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The slick, gasoline-electric hybrid-powered
Honda Insight two-seater remains the stingiest
vehicle in the land with respective fuel economy
ratings of 3.9 and 3.2 L/100 km (72/88 mpg) in
city and highway driving. |
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Toyota's 2nd-generation, hybrid-powered Prius
hatchback sedan is big enough to be considered a
mid-size car, and easily comes the fuel economy
champ in this class, with city/highway ratings
of 4.0 and 4.2 L/100 km. |
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The second-generation Honda Civic Hybrid sedan
is also bigger and more fuel-efficient with
city/highway ratings of 4.7 and 4.3 L/100 km.
It's also $3,000 less than the outgoing model,
with its base price of $25,800.
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The tiny, cute and trendy Smart Fortwo, powered
by a 3-cylinder, 800 cc, 40-hp turbodiesel
engine, is by far the most frugal of all cars
powered by conventional engine, with
city/highway ratings of 4.6 and 3.8 L/100 km.
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Best in the NRCan's bizarrely-named 'Special
Purpose Vehicle' category is the Ford Escape
Hybrid compact SUV (front-wheel drive model),
with ratings of 6.6 and 7.0 L/100 km (40 and 38
mpg) for city and highway driving.
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The Volkswagen New Beetle gets a styling
'refresh' and several updates for 2006, and its
turbodiesel-powered TDI model takes the title
for fuel economy in the Subcompact class, with
ratings of 6.2 and 4.6 L/100 km.
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The Lexus RX 400h shares a V6-based gas-electric
hybrid power train that has a combined output of
268 horsepower with its equally-new Toyota
Highlander Hybrid cousin. The two are close
runners-up in the Special Purpose category.
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In the Full-Size car category, the
fully-redesigned 2006 Hyundai Sonata sedan comes
out as the most frugal of Full-Size Cars, when
equipped with its 2.4-litre, 162-hp
four-cylinder engine and 5-speed manual gearbox.
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Mercedes-Benz deserves kudos for bringing
excellent fuel economy to the luxury market with
its turbodiesel-powered E 320 CDI sedan, second
most frugal in the Mid-Size class only to the
Toyota Prius hybrid. |
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The Mazda 5 is classified as a 'wagon' within
the autos class, in spite of its sliding side
doors and people-carrying nature. Otherwise, it
would be the top-rated minivan, with
city/highway ratings of 10.6 and 8.0 L/100 km.
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The spacious and luxurious Honda Odyssey Touring
and EX-L get the top rating in the minivan
category thanks to their 3.5-litre V6 engine's
VCM cylinder deactivation technology. They
effectively share a highway rating of 7.7 L/100
km (37 mpg) in spite of being 5.1-metres long
and weighing more than two tons.
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Knowing which vehicles are
the most fuel-efficient is great, but most of us need to
know which models are the most frugal in the various
categories. Because a fuel-sipping two-seater sure won't
meet everyone's transportation needs.
The Hybrid Age is Here
A mere novelty a few years back, vehicles equipped by
hybrid powertrains that combine gasoline engines and
electric motors are gaining ground rapidly. The newest
crop of 'hybrids' has taken the top spot in four of the
ten categories in Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan)
rankings and some have become attractive propositions
for mainstream buyers, including for the price asked.
The
Honda Insight, with fuel economy ratings of 3.9
L/100 km (72 mpg) in the city and 3.2 L/100 km (88 mpg)
on the highway, remains the stingiest car available in
this country, bar none. The slick, quirky and
aerodynamic
Insight has changed very little since its
introduction, in 2000, Its hybrid powertrain still
combines a 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder gasoline engine and an
electric motor, coupled to a 5-speed manual gearbox,
exclusively is the only one offered in the aero-slick
two-seater.
The
Insight gets the top spot in the Two-seater class
too, but the tiny and trendy
Smart Fortwo, powered by a three-cylinder, 800 cc,
40-horsepower turbodiesel engine, is a close second.
With 2006 NRCan fuel economy ratings of 4.6 L/100 km (61
mpg) in the city and 3.8 L/100 km (74 mpg) on the
highway, the
Smart is the most frugal of all vehicles equipped
with a conventional engine only.
First in the Compact
class, the all-new, second-generation
Honda Civic Hybrid sedan will undoubtedly have much
broader appeal than its sibling. Its revamped
gas-electric hybrid system gets a more powerful electric
motor and stronger batteries, and it can let this new
Civic Hybrid run on electric power only, thanks to
Honda's VCM (Variable Cylinder Management) that
deactivates all four cylinders in very specific
conditions.
All this produces fuel
economy numbers of 4.7 L/100 km (60 mpg) in the city and
4.3 L/100 km (65.7 mpg) on the highway, with the
Hybrid's continuously-variable transmission (CVT), the
only choice for this model now. These numbers are better
than the outgoing model's, even if the new
Civic Hybrid is a larger, roomier car. Better still,
its base price of $25,800 is roughly $3,000 less than
its predecessor. This car is truly treading new ground
for hybrids.
