My Goal...#1 car in USA, fine print to follow
 

OK, so I just hit 43+ mpg in my Chevy Cvalier personally my best ever but not even close to topping the list. So without getting too specific (but I will anyway) I was wondering what it would take, numbers wise, to be the most fuel efficient...

4 wheeled automobile
automatic transmission
gasoline powered
non-hybrid

all the above mentioned crieteria reduce economy and efficiency but this is waht I have to work with, no room to buy a "project". If anyone is out there who thinks they are #1 meeting the above category let me know I want to be you

check out the volkswagon 1 liter car... that will give you the best 4 wheel automobile fuel (diesel) milage that I know of... less than 1 liter per 100 kilometers. It's also a non-hybrid. not sure about the others...

extremely common quest. to find the best is the past. Fuel injected? 40mpg in a cavalier seems unbelievable. maybe there was gas vapors in the air that day..

to target an engine
1. least friction, maintaining strength. As less friction allows the engine to try harder anyway.
2. 2 liters and up has limitations. 40mpg is outstanding.
3. inline fours are not the best. 40mpg is outstanding for a regular car like cavalier size (reality sized if you know what I mean)
4. highway capable, at least 80mph casual. this requires weight and more than 2500 pounds (there are big breezes out there)


Upon 20 years of driving, I went all the way back to my first..a 3 main boxered subaru. the air cooled beetles, even lacking benefits of some physics with liquid cool, still has a 65mpg version.
the engine as the best is a 3 main boxer four,
it can withstand a heavier vehicle for reality, and go hypermile easily...for a loong looong time.
I have had the others over the years. transverse drivetrain are no longer a part of my life (never again). I had a chevette, and well, the inline has flaws, not just chevette. I concluded it does not matter how the inline is mounted...the thoughts of the best of the best is not going to happen with one. hope I helped. What you want is extinct. Find a keeper.

I looked through the EcoModder Fleet list - EcoModder.com of gasoline vehicles, and the highest ranked automatic I found was #143 - chuckm's 2002 Toyota Corolla.

There may have been a higher ranked automatic, I got tired of seeing Metro after Metro, so I may have skipped a few, but if that is the highest, you're not too far away. That 90-day MPG is 45.3, so you're only a few MPG's away from being the best meeting your criteria. At least, as far as Ecomodder is concerned.

getting to #1, the deck may be stacked against you

41 hwy mpg - smart
36 hwy mpg - metro/firefly/swift, civic, echo, forte, accent, prizm/corolla
35 hwy mpg - yaris, fit, xA, tercel, rio
....
30 hwy mpg - '02 cavalier

back around when gas was $4/gal i pulled a couple 45+ out of mine (sc1 auto rated 33 hwy) anymore i usually run 37-38

There are a couple of guys on cleanmpg.com averaging over 50 mpg month after month in AT Honda Fits and Toyota Yarises. I think one of them had over 20 consecutive tanks over 50 mpg. You've got your work cut out for you.

If you want to be #1 in the USA, you need an extreme vehicle. A four wheeled version of this: HyperRocket: 125 mpg, 100+ mph 3-wheel motorcycle | Hypermiling, Fuel Economy, and EcoModding News - EcoModder.com would do it.

If you wanted something that's a normal car under the hood, the most efficient cars happen to be hybrids. You could do a hybrid-delete to a 2010 Prius or a first-gen Insight with CVT (maybe drop a CRX-HF motor in it?) and you'd end up with a pretty good car.

But if you add the criterion "wasn't originally a hybrid", then it's Basjoos' Aerocivic. Or make your own out of a CRX, which has a smaller frontal area and shorter overall length, and so lends itself better to being streamlined.

If aeromods are also out of the question, just buy one of the very good but unremarkable economy cars listed above.

I'm right with you on your quest :) I'm not specifically trying to be the best, but I'd like to get 50+ average for my commute. I've hit 54mpg over 427 miles on a all highway trip so I got a bit of work to get 50+ on a 50/50 city/highway commute. Anyhow, after looking at your gas log, you've made tremendous progress and haven't pleateued yet, I've hit a pleatue around 43/44 mpg. I've found that I need to mod around my commute, as well as drive better. I'm easily hitting 50-60mpg on the highway portion, but the city traffic and stop lights are killing me, not being able to EOC really hurts us compared to the mtx fellas. Focus on mods that will make your regular commute more effcient.
For myself, I think 50+ is completely reasonable to hit next year, God willing :D I think you should expect the same!

Actually, swoody's 2000 Honda Civic DX is the best automatic gasoline powered car, running at 46.55mpg on his last three tanks. I'm a distant second, but I've got a few other mods planned.

Wow, that's very surprising guys! :)