Best mpg suv?

[Jay2TheRescue]

The Q5 is an amazing vehicle. I was part of the Audi TruthIn48 drive team that took a handfull of Audis from LA to NYC. Our instruction from Audi was to get there in less than 48 hours, and exceed the EPA rating by as much as possible. If I remember correctly, we arrived in NYC in just over 46 hours, and my team (Q5) came in at 38.25 MPG. If we weren't fully loaded with 4 people, luggage, and gear, and didn't have to get there in under 48 hours, I think we could have done much better.

[benlovesgoddess]

That's some amazing figures, especially from such a large vehicle with a large engine. You can definitely put yourself forward for best mpg suv!
The only v4 x 4 vehicles I've spotted posting lifetime 50 + mpg (imp.) figures have been Dacia Dusters and Skoda Yetis - which won't be as powerful, impressive or as loaded as the Audi I bet.
The missus choose (at the time) a 7 year old Honda CR-V rather than a new Dacia Duster!
We looked at 2-3 year old Audi Q3s this year, but none were a higher spec than the old Honda so she didn't want to pay more for less.

[Draigflag]

Very impressive figures indeed, you'd associate those results more with a smaller diesel engine, but not a big 3.0 litre. I checked the ratings here in the UK and the highway figure, which bearing in mind nobody gets close to, is just 42.8 UK MPG, so you're exceeding them by a huge margin, good work. It's not hard to understand why diesel has been king here for a few decades now, the potential is huge.

[BlueRover]

I had noticed that early on in this topic it was about SUV's and has since been drifting. But regarding drifting as in snow drifting and fwd, rwd,, awd, or 4wd power distribution , having driven all in deep snow. there is a vast difference in grip and performance. Mercedes 4matic (full time 4wd) suffers about 1 mpg less in fuel consumption and app 95% of all Mercedes Benz are 4matic in Canada and 99.99% are straight automatics.
Nissan Rogue suffers 0.2 L/100 KM

The other advantage of full time 4wd is cornering on wet or dry roads becomes much safer.

Fuel economy is a minor disadvantage.

First car I owned that had FWD was bought in 1972, I won't mention my first RWD car

[cuts_off_prius]

Very relevant new article I found (based on EPA combined mileage):

10 SUVs with the Best Fuel-Economy
https://www.thestreet.com/story/1325...l-economy.html

Can vouch for the CR-V. My dad's 2015 CR-V AWD regularly gets 30 MPG when he commutes on mostly highway and suburban driving.

[SteveMak]

Originally Posted by cuts_off_prius

Very relevant new article I found (based on EPA combined mileage)...

As we know, the EPA numbers are always optimistic compared to real world numbers. The linked article speaks fondly of SUV's that get a combined city/highway EPA rating of 30 US MPG (= 7.84 L/100km = 36 Imp MPG).

As at this moment, after driving over 23,000 miles, I have a lifetime number of 6.37 L/100km (=36.9 US MPG = 44.35 Imp MPG) on a 3.0L diesel. And that includes driving in crappy Canadian winters when freezing weather and snow/ice take their toll on fuel economy.

I like a well-designed diesel :-)

My car didn't make the 10-Best List. Maybe it's us Fuelly drivers that eek out the most distance per gallon, and not the car ;-)

[Jay2TheRescue]

Recently when I was helping a friend go car shopping because his car was totaled, we test drove a lot of vehicles in this segment. I was pretty impressed with the Hyundai SantaFe. I had reset the fuel economy display, and drove it 10 miles in light city traffic. By the time I got back to the dealer I was showing 45 MPG. Granted, I did have to work for it, and most drivers won't get this... but it shows what is possible. My friend ended up buying a 2014 Ford Escape with the Ecoboost engine. Very nice, very peppy, and hopefully very efficient. I haven't had a chance to drive it yet, but I expect good things from it.

[SteveMak]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

...I had reset the fuel economy display, and drove it 10 miles in light city traffic. By the time I got back to the dealer I was showing 45 MPG...

FWIW, computer display fuel economy numbers are notoriously inaccurate, usually painting an unrealistically optimistic picture.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I'm not expecting it to be 100% accurate, but even if it was 5 MPG off, it was pretty impressive.