How low will your car go? EPA offers 2008 mileage comparison tool for older vehicles

We're all pleased that the Environmental Protection Agency has begun using a new method to estimate fuel economy for 2008 model year vehicles and beyond. The new method is more accurate than the old one because it finally takes into account some real world factors like driving with the A/C on, higher highway speeds and accelerating harder. Accuracy is achieved, however, at the cost of high MPG ratings for pretty much every vehicle across the board. So your 2008 Dodge Charger will be estimated at a few miles per gallon less in the city and on the highway than a 2007 model. Nothing has physically changed about the car, just the EPA's method for estimating the fuel economy numbers.

Well, what about all of us dolts who bought vehicles before 2008? What's our true MPG? Only good record keeping at fuel stops and a calculator can answer that, but the EPA has set up a MPG comparison tool at its website so that pre-2008 owners can at least get an estimate of how their vehicle would've handled the new method of testing. My 1999 Olds Alero four-cylinder, for instance, dropped from 22 city/30 highway and a combined average of 25 mpg to 19 city/28 highway and combined average of 23 mpg. How low did your car go?

Just for fun, we decided to run all 23 vehicles from General Motors that are continually touted as achieving over 30 mpg on the highway to see how many would have potentially failed to reach 30 mpg highway using new method. 14 out of 23 failed, including the Saturn VUE Hybrid(!), Saturn Sky, Saturn Aura, Pontiac Solstice, Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick LaCrosse, Chevy Impala, Chevy Malibu Maxx, Chevy HHR, Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan, Saab 9-3 Convertible, Saab 9-3 SportCombi, Saab 9-5 Sport Sedan, and Saab 9-5 Sport Combi. Hmm... not much of a marketing tag line now, is it? Follow the jump to see the complete list of 2007 GM vehicles that achieve 30 mpg or more on the highway. It likely won't look the same next year.

[Source: EPA via Automotive News]

2007 Models

Chevrolet Aveo 5 *
34 mpg

Chevrolet Aveo
34 mpg

Pontiac G6
34 mpg

Pontiac Vibe
34 mpg

Pontiac G5 *
32 mpg

Saturn Vue Hybrid *
32 mpg

Saturn Ion
32 mpg

Chevrolet Cobalt
32 mpg

Chevrolet Malibu
32 mpg

Saturn Sky *
31 mpg

Pontiac Solstice *
31 mpg

Chevrolet Monte Carlo
31 mpg

Chevrolet Impala
31 mpg

Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan
30 mpg

Saab 9-3 Convertible *
30 mpg

Saab 9-3 Sport Combi
30 mpg

Saab 9-5 Sport Sedan *
30 mpg

Saab 9-5 SportCombi *
30 mpg

Pontiac Grand Prix
30 mpg

Buick LaCrosse
30 mpg

Saturn Aura *
30 mpg

Chevrolet Malibu Maxx
30 mpg

Chevrolet HHR
30 mpg

* New to list for 2007