1) Ford Escape Hybrid

The Ford Escape hybrid is a good gas mileage SUV with fuel economy numbers that check in at a mind-boggling 34 city and 31 highway MPG!  And the Escape Hybrid has been the top dog since its release in 2004.  Now don’t freak out because yes, the Mercury Mariner and the Mazda Tribure are both pretty much the same car.  The reaseon why the Ford Escape is such a good gas mileage SUV is because the Hybrid can use electricty alone to acelerate to 30 MPH per wikipedia.  An electric motor helps boost the 133 HP inline 4-cylinder.  Also an Atkinson Cycle engine is much better for hybrids as the power produced is less but the efficiency is better which is more important in a good gas mileage SUV.  The loss in power is made up with the electric motor.  Which is recharged by regenerative braking. Price for the Escape hybrid is about $30k.

2) Lexus RX 450h

Yes luxury companies car produce a good gas mileage SUV.  And Lexus has been doing so for more than 5 years!  Ok here’s the goods: MSRP is around $43k and MPG is 32 city and 28 highway.  The 297 HP V-6 engine is helped via a power inverter and 2 electric motors.  The engine also runs on the atkinson Cycle.  And believe it or not the RX 450h is 20% more efficient than the previous generation 400h.

3) Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain

Hey here is a good gas mileage suv that is not powered by a hybrid motor.  The Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain only get 22 MPG in the city, which is nothing special.  But if you do alot of highway driving and need a good gas mileage SUV, than the Equinox should be on your list.  Getting 32 MPG on the highway without the aid of any electric motors, the Equinox is a real surprise.  You can get a very base model for $23k which is the perfect range for many consumers.  The motor is a 182 HP 4 cylinder.

4) Jeep Patriot

What a Jeep is also on the list of good gas mileage SUVs?  Yes its true, Both the Jeep Patriot and the Compass are excellent fuel sippers.  The Jeeps both get 23 MPG in the city and 29 MPG on the highway.  So if you are a Jeep lover like my buddy Wendy, you should upgrade to one of these bad boys.  These figures are of course for the base model 2.0L 172 HP Patriot.  And with an MSRP of $15,300 there is no denying that the Patriot should be on this list!

5)  Toyota Highlander Hybrid

The Toyota Highlander Hybrid is an odd fellow.  You would think that the Highlander would kill in the MPG department since is has the Prius as its little brother.   What kills the fuel economy of the Highlander is its heavy and energy wasting 4-wheel drive.  The Highlander does make the good gas mileage SUV list due to it still good numbers at 27 in the city and 25 on the highway.  On more ding against the Toyota Highlander Hybrid is the $35k price tag.

Honorable Mention

Cadillac Escalade Hybrid

The Escalade Hybrid gets 22 MPG ok.  You may say: “WTF”!  But when you find out this is a 40% improvement over the non-hybrid version it hits you that the Escalades are a big waste.  And you have to fork over $62k for the base model and $73k for the hybrid ouch.

BMW Active Hybrid

The Active Hybrid BMW X6 costs $89k but it has a 400-HP twin-turbo V-8 powering it!  Totally worth the 18 MPG figure it returns.  For comparison the non-hybrid SUV gets 14 MPG.

Source: Fuel Economy.gov check the stats for yourself

The little engine that could is a 1.4L, 3-cylinder, direct injected, turbo-diesel. This bad boy pumps out a staggering 79-hp. But when combined with LRR tires, special aerodynamics, and a manual transmission; the Polo can easily obtain the 60 MPG advertised, eat that hybrids. And the little 12-gallon tank will take you well over 700 miles. Sounds good to me!

Idle Cars Kill MPG

A big part of the reason why hybrids like the Civic get such great MPG is because of the ability to run in electric mode and essentially shut-off while stopped, this feature is called auto-stop.  Bringing me to my point: you are getting 0 MPG while you’re idling.  That 10 minutes spent waiting for that monster seven-layer burrito, or all those minutes you spend waiting for your kid absolutely kill your MPG.  Feel free to turn off your car instead of idling next time.

Drive It Like You Stole It

There is nothing like racing the car next to you from stoplight to stoplight. Why accelerate slowly and save gas when you can punch it and blow the doors off of Grandma’s Cadillac? I’m a take no prisoners’ sort of guy….it makes no difference your gender, age, skin color.

