These days there are a lot of small cars pounding their chests and claiming they get the best gas mileage around. Well, we got tired of the talk and decided to settle the score. Right here, right now!
We picked three cars from our long-term fleet known for squeezing extra miles out of every gallon of gas: the spunky 2008 Smart Fortwo with a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine, the thrifty 2008 Ford Focus SES coupe with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, with its legendary 1.9-liter "TDI" diesel engine. Then we added a heavily favored gasoline-electric hybrid to the mix: a 2008 Toyota Prius.
While the EPA's fuel economy estimates are a good guide for determining a car's overall economy, we wanted to know how the cars performed in a variety of driving situations. Let's face it. Every car has a different personality, and if you drive it differently you'll get a different level of fuel economy. The only way to settle things was with a fuel economy cage match. Four cars enter; only one leaves.
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