Now In larger Sizes
Too
Toyota's second-generation hybrid-powered
Prius, meanwhile, gets the nod as the most frugal
mid-size sedan, with fuel economy ratings of 4.0 L/100
km (70 mpg) in the city and 4.2 L/100 km (67 mpg) on the
highway. The surprisingly roomy, and thoroughly
practical
Prius four-door hatchback receives only slight
touch-ups for 2006, while Toyota engineers are busy
putting the final touches to the upcoming hybrid-powered
Camry sedan.
The other hybrid-powered
category champion for this year's Energuide awards is
the
Ford Escape Hybrid, which is top-rated in the
mysteriously-named "Special Purpose" category. Launched
as a 2005 model, this full hybrid has fuel economy
ratings of 6.6 L/100 km (43 mpg) in the city and 7.0
L/100 km (40 mpg) on the highway, for the front-wheel
drive model, while the four-wheel drive version should
use 7.1 L/100 km (40 mpg) in the city and 7.5 L/100 km
(38 mpg) on the highway.
The
Escape Hybrid's power plant is very similar, in
concept, to Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive. It combines a
2.3-litre Duratec four-cylinder gasoline engine that
develops 133 horsepower with a 94-hp electric motor. The
two can run separately or merge their thrust, as in the
Toyota hybrids, but Ford rates the combined output at
155 horsepower.
In fact, the
recently-launched
Lexus RX 400h and
Toyota Highlander Hybrid come close to matching the
Escape Hybrid 4x4's fuel efficiency in the "Special
Purpose" category, with NRCan 2006 ratings of 7.5 L/100
km (38 mpg) in the city and 8.1 L/100 km (35 mpg) on the
highway. They hold quite an edge in performance over
Ford's Hybrid compact SUV, though, with a joint output
rating of 268 horsepower for identical HSD power trains
that combine a 3.3-litre V6 and three electric motors,
two of which directly share the duty of driving all four
wheels.
Spacious Fuel Savers
While on the subject of size, it can be noted that
Honda's VCM cylinder deactivation technology also helps
its spacious
Odyssey Touring and EX-L models get the top rating
for fuel economy in the minivan category again this
year. The VCM's benefits are most tangible in highway
driving: The
Touring and EX-L models are effectively rated at 7.7
L/100 km (37 mpg) in these conditions; quite amazing for
vehicles that are 5.1-metres long and weigh 2,095 kg and
2,062 kg, respectively - more than two tons! By
comparison, the 'regular'
Odyssey has a highway rating of 8.5 L/100 km (33
mpg), with the same 3.5-litre, 244-hp V6 engine, but
without VCM.
It's a good thing for
Honda that the new
Mazda 5 is classified as a 'wagon' within that
larger 'automobiles' class by NRCan, even if it has
sliding side doors and is the only vehicle of this type
with dimensions that fit the original definition of a
'minivan'. The
Mazda 5 has fuel economy ratings of 10.6 L/100 km
(27 mpg) in the city and 8.0 L/100 km (35 mpg), with the
5-speed manual gearbox, and of 11.2 L/100 km (25 mpg)
and 8.3 L/100 km (34 mpg) with the 4-speed auto.
In the Full-Size car
category, the utterly conventional, yet fully-redesigned
2006 Hyundai Sonata sedan comes out as the most
frugal, when equipped with its base 2.4-litre,
162-horsepower, four-cylinder engine, with city/highway
ratings of 9.6 and 6.3 L/100 km (29/45 mpg), when
equipped with the standard 5-speed manual gearbox.
Diesels Still Superior
Before the advent of the current gas-electric hybrids,
Volkswagen models powered by diesel, then turbo-diesel,
and more recently turbo-diesel engines with direct fuel
injection, were almost invariably the most economical on
our roads, matching even microcars with Lilliputian gas
engines.
Well, diesel-chugging VWs
are still very much a factor in 2006, in fuel economy
rankings. The extensively-refreshed
2006 Volkswagen New Beetle TDI is the top-rated
model in the Subcompact class, while the Station Wagon
class title belongs to the
Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI. In spite of their
differences in size and shaper, the two cars share the
exact same ratings: 6.2 and 4.6 L/100 km (46 and 61 mpg)
respectively, in city and highway ratings.
The latest
Volkswagen Golf TDI and
Jetta TDI sedan, perennially strong in fuel economy
rankings, remain among the front-runners in the Compact
car category. The
Golf has ratings of 6.2 and 4.6 L/100 km (46 and 61
mpg) while the bigger
2006 Jetta comes close, with 6.6 and 5.2 L/100 km
(43 and 54 mpg).
Finally, a most
honourable mention goes to the
Mercedes-Benz E 320 CDI Turbo luxury sedan, which
ranks as the second most frugal Mid-Size car, ceding the
top spot in this class only to the phenomenally-frugal
Toyota Prius hybrid. Powered by a 3.2-litre,
221-horsepower inline six-cylinder turbodiesel engine,
it flaunts city/highway ratings of 9.1 and 6.4 L/100 km
(31/44 mpg). This exceptional unit will also power
M-Class and R-Class models for the 2007 model year.
All 2006 Models Rated
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) publishes extensive
annual ratings of new vehicles according to their
projected fuel economy and annual fuel cost. The fuel
economy ratings are established by a vehicle's
strictly-controlled performance on a very specific test
cycle defined by its engineers.
