Hitting 50 mpg in your current vehicle isn't going to be a piece of cake unless you have a good commute. Its not a bad car to start with, but there are definitly better ones. The problem is that the late 80s early 90s had some GREAT cars for FE. Newer cars have gotten quite heavy, but are also much safer. Really, any small car from Honda or Toyota is going to give you excellent fuel economy. Some will be better than others of course. Check them on
www.fueleconomy.gov is going to be the key to checking out cars that are avaliable to you. Good luck with it all!