There a many cars that get great gas mileage. Many are even affordable, fun to drive, and reliable too. The problem is that if you need transportation for a family of 6 or more, many of these vehicles just don’t cut it. A Mini Cooper S may be a great car for the daily commute or running a canyon road, but trying to fit a family of seven in one is akin to practicing for a circus act.

What do you do if gas bills are killing you, but you really can’t drive a Honda Fit, Mini Cooper, or Prius Hybrid? What if your transportation duties run the gamut, from running 3 or 4 kids to school, soccer or swimming, picking up 10 bags of groceries, and running the whole family for weekend trips to Grandma’s? Even a normal sedan, such as an Accord or Taurus just isn’t big enough.

Here are the top vehicles to drive if you have to move more than the average number of people and their gear.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #6

2009 Chrysler Town and Country Minivan – 4.0L V6, 6-sp auto, 17city / 25highway / 20 combined MPG, Base MSRP: $24,195.

The latest from the ones who started the minivan revolution (but didn’t actually invent it, that goes to VW), the latest Town and Country comes in at number 7 on the list. It also demonstrates the importance of an advanced transmission (see my post on technology to increase fuel economy) in the quest for better gas mileage. The 4 liter engine with the 6-speed actually gets better EPA fuel economy ratings than it’s smaller engined counterpart, which is mated to only a 4-speed auto.

The relatively good mileage, coupled with the utility of such innovations as Chrysler’s “Stow-n-Go” seating make this one a winner if you have a large family and need to get them around town.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #5

2009 Ford Flex Crossover SUV, FWD – 3.5L V6, 6-sp auto, 17 city / 25 highway / 19 combined MPG, Base MSRP: $28,295.

One of the main reasons so many drivers eschewed minivans in favor or SUVs in the last decade and a half is that they don’t want to be perceived as dowdy, un-cool, or devoid of style. Well driving the new Ford Flex definitely won’t get them pigeonholed into any of those categories. It drips of style, but still delivers enough room inside to get the whole brood to their little league practice and the swim meet without having to sit atop one another.

The Flex is a (very) modern interpretation of something right out of So Cal in the ‘50s. It’s not a minivan, but replaced on in Ford’s lineup, the never really popular Freestar. In a land of all the same, derivative products, Ford looks to have broken the mold for large family transportation. All that and it has suicide doors and returns very respectable gas mileage for a quasi-large people mover.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #4

2009 Mazda 5 Minivan FWD – 2.3L I4, 5-sp auto, 21city / 27 highway / 23 combined MPG, Base MSRP: $18,665.

The 2009 Mazda 5 has one real ace in the hole; great fuel economy for a vehicle that can hold your entire family. It also looks pretty cool, with little of the boring, me-too styling that so many others in the genre find themselves draped in, and you can get one at a bargain price compared to other vehicles that can hold 6 people. It has two things going against it that kept it from finishing higher in this list of great vehicles for transporting a large family while getting excellent MPG; it really isn’t that large, and it really isn’t that quick. In fact part of the reason it gets such great fuel economy is a result of precisely those two traits.

If you have a family of 6, and 2 of the family members are small kids, this will definitely do the trick. It handles well, a hallmark of most Mazda products, and should be very reliable, if past reliability stats are any indication. If your group includes teenaged twins that happen to play tight end on the high school football team and a few more kids over about 10 years old, you should probably find another mode of transportation however. The Mazda will simply be too tight of a squeeze.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #3

2009 Chevrolet Traverse FWD – 3.6L V6 direct injection, 6-sp auto, 17city / 24 highway / 19 combined MPG, Base Price MSRP: $30,810.

The Chevrolet Traverse is the latest iteration of the GM large SUV platform that’s also spawned the GMC Acadia and the Saturn Outlook. It’s modern, with a 3.6 liter V6 that includes direct injection fuel delivery, one of the reasons a 288hp vehicle that transports 8 full sized people can get such good gas mileage (for this sized vehicle). The interior is modern as well, proving again that American vehicles can deliver in this department, even if it took 30 years for U.S. automakers to figure it out.

