I bought a new manual shift mazda 5
MazdaUSA - Wireless Tour - Gallery back in 06, a 6 passenger smaller minivanish thing thats kind of heavy at 3300lbs, but was rated at 21/27 city/hwy, which was way better than the 16mpg average I was getting from my dodge ram van.
After getting used to the cars very torquey and smooth motor, I found that I could easily short shift at 2k rpm and keep up with traffic. This combined with no speeding and avoiding brake use by either coasting in neutral, ( with engine running), or downshifting for engine braking has led to my lowest tank average being 28mpg, ( mostly in town driving) to a high of 35 mpg while driving a steady 50 mph through yellowstone park.
This is all while never holding up traffic or making a general nuisance of myself, and in fact my passengers rarely notice any difference at all.
I am psyched that the new version of this vehicle coming out next year will have a new motor they are claiming will do 30% better mpg overall.
Dean in Milwaukee