Top 10: The EPA Gives Us Its 10 Fuel Sippers From 1984 to 2010, Notice Anything Weird?

Searching for a fuel sipper? One of those legendary cars that refuses to gulp from the pumps? Thanks to the EPA, we have a list that will provide some insight.

As AutoSavant points out, there is one correlation in this top 10 list; all of the cars are either hybrids or very small cars from the 90s. Either that or it is a Honda.

So, what's this mean going forward? With an increase in safety regulations, which does not bode well for keeping vehicles lighter, it appears that we may be fighting an uphill battle in terms of achieving better MPG numbers.

**Please make note, the only modern cars on the list are the 2010 Toyota Prius, 2010 Honda Insight and '06 - 2010 Honda Civic Hybrid.

Keeping this in mind, it looks like we're going to have to start shelling out some serious dough to keep upping technological advancements OR we're going to have to give in with some of these safety regulations.

Personally, I am a firm believer in Darwinism.

Who's with me?

The US Environmental Protection Agency issued a news release yesterday that listed the top-ten fuel sippers from the period 1984 to 2010.  During the 17 model years in question, one common theme among the most-efficient vehicles is that they are either hybrids, or very small cars from the early 1990s.  The lesson:  if you want to save fuel, you either need significant technology or very light cars.  And very light, cheap cars (like the 1989 Chevy Sprint) fare very poorly in collisions.  The list of most fuel-efficient new cars according to EPA ratings from 1984-2010 are below (numbers are presented as city/highway/combined, and are adjusted to the 2008 and later methodology):

1. 2000 Honda Insight 5MT CVT (49/61/53)
2. 2010 Toyota Prius (51/48/50)
3. 1986 Chevrolet Sprint ER 5MT (44/53/48)
4. 1990-1994 Geo Metro XFI 5MT (43/52/47)
5. 1986-87 Honda Civic Coupe HF 5MT (42/51/46)
6. 1994-95 Honda Civic Hatchback VX 5MT (39/50/43)
7. 2006-2010 Honda Civic Hybrid CVT (40/45/42)
8. 2010 Honda Insight CVT (40/43/41)
9. 2001-2003 Toyota Prius CVT (42/41/40)
10. 1989 Chevrolet Sprint/Suzuki Swift 5MT (38/45/41)