Real MPG: most economical cars you can buy new
What Car?'s Real MPG tests show what fuel economy you can really expect from a car. Here are the most efficient models you can currently buy in the UK...
It’s not easy choosing a new car, and there are so many variables to consider when doing so, including how much it’ll cost to run.
So here, we list the 10 most economical new cars currently on the market, comprising petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles.
Through our own Real MPG tests, we're able to reveal what your car can really do without resorting to any unrealistically slow acceleration or ‘hypermiling’ techniques.
This is important, because the official WLTP fuel economy figures you see in sales brochures can be misleading, and often don’t represent what your car can achieve in real-world conditions.
How we test for a car’s Real MPG
We carry out our tests under laboratory conditions, using a rolling road and a real-world-inspired route that comprises urban, motorway and rural driving. This ensures that no uncontrollable variables, such as weather or traffic conditions, will affect the accuracy of our results.
Each car is weighed and we make sure its tyres are inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended levels. The climate control is set to 21 degrees, or if the car has manual air conditioning, the temperature dial is set to the midway point and the fan speed to its lowest setting. All other electrical equipment is switched off.
We calculate the Real MPG results using the average data from an exhaust connection, which measures the car’s emissions at every second.
Read more: How we test a car’s Real MPG
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