The 2009 Traverse has a great combination of ride and handling for such a large vehicle, and is by most reports, relatively quiet too. All in all it’s a great place to spend time on a long road trip with the entire family, providing you can still afford to take one, with the high price of fuel these days. At least the Traverse burns regular gas, currently the least expensive liquid motivator you can get at the local filling station.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #2

2009 Honda Odessey LX Minivan FWD – 3.5L V6, 5-sp auto, 17 city / 25 highway / 20 combined MPG, Base MSRP (LX version): $26,255.

Honda has wrought a vehicle that consistently finishes at the top of its class with the Odyssey minivan. Honda has always created spectacular power plants, and the 3.5 liter in the Odyssey is another example of one of their sewing machine smooth, internal combustion, creations. The only nits that kept this one from finishing even higher on the list is that it’s a mite noisy on the freeway and could be a bit larger if you’d like to transport 7+ people. It has a cockpit that is a fantastic place to spend time, with everything falling readily to hand, and large, easy-to-read instrumentation that’s been a hallmark of Honda binnacles since the early ‘80s. The Odyssey even handles fairly well for vehicles in the minivan category.

Best Gas Mileage Vehicles to Buy if You Have a Large Family #1

2009 Chevy Tahoe SUV Hybrid 4×2 – 6L V8, CVT, 21 city / 22 highway / 21 combined, Base MSRP: $50,490.

The new hybrid Tahoe is a technological tour de force, enabling a huge, vehicle with a 6 liter V8 engine to return 20mpg. If you have to have a large vehicle to transport 8 people, and all their stuff, on a long trip, while towing a trailer, this is about the only vehicle to be driving. It uses a hybrid power train, combined with advanced transmission technology to wring every last bit of energy from a drop of unleaded regular and use it for getting down the road. About the only downside, and it’s considerable, is the monster MSRP of $50,490. That’s for the 2-wheel drive version; you’ll pay more to deliver power to all the wheels, should you want to.

The new Hybrid Tahoe is really expensive, but if you need the combination of this much size and towing capacity, nothing else makes the list while delivering anywhere close to this kind of fuel economy, especially if you do much of your driving in urban areas. In stop and go driving the hybrid power really comes into it’s own and saves gas. It comes with every option under the sun, and if you check all the boxes, you can rapidly find your bank account depleted by an even larger sum, so exercise some restraint.

Until next time………..

If high gas prices have hit you right in your (too thin) wallet, you may be thinking about finding a good, cheap, used car to rack up the endless miles to and from work every day. Just as declining sales of big SUVs and pickups have have some car dealers’ hair coming out in huge clumps, other dealers are making a fortune selling smaller cars of the gas saving variety. When it costs upwards of $80 to fill up the F-150, many people have decided that it just doesn’t make sense to continue driving such gas hogs any longer. In fact, with some of the real gas guzzlers, you can almost pay for a the monthly payments of another car with gas savings alone!

Here’s an example:
Drive to work each way: 25 miles – part city, part highway driving
Other driving: 500 miles per month
Vehicle : 2002 Ford F-150 4×4 4.6l V-8 pickup
EPA mileage: 14 combined
Current gas prices, regular gas: $3.68 / gallon, nationwide average

That means that in this example, you’d drive approximately 1,600 miles per month. At 14 mpg, your truck would drink about 114 gallons of unleaded regular every month (don’t burn premium in this rig, it’s a waste of money). That would set you back $420 per month.

If you got a used car that gave you 25mpg, you’d drop your monthly gas bill to about $235, or a monthly gas savings of $185. The smaller car would probably be cheaper to insure as well, but I won’t even put that into the equation. Your $185 monthly gas savings could be put straight into a car payment. According to Bankrate.com, if you have good credit you can get a 48 month, used car loan in about 10 minutes from lenders such as FirstAgain at an interest rate of 6.49% (today’s rate).

