Introduction

With small car sales on the rise thanks to the gas pump blues, we decided it was time list the top 10 fuel-efficient small cars by annual fuel cost. We started with the EPA’s annual fuel cost ratings, which reflect the current national average gas price and assume 15,000 miles divided between 55 percent city and 45 percent highway. We picked the highest-mileage transmission choice available in a given car; hybrids were counted separately. When annual fuel cost was the same, we looked for a net gain between city and highway efficiency, and ultimately used our star ratings – a quick look at our opinion on each vehicle – as a tiebreaker.

By Keith Buglewicz
Photo credit: Staff and the automakers