Consumer Reports, the most trusted and respected name when it comes to consumer product recommendations, has released its annual report on the best and worst SUVs, Trucks, Minivans, and Wagons for 2006. The report identifies the best and worst vehicles in terms of fuel economy. The gas guzzlers and fuel sipping SUVs, trucks, minivans and wagons are determined through a series of tests run by Consumer Reports’ engineers.
The best and worst in fuel economy are based on overall miles-per-gallon performance verified during the real world fuel economy tests. The results are calculated by averaging city, highway and one-day trip mpg ratings. For further details and explanation of Consumer Report’s fuel economy tests visit their website. Fuel economy is a very important factor to consider by new car buyers as well as other factors such as purchase price, safety, performance, insurance cost and overall reliability.
After a series of rigorous real-world fuel economy tests through city streets and highways, the following vehicles stood out in each category as the best and worst:
Small SUVs:
Best: Ford Escape Hybrid, 26 mpg, Honda CR-V EX, 21 mpg, Subaru Forester 2.5X, 21 mpg
Worst: Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (6-cyl.), 14 mpg, Jeep Liberty Sport (V6), 15 mpg, Kia Sorento EX (V6), 15 mpg\
Midsize SUVs
Best: Lexus RX400h, 23 mpg; Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited, 22 mpg; Nissan Murano SL, 19 mpg
Worst: Chevrolet TrailBlazer EXT LT (V6), 13 mpg; Land Rover LR3 SE (V8), 13 mpg; Hummer H3, 14 mpg.
Large SUVs
Best: Consumer Reports’ testing results found that no vehicles garnered unusually good ratings for fuel economy in this category.
Worst: Dodge Durango Limited (5.7), 12 mpg; Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer, 12 mpg; Chevrolet Suburban LT, 13 mpg.
Pickups
Best: Subaru Baja (4-cyl.), 20 mpg; Toyota Tacoma (V6), 17 mpg; Chevrolet Colorado LS (5-cyl.), 16 mpg
Worst: Dodge Ram 1500 SLT (5.7), 11 mpg; Dodge Ram 1500 SLT (4.7), 12 mpg; Chevrolet Avalanche (5.3), 13 mpg
Wagons and Hatchbacks
Best: Toyota Prius, 44 mpg; Scion xB (AT), 30 mpg; Pontiac Vibe (FWD), 27 mpg
Worst: Volvo XC70, 18 mpg; Dodge Magnum SXT (V6), 19 mpg; Mazda6 s (V6), 19 mpg
Minivans
Best: Honda Odyssey EX, 19 mpg; Mazda MPV LX, 19 mpg; Toyota Sienna XLE, 19 mpg.
Worst: Consumer Reports’ testing results found that no vehicles garnered unusually poor ratings for fuel economy in this category.
February 2nd, 2006 at 1:19 pm
I noticed that no one thought to include the Nissan Titan Truck in this report on fuel mileage. My Titan when driven properly can get 21 mpg. on the interstate and about 18 mpg. in the city. The key to good fuel economy is to drive a vehicle responsibly, if you take off fast and stop fast and constantly gun the engine with a (me first) attitude you cannot expect to get good fuel mileage.
February 2nd, 2006 at 6:36 pm
Hi Jacob,
Yes you are aboslutely correct - one of the best ways to improve gas mileage in any vehicle is to change the way you drive. Driving more efficiently and keeping a steady speed on the highway does help you save up on gas. Aggressive acceleration and braking can reduce your gas mileage by as much as 33 percent on highways and 5 percent on city streets simply because you use more gas when driving at high speeds. Your example demonstrates this fact.
By the way, I checked up on the fuel mileage statistics of the Nissan Titan pickup at fueleconomy.gov. Your truck has a fuel mileage of 14 mpg (city) and 19 mpg (highway) with an overall combined fuel mileage of 16 mpg. Not bad really. However, I guess Consumer Reports named only three pickups as the best on its list. Yet, the Nissan Titan does have good fuel mileage apparently.
Rowan
February 7th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
yup
March 30th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
CUSTOMER SURVEY OPINION
attempting to understand your potential business customers better.
HELP YOU FRESHEN YOUR APPROCH TO SERVE YOUR CUSTOMER BETTER
BY TAKING A QUARTERLY CUSTOMER SURVEY.
This is only a SUGGESTIONS for you to try.
US AUTO MAKERS SHOULD BE keen to know CUSTOMERS opinion about
Amber light is more visible than red light to most people.
Most A·mer·i·can cars do not have amber lights in the back,but the europens and the Japanese auto makers do.
It’s cheap to make all or most of your cars this way,like the 60’s and the 70’s..
If you dout me,try putting on display the same car (two) one with red and the other with amber tail lights and get the customers opinion on looks.( ATTRACTION)
Amber (yellow) flashing and/or rotating lights on tow trucks, snow
plows, and highway department vehicles are *not* “emergency” lights — they
are *warning* lights. Recent law enforcement studies have showed that
drivers “impaired” by alcohol and/or drugs are actually attracted *to*
flashing red lights like those on many police/fire/ambulance vehicles (and
flashing red taillights or “4-way flashers”) — while amber “warning”
lights effectively warn those “impaired” drivers away. As a result, many
police cars and ambulances in our area now have at least one amber
“warning” light somewhere on the back of the vehicle (and I often see
yellow “lightstick” arrow bars in use, as well). Similar “warning lights”
are now readily available for the general public to use to mark a
*stationary* vehicle in a hazard situation, such as when changing a tire on
the side of a busy road, and I believe it is entirely appropriate for news
photographers to effectively mark their *stationary* vehicles as hazards
when they must park in less-than-ideal locations.
The chevy camaro and Pontiac firebird the same basic au·to·mo·bile.(Pontiac solstice/Saturn sky is the same car..customer have no option of a 6 cylinder only what you throw at us.
You had two nice modles that you dis·con·tin·ued,they were the Pontiac fiero and mercury Capri.
What would they look like now if you had inproved on them?
out·sourc·ing ,lay-offs, Foreign countrys like china workers will not solve this problem.
I worked for Toyota for one year(contract in Information Technology department as a computer tech. And a car lover.) I saw how they copied the Chevrolet astro van and made a Toyota-scion.
The question is, will anyone in Detroit listen or smart enough to see what the people who are buying,but not usa product.(made in Canada or mexico did’nt help.
It dos’nt take a rocket scientist to figure this out,only common sense.
CALVIN JONES
626-841-0395
1343 W. SAN BERNARDINO RD.
COVINA,CA 91722
3/30/2006