At that interest rate, a 48 month car loan of $7,800 would get you a car payment of $184.94, right at your gas savings for the month. Here are some of the top gas saving cars you could buy for that $7,800 according to used car values for used cars in good condition from Edmunds.com, fuel economy ratings from the EPA, and vehicle reliability ratings from MSN.

Best Cheap Used Cars to Save Gas With – #5
2001 Acura Integra LS Sedan, 1.8L, 5sp manual trans, EPA MPG 22 city / 28 hwy
This is a great car. It drives superbly, handles well, and returns fantastic gas mileage. The reliability is beyond reproach and the power train is jewel-like. Saving gas in this thing would be a pleasure. About the only disadvantages are that, as a 2001, it’s getting a bit older, so most examples will tend to have racked up a few miles, and they are not the most quiet cars from the driver’s seat. One more issue is that these cars enjoy a strong enthusiast following, so finding one that hasn’t been modified and abused may require a bit of commitment, but would be worth it.

Best Cheap Used Cars to Save Gas With – #4
2005 Ford Focus ZX4 2.0L, 5sp manual trans, EPA MPG 22 city / 32 hwy
This car gets excellent fuel economy, and handles very well. Although not the fastest thing on the road the handling makes it fun to drive and the interior was redesigned for 2005, making it a more palatable place to spend the daily slog. Not super quiet inside, but few econo rigs are. It’s new enough that you should be able to find lightly used examples out there, and it doesn’t command much of a following among the performance oriented crowd, so finding a good one shouldn’t be a challenge.

Best Cheap Used Cars to Save Gas With – #3
2003 Mazda Protege ES 4dr, 2.0L, 5sp manual trans, EPA MPG 22 city / 28 hwy
Good gas mileage, but stellar handling. This thing livens up the drive to work. Not too fleet of foot though, sort of oozes down the road more than scampers. Given the handling prowess, the Protégé is way short of grunt. Pretty good sized interior, so if you have to take your family along for the ride, this’ll do it for you. Not the absolutely highest gas mileage, but would definitely save gas over a big truck.

Best Cheap Used Cars to Save Gas With – #2
2004 Hyundai Elantra GLS Sedan, , 2.0L, 5sp manual trans, EPA MPG 23 city / 31 hwy
Great gas mileage, very good reliability, MSN Autos says “Infrequent problems reported, all with low repair costs” for all categories. The Elantra boasts decent acceleration, and is loaded with features (especially considering the low cost). The reliability should make sure you gat to work every day, and the Elantra’s cockpit isn’t a bad place to spend your drive, but it’s not as nice as the Honda Civic.

Best Cheap Used Cars to Save Gas With – #1
2002 Honda Civic DX 4dr, 1.7L, 5sp manual trans, EPA MPG 28 city / 36 hwy
And here’s my pick for the best cheap, used car to save gas with. Look at that! Buy one of these cars and you’ll get the best gas mileage short of dropping some big coin on a new hybrid. The little (but not too little) Honda really saves gas, but also goes down the road in a quiet, composed way the other cars in it’s class just can’t quite match (unless the road starts to get curvy). It’s kind of the mirror image of the Mazda; only so-so handling, but a quiet, cushy ride for your commute to work. The Civic was redesigned for 2002, so it looks even newer than it is.

It has a well deserved rep for safety and, like the Protégé, is pretty large inside for a compact car. The cons for the DX version of the Civic is that you can’t get ABS, and many of these cars may not have A/C. That last one is obviously a deal breaker if you live in Phoenix, Dallas, or Bakersfield.

It’s pretty easy to find the cars with the best gas mileage. You only need look at the U.S. government EPA numbers. It’s there in black and white for all to see. What’s not so easy to find are the cars that get good gas mileage that are actually fun to drive. If you’re one of those that view your car as something more than a simple transportation appliance, the act of getting you to work in the morning isn’t the only thing you expect out of your car.

