The over-40 mpg club: Overachievers that beat EPA fuel economy ratings

tdi is diesel overseas most cars are diesel tree huggers do not want diesels that get better
mileage than gas an big oil only raise the cost of diesel whiich should cost less than gas because it is a by product of gas we are being hosed by big oil

I have a VW Jetta TDI and when I first got it I averaged 50 mpg. Now with 167,000 miles on and having to use the low sulfur fuel I still get at least 45 mpg even on a bad fill. There are lots of cars available in Europe that get 65 mpg, however our government will not let the car companies sell them here.

I wish there is such thing called EPA for politicians.

We really can get to know what was told and what was achieved leave alone over achievement.

That would giv.e us all an idea about their political mileage in MPL (Miles Per Lie).

Now if only our government could overachieve in lowering gas prices!

I see no VW's diesels on the list and the people I know that drive the VW diesels get better mileage than the EPA projected. I drive an 05 Passet Wagon and it beats the EPA.

Remeber the vw rabbit diesel of the late 70's, that thing easily got 50mpg...so why did the mpg get less over the years, hell our old 73 beetle got 38 on a carb engine

I have a 2011 Santa Fe that regularly beats it's fuel rating of 26 highway, 22 city. I've been able to easily get 28 mpg on the highway and have gotten it to 30. City is even better regularly staying at 24.5 to 25 mpg. ANd it's a 6 cylinder with 276 HP.

How you drive and where you drive has as much to do with fuel economy as other factors. I get better mileage than the stupid government ratings on every vehicle I own.

With $4/gal gas now upon us...40 mpg...will NOT be efficient enough for most Americans to keep up their present drivng habits...myself included..my work commute is 350 mi/week. Present vehicle gets 24mpg, now $60/wk...at $5 gal will be $90/wk!

You might also want to consider this. My Honda civic also over achieved in mpg then I discovered that my odometer was over indicating my mileage by 5%. A 10 mile test distance on the highway registered 10.5 miles on my odometer. A 38 mpg will look like 40 mpg with this 5% error. Maybe not the whole story but suspiciously part of it.

tiny little cars with tiny little engines better get good gas mileage.

OK, OK, my Mercedes E320 diesel only gets 36 mpg on the highway, but I think that's pretty respectable for a "luxury" car.

40 mpg is a joke...........the Ford Fiesta with the common-rail diesel engine will get 65mpg easily.........and there are many more European cars that do just as well. The new diesel technology is clean and efficient and performs well. Hybrids are expensive nonsense that are not green or very efficient.

My Volkswagen Jetta TDI (Diesel) states 42 mpg highway. I've gotten as high as 51.7 mpg on my 34 mile trips to work. I routinely get 45-47 mpg driving freeway speeds. It's been a solid car thru 36k

if you could buy 100% gas and not the watered down ethanol stuff, we'd all get better gas mileage

i just got a 2012 Ford Fusion 4 cyl. got 36.6 MPG on highway doing 71mph for 180mile trip rated at 33mpg i loved it.

My 1981 toyota with a carburator got 36mpg without even trying. Look how far we've come in 30 years. Zilch. We need more small diesels and a better way to make the big trucks pay for the roads they eat other than taxing the living crap out of cheap diesel fuel for the every day driver.

Goes to show you how the media likes to shape mass opinion. I have a 2005 jetta TDI that has beaten the highway rating every single tank since ive owned it. I would get 50-53 on the old diesel fuel. What an absolute joke that this car gets left off the list!!!!

All cars get get better than the MPG posted because what is posted is an average. I am a gas misser that still goes through about 4 gal per day all year round. The summer/winter blend makes a huge difference as well as the blend at different stations.

In the late 70s I bought a used 71 Datsun (before they became Nissan, right?) with an A block engine and a four speed. After I rebuilt the engine (with a few modifications by yours truly), installed a 5 speed out of a newer wreck and did some fiddling with both ignition and valve timing it got over 50mpg overall and nearly 60mpg on a long trip where I drove almost exclusively highway.
My grandfather did the same with a 74 A block Datsun (except he already had a 5 speed) and got over 50 mpg as well.
I really don't see the significance of a hybrid getting 30-40 mpg now. With the advances since the 70s and 'better' engineers than two mechanics that don't know you can't do that they should be doing a lot better. The idea that the hybrids don't pollute as much is killed by the mileage, since we got a minimum of 25% better efficiency on gas.