How do I know how much a car uses gas mileage?

I will be going to college soon and I am looking for a car that is economic and does not use a lot of gas (gas prices are expensive!!!). I want to know when buying a car what characteristics to look for in order to see if a car uses to much gas. I know that big trucks need a lot of gas often. But in a regular small car, what info should I need to know? A car that I looked at said that gas mileage was 34 mpg city/40 mpg hwy. What does this mean? Also, do I need to check the engine? For example, 1.5L I4, 16 valve, 106@6000 hp. What do I need to look for in order to save gas. What are the best cars right now that do not use much gas, of good quality, and economic?
How do I know how much a car uses gas mileage?
here's some basic tips keep inmind when looking at gas mileage:

-the more horsepower an engine has the poorer the gas mileage.

-the more cylinders an engine has the poorer the gas mileage

-epa estimates (the 34 city/40 hwy you asked about) are only estimates and are usually a little higer than reality. but they're pretty close.

-city mpg (miles per gallon of gas) are what you can expect to get when driving in town on surface streets where you make lots of starts and stops.

-hwy mpg are what you can expect on the freeway when you are driving around 65mph without any significant or persistent slowdowns.



if you're looking at the engine try to get a 4 cylinder. it's the smallest engine available in most cars and will get the best gas mileage.

the most fuel efficient cars are the gas/electric hybrid cars available from toyota, honda and ford. notice i said car. there are several truck and suv hybrids on the market as well but from what i've read about 35 mpg hey is the best you can expect there.

look at the smaller cars. toyota and honda are great. very durable and reliable. also try the smaller brands. kia, mazda, and nissan all have small fuel efficient cars that come with great warranties. and the domestic auto makers also have some small fuel efficient cars. ford seems to be at the top of that list.

if you want to buy domestic be prepared to do some serious looking for the smaller cars. most car lots of the domestic auto makers are still overloaded with suv's and trucks. they'll do everything they can to talk you into buying a larger, less fuel efficient (but more profitable to them) suv or truck.

hope this helps and good luck on your car search.
How do I know how much a car uses gas mileage?
Think of the car you want, go to its maker's website (ex www.toyota.com), find your model, and they should have the deatils about gas mileage (given as %26quot;mpg%26quot;) on the website!



good luck
power to weight ratio is the biggest issue. example a 4cyl s10 gets worse mileage than a v6 s10. also mileage varies depending on driver state of tune. a poorly tuned car will waste gas. for that matter any stock vehicle gets worse mileage than they can. all vehicles need an improved higher flow exhuast cold air intake computer reprogramed. hondas are good cars plus made in america. and i'm die hard ford and i'm saying that. well older fords anyhow
here's a good highway and economical for the size.



ANd not an ugly car by any means



2002 Ford Taurus V6, SES gets about 29 highway



I picked up one last year for 7500 bucks, 60K and runs great. I would suggest getting from a dealer as they can add an extended warranty for aboutr 1200 bucks for 3 years 36000 miles.