When you're shopping for a new vehicle, fuel mileage may guide your final selection. Four-wheel-drive vehicles have a reputation for being gas guzzlers, but they might not use as much fuel as you think when compared with their two-wheels-drive stablemates, particularly when you compare combined fuel economy. Combined fuel economy is simply a car's city-driving fuel economy averaged with its highway-driving fuel economy.The U.S. government's fuel economy website provides combined ratings for a number of 2011 vehicles.
With an automatic transmission and front-wheel drive, the 2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman gets a combined fuel mileage rating of 28 miles per gallon, while the all-wheel-drive version gets 26. The 2011 Suzuki Kizashi shows a similar pattern, with 26 mpg in the front-wheel-drive model and 25 in the all-wheel-drive version.
With automatic transmissions and six-cylinder engines under the hood, both versions of the 2011 Toyota Tacoma achieve EPA-estimated combined fuel economy ratings of 18 mpg. A 2011 Chevrolet Colorado with four-cylinder engine and automatic transmission garners an EPA-estimated combined fuel mileage rating of 21 mpg in two-wheel-drive gear, while the four-wheel-drive version gets a combined 20 mpg.
A 2011 Ford Expedition with two-wheel drive has a combined fuel mileage rating of 16 mpg, while the four-wheel-drive model gets 15 mpg. A 2011 Chevrolet Equinox with a six-cylinder engine has an EPA-estimated combined fuel economy rating of 19 in both drivetrain configurations.
