18 Gm Models That Get 30 Mpg Or Better
High gas prices have motorists scrambling for ways to save on gas. For consumers who are in the position to buy a new car shopping for a vehicle that returns high fuel mileage is an important way to ease their pain at the pump.
One threshold used by automotive analysts to determine good fuel economy is a vehicle that returns a minimum of 30 mpg per gallon on the highway. For the record all manufacturers offer at least one model that meets this important measurement but GM is one of the leaders as that company has 18 vehicles for 2009 which accomplish that feat.
High Gas Economy For 2009
Let’s take a look at the thriftiest vehicles sold by GM for the 2009 model year. The numbers in parenthesis are their EPA highway fuel amounts:
Chevrolet: Aveo sedan Aveo5 34 mpg with automatic or manual; Cobalt coupe and sedan 30 mpg for SS Turbocharged; 33 mpg for 2.2L automatic; Cobalt XFE 37; Malibu 2.4L 30 mpg with fourspeed automatic; 33 mpg with sixspeed; Malibu Hybrid 34 HHR 30 mpg with 2.2L and automatic or manual and HHR Panel 30 mpg with 2.2L and automatic or manual.
Pontiac: G5 33 mpg automatic 35 mpg manual; G5 GT 32 mpg automatic 35 mpg manual G5 XFE coupe 37; G6 2.4L sedan 30 mpg with fourspeed automatic 33 mpg with sixspeed; Vibe 1.8L model 31 with automatic 32 mpg with manual.
Saturn: Astra 5Door; Astra 3Door all 30 mpg with automatic 32 with manual; Aura fourcylinder 33; Aura Hybrid 34; and Vue Hybrid 32.
No Cadillac Buick GMC Saab or Hummer model is mentioned with their best numbers in the mid to upper 20s range. Likely that’ll begin to change in 2010 when the Cadillac BLS is introduced and a new smaller LaCrosse is brought online by Buick.
New Threshold of 35 MPG Likely
Going forward the new threshold for high fuel economy is likely to rise to 35 mpg to keep pace with federal requirements that will kick in by 2020. Even then several new cars including the Chevrolet Cruze are expected to get at least 40 mpg as manufacturers figure out ways to use technologies to squeeze more power and better fuel economy out of smaller engines.
All of this is good news for the car buyer who may want to get high fuel economy without paying a bundle for it. Whether buying GM or some other make check the manufacturer window sticker closely to see what you can expect in vehicle fuel economy.
About the writer: Matthew C. Keegan is a freelance writer who resides in Cary North Carolina. Matt provides magazine web content and article writing services to clients all over the world serving the automotive human interest and business communities. The Auto Writer is his personal automotive weblog.
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