Speed is Sexy

Driving the speed limit is for whimps! What really revs up the female libido is driving at a high rate of speed in the most un-aerodynamic vehicle possible. The drag coefficient of a car refers to its aerodynamic efficiency. While the Honda Insight cuts through air like a hot knife through butter; I prefer to drive my huge Hummer which is more like a giant lead brick with a parachute attached. And the faster I drive my Hummer, the worse my gas mileage becomes….but chic’s don’t care about MPG!

Summer Road Trip

Yeah many people have cut back on the summer road trips and car club cruises. But all this talk about saving gas only makes me want to get out there and see what’s what. Oh yeah and waste as much gas as possible.

Get Your Roll On

In an earlier post I talked a little bit about low-rolling resistance tires and how these can improve your gas mileage. Well partner….I go for the stickiest tires out there. Sure they lower your MPG; but the thrill of being able to make your dog puke pulling 4g’s around a corner far outweighs the savings at the pump!

Since Space the Final Frontier has been conquered…might as well solve the gas crisis.  Damn….why did I skip Auto Shop Class!  I could be rich…..maybe not….you can bet that the big auto makers are already on the case.  The Announcement was made at the New York International Auto Show a few months back.  And even the Mayor Bloomberg gave his 2 cents on the prize:  “Development of a super-efficient car would be a major step forward in the fight against global warming – and it would help us reach our goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in New York City by 30 percent by 2030.” Please…..by 2030 we are going to be oil free.

It always seems like America is a little behind the times.  Why shoot for 100 MPG….that seems easily within reach.  I mean we already have Electric cars, Vegetable Oil powered cars, and so on running around.  And a plug in Hybrid can already achieve close to those numbers.  Gas is a thing of the past!  In 2009 a cross-country race will determine the winner of the Progressive Automotive X Prize.  Check out their website for more info. http://www.xprize.org/x-prizes/automotive-x-prize

Flex Fuel Cars Get Better Fuel Economy – Nope!
Gasoline has a lot of stored energy, but the Alcohol that is contained in Ethanol has less.  Since Flex Fuel is mostly Ethanol the result is less bank for the buck.  Car that use E85 get 10-15% less fuel economy than their regular brothern.  Take for example the GMC Yukon, the Flex Fuel gas mileage is much lower.  And I grabbed this from fueleconomy.gov!

At least E85 is cheaper Right?

Flex Fuel is cheaper yes, but you do get much worse fuel economy so you can go farther on a tank of regular gas than E85.  So at the end of the day you can hope to save $4 every 1000 miles.  Is that enough to sway you in the direction of flex fuel vehicles?

How about the Impact on Mother Earth?

The Environmental Protection Agency says E85gas does indeed lesses Green House gas emissions by over 15%.  According to a Smog Reyes study; Ethanol is the only thig that can be mixed with gasoline to help reduce smog pollutants.

That Corn Should Feed the Hungry Rather than Power your Car!

Ethanol is derived from a strain of corn that is used to feed livestock.  Well the animals need to eat too, and they do!  Ethoanol is made from starch found in the corn and all the byproduct that is left over can still be made into a healthy animal feed.

In conclusion, Flex Fuel Cars have become popular for a few reasons.

-Ethanol is a biofuel which is a renewable source of energy.  So when someday we may run out of oil; corn will continue to be grown….hopefully!

-Going Green has had a major influence in the way we think and if we can reduce smog and harmful pollutants through the use of Flex Fuels than this is a DAMN GOOD THING!

Resources:
http://getbettermpg.blogspot.com/2008/08/e85-gas-separating-fact-from-fiction.html

A little history first; the Prius has one of the lowest drag coefficients of any car today. What the heck is drag coefficient and why does this matter? Well obviously the faster you go the harder a car has to push against the wind, i.e. wind resistance. While the Honda Insight with its drag coefficient of 0.25 cut through the wind like a hot knife through butter, the bulky Hummer H2 has a drag coefficient of 0.57 which obviously has a negative effect on gas mileage.

Well the 2004 Toyota Prius was just a smidge behind the insight with a 0.26 drag coefficient. Well the AutoLabo body kit lowers that drag coefficient even more; so much more that the Prius will gain 7 more miles worth of MPG with the addition of this kit! And at a price of around $2000 this body kit will pay for itself in no time.

Source: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090225/AUTO03/902250312/1149/AUTO01
http://jalopnik.com/5104713/autolabo-creates-aero-package-for-toyota-prius