We were granted early
access to the newest fuel economy ratings but you should
soon also be able find and compare ratings and annual
fuel cost figures for all 2006 production models
available in Canada on the
Fuel Consumption Guide page of NRCan's
Personal Vehicles Initiative web site.
The Annual Fuel Cost
Puzzle
The NRCan's annual fuel cost projections are established
according to an average driving distance of 20,000
kilometres comprising 55 per cent city, and 45 per cent
highway mileage. The fuel costs published for 2006
models were calculated on the basis of a 70 cents cost
for regular gasoline, 80 cents for premium, and 67 cents
for diesel fuel.
Needless to say, these
figures became radically obsolete when fuel costs took a
sharp turn upwards in the fall of 2005. With fuel prices
currently hovering about 90 cents for regular gasoline,
you can figure out estimated annual fuel cost by
multiplying the published figures by a factor of about
1.3, or design your own equation depending on current
prices.
The NRCan 2006 Fuel
Consumption guide, in print form, has a handy table (on
page 38) that lets you determine, at a glance, the
annual fuel costs for a given vehicle at fuel prices
ranging from 90 cents to $ 1.30 per litre, in quantities
of 700 to 4000 litres.
You can get one or
several free copies of this well-made, complete and easy
to consult booklet by calling this toll-free number:
1-800-387-2000.
For now, here are the
most fuel-efficient 2006 models in ten different
categories:
By
Marc Lachapelle
THE TOP 2006 MODELS IN
CANADA FOR FUEL ECONOMY
According to Natural
Resources Canada's ratings
for new 2006 model year vehicles sold in Canada
Data presented as
follows:
Model - City/Highway ratings (in L/100 km) - Annual Fuel
Cost (in $)
Two-Seater
Best-in-class:
Honda Insight - 3.9/3.3 - 504$
1st runner-up:
Smart Fortwo CDI - 4.6/3.8 - 563$
2nd runner-up:
Mazda MX-5 Miata - 9.5/7.3 - 1,360$
Subcompact
Best-in-class:
Volkswagen New Beetle TDI - 6.2/4.6 - 737$
1st runner-up:
Toyota Yaris - 6.9/5.5 - 882$
Compact
Best-in-class:
Honda Civic Hybrid - 4.7/4.3 - 630$
1st runner-up:
Volkswagen Golf TDI - 6.2/4.6 - 737$
2nd runner-up:
Jetta TDI sedan - 6.6/5.2 - 791$
3rd runner-up:
Toyota Corolla - 6.9/5.5 - 882$
4th runner-up:
Hyundai Accent - 7.4/6.2 - 952$
Mid-Size
Best-in-class:
Toyota Prius - 4.0/4.2 - 574$
1st runner-up:
Mercedes-Benz E 320 CDI Turbo - 6.2/4.6 - 1,005$
2nd runner-up:
Honda Accord - 9.1/6.4 - 1,106$
Full-Size
Best-in-class:
Hyundai Sonata 2.4L - 9.6/6.3 - 1,148$
1st runner-up:
Toyota Avalon - 10.8/7.2 - 1,288$
2nd runner-up:
Chevrolet Impala - 11.3/7.0 - 1,316$
3rd runner-up:
Ford Five Hundred - 11.2/7.5 - 1,330$
Station Wagon
Best-in-class:
Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI - 6.2/4.6 - 737$
1st runner-up:
Pontiac Vibe - 7.9/5.9 - 980$
1st runner-up:
Toyota Matrix - 7.9/5.9 - 980$
Special Purpose
Best-in-class:
Ford Escape Hybrid - 6.6/7.0 - 952$
1st runner-up:
Lexus RX 400h - 7.5/8.1 - 1,092$
1st runner-up:
Toyota Highlander Hybrid - 7.5/8.1 - 1,092$
2nd runner-up:
Chevrolet HHR LS - 10.1/6.4 - 1,190$
Minivan
Best-in-class:
Honda Odyssey EX-L & Touring - 14.8/7.7 - 1,400$
1st runner-up:
Dodge Caravan FFV - 12.0/8.2 - 1,442$
1st runner-up:
Dodge Grand Caravan FFV - 12.0/8.2 - 1,442$
2nd runner-up:
Toyota Sienna - 12.4/8.2 - 1,470$
3rd runner-up:
Nissan Quest - 12.4/8.3 - 1,484$
Large Van
Best-in-class:
Chevrolet Express Cargo - 14.8/10.7 - 1,820$
Best-in-class:
GMC Savana Cargo - 14.8/10.7 - 1,820$
1st runner-up:
Ford E150 Van - 15.8/11.4 - 1,932$
Pickup Truck
Best-in-class:
Ford Ranger - 9.9/7.3 - 1,218$
Best-in-class:
Mazda B2300 - 9.9/7.3 - 1,218$
1st runner-up:
Toyota Tacoma - 11.4/8.1 - 1,386$
2nd runner-up:
Nissan Frontier - 10.7/8.7 - 1,372$
Source: Natural
Resources Canada (NRCan)
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