Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars for 2006

By Warren Clarke

With gas prices steep as a Himalayan slope, fuel-efficiency is a prime consideration for an ever increasing number of car buyers. For all you smart souls with an eye on the pump, we've compiled a list of the 10 most fuel-efficient cars currently sold in the U.S.

Rankings are based on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) miles-per-gallon ratings for city and highway travel. More specifically, we used the EPA's combined fuel economy formula: 55 percent of city mpg rating plus 45 percent of highway mpg rating. The rating for each vehicle below is expressed in mpg as a city/highway ratio. All ratings apply to base models equipped with a manual transmission, except where indicated otherwise with an asterisk.

Each model was allowed only one appearance on the list. The sole exception is the Honda Civic, which appears twice as a result of being available in both gas-electric hybrid and regular gasoline versions.


Honda Insight — 60/66
Toyota Prius — 60/51*
Honda Civic Hybrid — 49/51*
Volkswagen Golf TDI — 37/44
Volkswagen New Beetle TDI — 37/44
Volkswagen Jetta TDI — 36/41
Toyota Corolla — 32/41
Scion xA — 32/37
Hyundai Accent — 32/35
Kia Rio — 32/35
Honda Civic — 30/40*
Pontiac Vibe — 30/36
Toyota Matrix — 30/36