Been wondering where to cash in on your government rebate in recent days? There are lots of great new cars on the market, but EcoModder has picked 5 in particular that have extra appeal when coupled with the government cash for clunkers (CARS) rebate.

1. 2010 Honda Insight

The cheapest hybrid on the market is even cheaper with a fat rebate. If you’ve always wanted a hybrid but have been long-detered by the price premium, this is the perfect time to cash in an on eligible price rebate. The Toyota Prius also becomes much cheaper under this plan, but still can’t beat the Insight’s low price.

Price after rebate: $15,300

2. 2009 Honda Fit

Looking for big value in a little car? The Honda Fit is perfect for people looking to get a lot of car out of a vehicle with a small footprint. The car’s already low price makes it a perfect entry level vehicle or second family car.

Price after rebate: $10,250

3. 2009 VW Jetta TDI

With VW’s oft-lauded diesel models back on sale in all 50-states, a lot of people have been scooping up new TDIs. However, like hybrids, diesels carry a price premium that has prevented many people from capitalizing on their superior gas mileage. With a CARS rebate, this is no longer. You can pick up a manual transmission TDI now for a price comparable to similar gas vehicles without the rebate.

Price after rebate: $17,770

EDIT: VW notes that their clean diesels are also eligible for a further $1,300 government rebate for fuel economy, kicking down the price possibly as low as $16,470.

4. 2009 Smart Fortwo

The Smart Fortwo has always been a small, thrifty vehicle, which has gotten even thriftier with this rebate. You can get the absolute base model for as low as $7,490, or capitalize on Smart’s offer of a $99/month payments on the Fortwo.

5. 2009 Toyota Yaris

If you’re not into hatchbacks but want a cheap, fuel efficient sedan, the Yaris is for you. The Yaris is the smallest car in the Toyota lineup, and is easy on gas while maintaining a small footprint in a traditional sedan form.

Price after rebate: $7,705

It seems like every day there are new headlines about automakers closing plants, losing sales, and shutting down dealerships. Still, about every other day, we here about another new economy car breaking even optimistic sales targets and getting huge amounts of pre-orders.

In the case of the 2010 VW Polo that certainly makes sense. Back when the VW Polo was still on sale in Europe is was easily one of the most desirable cars in the world. It was ahead of its time with great diesel fuel economy, a start-stop system, and overall attention to economy first and everything else second.

Unfortunately VW kicked it out of the lineup, but like so many other cars these days (think Insight, Fiesta…) it is making a comeback to combat fuel prices and dwindling crude supplies.

To that end VW has already secured 13,000 pre-orders for the new Polo, which will come with 7 different engine options and a 7-speed DSG transmission. The BlueMotion version is the most fuel efficient model and was rated at 62 mpg (US) in the European test cycle.

Source: ABG

VW has started a clever campaign to help consumers see the kind of mileage you can get with a TDI. It’s called TDI TankWars and what it does is challenge owners to score better than the World Record (58.8) in their VW TDIs.

The site includes information about the tanks, drivers, and cars. It also lets you thumb up or down individual tanks based on how much you believe the claims. As you can see in the above image, most people have a negative approach to the higher scores.

So far only 5 tanks have beaten the 58.8 mpg World Record, though that number should increase quite a bit in the future as it’s really quite low (as far as world records go). From the main TankWars page you can also check up on the individual users, leave comments on tanks, and view photo and video evidence confirming the claimed fuel economy.

Overall, this is a great attempt by VW to connect users with fuel economy, and it includes interesting details like tire pressure, though weather conditions would frankly be more useful. So, if you’re interested in the competition, check it out for yourself at the TDI TankWars homepage.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRHY6dmZmGI

Today, at the New York International Auto Show, the new VW Golf took home top honors as the World Car of the Year. The award was decided by a panel of 59 jurors from many countries and reflects the industry’s shift towards smaller, more functional vehicles.

Also in the running for the award were the Ford Fiesta and the Toyota iQ, two other small, fuel efficient vehicles. While the Golf has the worst fuel economy of the three, it is still above average and has been a proven model in the VW lineup for many decades. Congratulations to VW for the honor. Check out the video if you’re interested in the awards ceremony.

We’ve been doing it for years here on EcoModder, but now some of the big dogs want to join in the game. TopGear USA has decided to take up the challenge of ecomodding a 1981 Rabbit Diesel, with the goal of being able to put down 70 mpg, 0-60 in 7 seconds, and they intend to do it all with a less than $7,000 budget.

The car isn’t built yet, but the early plans, which you can find out more about on their website, involve swapping in and tuning a modern TDI engine as well as some aeromods. When you consider that they will be attempting to nearly double the EPA ratings of a modern TDI, this certainly seems like a large task, but there are a few ways I think they can get the job done:

• Fudge the testing: I’m not saying I don’t trust TopGear, but they could just put the car on the highway at 55 miles an hour behind a truck and easily get 70 MPG without doing anything. This might also be the only way to get that thekind of mileage on a car that does 0-60 in 7 seconds as well (it certainly won’t be getting 70 mpg in town).
• Aeromod the heck out of it: The VW Rabbit was designed a bit like a brick, and some extensive aeromods could clean up that boxy shape quite a bit. If they went as far as the AeroCivic, they’re looking at accomplishing much of their goals already.
• Aggressive ecodriving: I’m sure this isn’t what TopGear is thinking, but some skillful ecodriving could get their Rabbit TDI to their desired goal.
• Secrets?: Well, if TopGear pulls it off I think it will most likely be something out of the secret bag. I’m interested to see what they come up with, and I’m sure it will probably involve a few tricks out of the standard tuner’s toolkit, but until then who knows.

So, good luck to TopGear. We’ll be posting more when there’s more to know about the project. Until then, check out their teaser clip, embedded below.