It may not take rocket science to find a car that gets good gas mileage, but it definitely takes a bit more digging to root out those that can do that and keep you entertained while you’re behind the wheel. For those that actually like to drive, especially in a car that goes where you point it, pulls respectable Gs in the corners, stops like you tied it to a tree, and at least tries to pin you back in your seat when you put your foot in it, here is the

1^st Annual Super-Gas-Saver.com Top 12 Best Gas Mileage Cars That are Fun to Drive – 2008 Edition.

What’s important here is gas mileage and fun. The number of seats, cargo capacity, and other niceties of these cars are purely secondary considerations, and are used as tiebreakers only. Why 12, not 10? Well, 11 is better than 10, right? That means 12 must be even better still. In the interest of fun and economy these cars have manual or automated manual transmissions. The only other qualification is that the base MSRP must be less than $50,000. Rankings are independent of price, but factor in the elusive “fun to drive” factor and EPA gas mileage posted by these cars.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 11 -

Mazda 3S – MSRP $18,405 – EPA combined 25, EPA Highway 29 – 156 HP, regular gas

If you have to drive a basic sedan, but want one that won’t set off your insomnia, Mazda can get you behind the wheel of the newly revised Mazda 3. It carves a mean corner for a economy car, has best-in-class binders to keep you out of the ditch, and almost touches 7 seconds flat in a 0-60 sprint. Even better, it’s almost downright cheap and has good resale value to go along with it’s fuel frugality.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 10 -

Infiniti G37 Coupe Sport 6MT – MSRP $36,200 – EPA combined 20, EPA Highway 26 – HP 330, premium gas

Couldn’t afford that 240Z in high school? Want one now, but think the 350Z looks like a soft, warm pile on a hot day? Infinity has wrapped the 3.7 liter V6 from the new 370Z in much sexier bodywork to create the G37 coupe. Get the 6MT model, which is backed by, as the name might suggest, a 6-speed manual transmission. It sits on sports suspension, and has some rather hefty Brembo brakes, although recent brake tests in Car and Driver Magazine suggest they might take a vacation after a few hard, panic stops. In any case, the Infiniti is super fun, has a stout motor, and looks great. It manages to do all this and still return 26 miles to each gallon of premium, if you can stay on the freeway. It would have finished higher, but the gas mileage is nothing to write home about in this crowd.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 9 -

Honda S-2000 – MSRP $34,300 - EPA combined 21, EPA Highway 25 – 237 HP, premium gas

Just hearing one of these things rip to the 8,000rpm (used to be 9,000 rpm) redline is worth the price of admission alone. Slap a performance exhaust on it and it will really sing. Handling is superb, if just a touch understeer oriented, and boy is it fast for a normally aspirated 4 cylinder.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 8 -

Chevy Corvette – MSRP $46,950 – EPA combined 19, EPA Highway 26 – 430 HP, premium gas

The Corvette, icon of American performance, would have finished higher, Lord knows the ‘Vette’s performance warranted it, but it was held back by it’s low (for this crowd) 19mpg combined rating. On the performance front, the Vette cleans everything else’s clock. Fun to drive? The Corvette has it in spades, especially if your qualifications include AA-like acceleration numbers. Of course, you won’t see high gas mileage figures while using the Corvette’s 430hp V8 to rocket you from 0-60, but if you keep your foot out of it on the cruise (actually use the cruise, that’ll help) to work, you’ll actually get pretty respectable gas mileage.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 7 -

Honda Fit Sport – MSRP $15,270 – EPA combined 28, EPA Highway 34 – 115 HP, regular gas

Just as the Corvette was restrained by it’s 19mpg rating, the Fit was held back by it’s 115 HP rating. Although this thing returns fantastic fuel economy figures, and is a blast to drive, the lack of acceleration can only let it climb so high in the list. If your definition of fun to drive includes zippy, go cart like handling, but you really need great gas mileage, this could be your car, especially as the price of entry is so low. As an added bonus, it seats 4 comfortably, and has a door for each. No more folding your seat forward.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 6 -

