The new 3200 and 3800 GM engines are WAY different than that 4.1 - different injectors, pattern and computer, giving MUCH better FE.

Anyone else have a 40+ MPG station wagon? Malibu Maxx gets BETTER mileage than the Malibu!

Yeah, I was joking about the 4.1. It's got a 4bbl carb, so you can damn well bet on the "different injectors". :D In fact, my car has no computer or o2 sensors, though the manual says that some with the 3.8 did.

Nissan Bluebird (Altima). EPA is low (21 or something?) but I was getting 54MPG as my hypermiling improved. The only aero mods were a partial front grille block, and tiny rear wheel skirts (two inches from the top of the arch only), with driving style being the main factor. If you could find a 2.0 SR20DE Altima I think this would be a good base for hypermiling (especially as that engine has good low-down torque).

Yeah around town they are horrible.

I have the Supercharged variant and its pulled off a best off 33 MPG on the freeway from San Diego to FairField, last time I made that trip it pulled off 31.5. No one beleives me when I say that but its true :)

88 Nissan Sentra
 

In college I had a 1988 Nissan Sentra with no A/C or power anything. I had no idea what hypermiling was, and still got around 30 MPG. That was in the 90s and the car was about 10 years old.

https://www.gassavers.org/gaslog/sig.php?id=1477

Bmw 318is in my book, but with 4 valves per cylinder and double overhead cams and 4 ignition coils and multiport fuel rails you REALLY have to drive this car SUPER nice to see 35mpg.
Otherwise if you drive it normal, 20-25...

The thing about it is, most folks see a bmw they just don't assume you could get decent FE. The 318 all it has is a 4-banger, the mini cooper's engine but with a fuller body it doesn't look the 'mini' part.

As for power, she won't win any races but she will keep up with most of today's 6 cylinders, it's a car that will reach 100mph without much further ado and it LIKES to rev (think 3000+ rpm's), you can redline this baby time and again, the power curve pulls strong and throughout the entire 3000-6500 rpm range without any loss... The bmw is one of the only cars in the world that you DO push TO the redline before shifting, the 318 is by far not the fastest but for a 4-cylinder this is one peppy bitty roughly along the same lines as the Honda Prelude.


Which that might be another, the Prelude (4-cyl version, not V-tec).
Also I am thinking the Vw Golf GTI (again the 4-cyl).

I believe any of these is capable of getting decent FE but also keep you from having to eat crud all of the time. Again they won't win any races but these three are no joke in the acceleration and pep department (and I mean PEPpee). Now there will be those who will leave you eating dust but I can almost guarantee most of the Nascar rejects will think twice before racing you again.

So there's my line-up, in no particular order:
Bmw 318is, Honda Prelude, Vw Golf GTI

2000 Mitsu Mirage had an OLD EPA rating of 33/41 for the 5 speed w/ the 1.5L. I think the 1997-2000 was the same. Not sure beyond that. The 96 Accent I have had an OLD EPA rating of 37 highway, and the best I've done so far is 42. I would think I could get 46+ out of the Mirage then.

As long as you are including BMW's then the 325e and 528e from the 80's should be mentioned.. They both were designed for good mileage, low rpm, low friction engines with very high final drive ratios and an analog mpg readout stock from the factory.

The GTI is a good one. A decent percentage of GTI drivers on the golfmkv.com forum report 30 to 40 mpg, and there are a couple reports of 40+ from non-hypermilers. It's got a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder with turbo. Boost gets pretty strong at 2000 rpm so you probably have to really stay out of it, but it's got gobs of torque. The car unfortunately weighs about 3000 pounds, pretty heavy for its size.

Interesting bit about it: It's offered with either of two transmissions - 6 speed manual, or 6 speed DSG. No traditional automatic. No torque converter. The DSG is two manual transmissions and two clutches, and the computer operates them (automatically or as commanded by the driver). It's two instead of just one so it can shift insanely fast -- as quick as 8ms for an expected upshift. The computer has the inactive transmission in gear and the clutch halfway engaged, and dumps it as soon as the other clutch is loose.

Anyway, the DSG offers all the practical advantages of the manual, with almost none of the disadvantages. I suspect that a hypermiler could really squeeze a lot out of it. The big disadvantage: Low gearing. Despite having an additional gear, it has the same total range as my 5 speed. It can easily be shifted into 6th at 25mph, and is up to 3000 rpm at 70 mph, 2000 rpm at 50 mph, which means you're in some pretty heavy boost at highway speeds.

I have to give another point to the Chevy Prizim. My ex had a 2000 model with an auto trans. With no particular attempt to drive for maximum FE she could pull down a consistent 38mpg.

My current sweetie has a 1999 Saturn SL (base model w/5-spd). Since she brought her highway speeds down from 85mph to 60-70mph she is now pulling down ~42mpg (with her best current tank being 46mpg). We just aired her tires up to 38psi, and are expecting that mpg number to go higher.