29 Vehicles that Get 40 MPG or Higher
When considering a new car purchase, most consumers put fuel economy near the top of their list. Car makers know this, so they're always promoting the fact that some of their vehicles can hit that magic 40 mpg figure.
Consumer Reports wanted to find out whether these claims were true, so they tested vehicles that advertise an EPA highway MPG of 40 or higher. They found that in most cases, the claims were true (Only the Hyundai Elantra fell below the stated 40 MPG claim). In fact, most were actually under-reporting the MPG by a decent percentage.
For example, the Volkswagen Passat TDI was actually able to get 51 MPG on the highway, even though they only advertised 40 MPG.
With these surprising results, Consumer Reports wondered whether other models could hit the 40 MPG mark even though they advertised a lower figure. They found 17 models that could, including the Scion xD, which had an advertised MPG of 33 MPG.
Here is the full list of vehicles they tested. You can learn more about how Consumer Reports measured the MPG here.
Make & Model |
EPA Highway MPG | CR Highway MPG | Difference (mpg) |
Toyota Prius |
48 | 55 | 7 |
Honda Civic Hybrid |
44 | 50 | 6 |
Honda Insight EX |
44 | 45 | 1 |
Volkswagen Jetta TDI |
42 | 45 | 3 |
Volkswagen Golf TDI (manual) |
42 | 49 | 7 |
Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI (manual) |
42 | 49 | 7 |
Volkswagen Passat TDI |
40 | 51 | 11 |
Lexus CT 200h |
40 | 47 | 7 |
Toyota Prius V |
40 | 47 | 7 |
Hyundai Accent GLS |
40 | 45 | 5 |
Mazda3 i Touring (Skyactiv) |
40 | 43 | 3 |
Hyundai Sonata Hybrid |
40 | 40 | 0 |
Hyundai Elantra |
40 | 39 | -1 |
EPA Highway MPG | CR Highway MPG | Difference (mpg) | |
Honda Civic LX |
39 | 47 | 8 |
Honda Civic EX |
39 | 43 | 4 |
Ford Fiesta SE sedan |
39 | 45 | 6 |
Ford Focus SE |
38 | 43 | 5 |
Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE |
38 | 43 | 5 |
Fiat 500 Sport (manual) |
38 | 42 | 4 |
Fiat 500C Pop (manual) |
38 | 42 | 4 |
Nissan Versa SV sedan |
38 | 40 | 2 |
Honda CR-Z EX (manual) |
37 | 45 | 8 |
Ford Fiesta SES hatchback (manual) |
38 | 42 | 4 |
Mini Cooper (manual) |
37 | 41 | 4 |
BMW 335d (diesel) |
36 | 40 | 4 |
Ford Fusion Hybrid |
36 | 40 | 4 |
Toyota Camry LE |
35 | 41 | 6 |
Mazda2 Sport (manual) |
35 | 40 | 5 |
Toyota Corolla LE |
34 | 40 | 6 |
Scion xD (manual) |
33 | 40 | 7 |

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