Gas-sipper Smackdown!
 

I found this article today. Personally I can't stand too much of what the guys at Edmund's have to say a lot of the time.

Still, it is interesting reading but with somewhat poor results IMO. I suppose they do drive their cars like ordinary people do, not like some of the extraordinary individuals here. :D

In short - they put a Prius, a VW diesel, a Smart and a Focus up against each other. When you throw in a hybrid and a diesel into the mix - it's apples and oranges. With the hybrid and diesel they should of blown the smart and the Focus out of the water. :thumbdown:

I'd put my 20 year old CRX up against any of those contenders, anytime. Should beat everything but the Prius in the city.

That Jetta TDI must not have the same gearing as the gas Jetta, or the TDI engine is not very RPM-sensitive.

Why did they pit the Focus, a car with nothing special for FE, against three other vehicles that are built for FE?

Looks to me like they DID blow the Focus out of the water. The Smart should be able to compete well, though.

I think maybe they threw in the Focus as an example of what NOT to buy if you're serious about FE. There are a bunch of folks who can't think past a Taurus, and if they really, really stretch themselves they may think of a Focus. This would be to make them think a little harder, maybe...