BMW 335i – MSRP $39,300 – EPA combined 20, EPA Highway 26 – 300 HP, premium gas

The gold standard of sports sedans. If you need a car that holds more than 2, but still want to have a rip roarin’ good time, the 335i is the car for you. It will tickle your funny bone, and if doesn’t, you probably don’t have one. Remember when 300hp was pure sports car territory? Yeah, me too. Now you can get the jewel like response of the 6 cylinder and handling that other manufacturers strive to emulate, in a car that lets you take along the Biffy, Buffy and your wife/husband for the ride to grandma’s.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 5 -

Chevy Cobalt SS – MSRP $22,995 – EPA combined 25, EPA Highway 30 – 260 HP, premium gas

Handles far better than any Chevy save the Corvette and can more than get out of it’s own way, thanks to the force-fed 4 cylinder. It won’t set you back a fortune either. The Cobalt SS is a hot rod for the one who wants to turn and stop too. With an EPA 30mpg on the freeway and 25 in town, you can probably even make it to work more than a couple of times on a tank full of premium. Car and Driver Magazine, typically loathe to say nice things about American cars that aren’t bodied in fiberglass, even called the 260hp version of the Cobalt SS “shockingly good”.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 4 -

Pontiac Solstice GXP – MSRP $28,775 – EPA combined 22, EPA Highway 28 – 260 HP, premium gas

It looks pretty darn good, has a direct injected, turbo motivator that put 260hp at your command, and gets better gas mileage than it’s non-turbo cousin that has 86hp less. How’s that for technology in action? The brakes work great as well, and as Pontiac is proud to point out, will haul the Solstice down in less distance than the Audi TT. In addition, the Poncho gets better mileage than the TT. The upcoming coupe version looks great, even better than you remember the original convertible Solstice looking when it was makin’ the Donald look good on The Aprentice.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 3 -

Mazda MX-5 Miata – MSRP $21,305 – EPA combined 24, EPA Highway 27 – 166 HP, premium gas

The Miata is one of the original “real car” sports cars. You know, a car that starts every morning, illuminates the night with it’s headlights, not flames, and doesn’t leave puddles adorning your driveway. The new version is even better, with a healthy increase in power from the original version’s 116 hp. (There have been several power increases since way back then) It has really tossable handling, uses hardly any gas, and you can get a sunburned dome on a nice Sunday. What could be better? Well, actually…….

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 2 -

Porsche Cayman – MSRP $49,400 – EPA combined 23, EPA Highway 29 – 245 HP, premium gas

If you can’t make this car handle well, you have no business driving. One of the best handling cars Porsche has ever built, and it will get even better next year with the introduction of direct injection for the flat 6 power plant.

Unfortunately there’s a good chance the combination of the falling dollar and increased content will push the ’09 Cayman above the $50,000 ceiling for this list, so next year it may be #2 no longer. It reaches number 2 on the fun to drive gas mileage list this year by the virtue of it’s incredible handling and pretty brisk acceleration, even though it isn’t the fastest car on the list (Corvette, of course), combined with the almost 30mpg highway mileage figure.

Best Gas Mileage Car That’s Fun to Drive 1 -

Mini Cooper S – MSRP $22,600 – EPA combined 29, EPA Highway 34 – 172 HP, premium gas

You want a car that screams “Fun to Drive” so loud Beethoven would be dancing to the beat, and sips gas like a Canary tasting Kentucky Bourbon for the first time? Well you darn well should, if you have half a pulse. Here is your car. It handles like the proverbial go cart, stops from 60 mph in about the length of the Starbucks drive through, and is even pretty darn quick, especially since Mini traded the previous S version’s supercharged engine for a new, direct injection, turbo mill.

As an added bonus it can even seat 4 real adults in relative comfort, it just depends on how big your relatives are. If you can either overlook or embrace the funky dash and instrument design, you can love the Cooper S. I know I sure do!

See, you can have a great time behind the wheel and still save gas. Until next time!