be a 40 MPG if equipped with a fuel sipping engine. Thats the car the OP was talking about in the first place. The Swift, and Sprint were the same car with different badging.
I love the Suzuki Swift . It is like a Mini Cooper without the history, but some how better. I checked out the 1.3 Litre gas version. Pretty much 40 mpg the 1.5 litre has around 38 mpg. Again these numbers are the average from 1/3 City, 1/3 Freeway, 1/3 Highway. And now comes the down side of buying cars in germany, the price: Basic Version 12,500 Euros = 20 000 $ 19 % sales tax included.
Randy,
Isn’t this natural selection? Within a few generations, conscientious folks like yourself will be extinct, leaving only large clans needing SUV’s and mini-vans to get around. Don’t worry about fuel… the price of gas and the free market system will resolve the issue within a decade. I wouldn’t mind driving a little plastic car around… I just refuse to do it while there are still monster SUV’s on the road! More weight = more safety.
My former sister-in-law bought a new Chevy Citation back in the mid 80s. It was the dealer’s demo car. The car got a phenomenal 38 mpg. They were shocked. Then one day they got a call from the Dealership saying they needed to bring it back as the car had an “experimental” carbeurator and they needed to replace it with a standard one. I’m not sure what happened from there but it seems to confirm that urban legend that fuel efficiency is out there, its just being monopolized by the Big Three. Why? Well, probably the same reason they don’t recall a car for a defect unless the cost is going to be less than the litigation that results from the injuries and deaths attributed to the same. Nice world we live in.
Funny that you mention HHO, I just ran accross a web site yesterday that was singing the praises of Stan Meyer for his HHO dune buggy. The problem is that every website I found that says HHO works, also preaches about “mysterious murders” “stolen research files” and so on. Some of them even admit that no one has been able to duplicate his claims even following his own plans. Every reliable website I could find states that as a automotive fuel HHO is worthless because it takes more energy to create it then you get out of using it for fuel.
To say nothing about all the financial disincentives the oil companies have to drop oil prices. An oil refinery blows up, prices go up per barrel of oil do to reduced ability to process supply. What incentive does the oil company have to fix it? Oil prices go down if they fix it! Less profit, and they have to pay for the costly repairs. And what about the lack of accountability the gas companies have to gas prices? Oil prices go up, they raise gas prices according to speculation on a weekly basis rather than according to a fair market value.