Top 10 Most Economical Cars

Introduction

 There's a revolution going on in the car industry at the moment. Over the last decade, car manufacturers have been spending a lot of time and money investing in efficiency. The biggest area car manufacturers have looked at is the diesel engine.

Of course, more recently hybrid cars have been growing in popularity. The mix of a petrol engine and electric drive-train has proven a massive hit in the USA, but is it justified?

In this article, I'll look at the top 10 fuel efficient cars avaliable to buy today. I'm not including electric cars because of how rare they are at present, although I'm hoping by this time in 2010 there will be a lot more on the roads.  

10. Fiat Panda 1.3 MultiJet 65.7mpg

Fiat Panda

A popular return of name for Fiat with the return of the Panda. This spacious little city car has amazed people with it's sense of spaciousness. It's a small car that feels big.

The small 1.3 Turbo diesel engine pumps out an impressive 65.7mpg on a combined cycle. There was some shock when this car first arrived at how well it was built. Fiat had a problem with bits breaking from almost new. Yet the Panda gets thumbs up from a lot of people and it help turn the tides for Fiats problems.

9. Fiat 500 MultiJet 67.3mpg

Fiat 500

          The new kid on the block. Retro is in and everyone is reviving classic cars. The Fiat 500 is obviously the new re-incarnation of the 500 from all those years ago. Using the same 1.3 TD engine from the Panda (above). Due to less weight (only 3 doors) and being a little more aerodynamic, the 500 manages an extra 1.6mpg over the Panda.

A great little car that's a lot of fun to drive. Is a definate contender over the king of retro, the Mini

8. Renault Clio 1.5 dCi 67.30mpg

Renault Clio

Another face lift for the ever popular Renault Clio has appeared, and with it's 80 horse power 1.5TD it has taken the crown of the most fuel efficient Renault of them all.The Clio is one of Renault's best selling cars now, and they keep making it better.

Like the Fiat 500, it's a lot of fun to drive, and like the Fiat Panda, it's also very roomy with a decent size boot, and 5 comfortable seats. It's looks are fresh up to date and as it's a Renault, is built very well.

The new kid on the block. Retro is in and everyone is reviving classic cars. The Fiat 500 is obviously the new re-incarnation of the 500 from all those years ago. Using the same 1.3 TD engine from the Panda (above). Due to less weight (only 3 doors) and being a little more aerodynamic, the 500 manages an extra 1.6mpg over the Panda.

A great little car that's a lot of fun to drive. Is a definate contender over the king of retro, the Mini.

7. Citroen C2 1.4 HDi 68.90mpg

Citroen C2

The Citroen C2 has been around for a while now, so Citroen have just launched a face lift version of the car. It's a good seller for Citroen, especially with the ridiculous cash back offers Citroen are known for! 68.9mpg comes from the 1.4HDi engine which is an absolute dream.

These well built French cars are on a par with Renault for quality and style. Both of these cars appeal to the youngsters as much as their elders and due to the massive increase in the economy are getting more and more popular.

6. Toyota Aygo 1.4 HDi 68.9mpg

Toyota

The Toyota Aygo is exactly the same as the Citroen C1. Both use the same 1.4 HDi engine producing a brilliant 68.9mpg. There both a lot of fun to drive while keeping them easy to use. Well built and very reliable will add to the low cost of ownership to make both these cars great sellers in 2009.

The one thing to know about these cars, is there's a slightly cheaper brother to both of them. A 1.4 Petrol version is available for £1000 less, and still pulls 61.4mpg! Yes it costs a little more to run, but the little petrol engine is very capable.

5. Mini Clubman Cooper D 68.9mpg

Mini Clubman Cooper D

This is one of the coolest cars out at the moment. Yeah it might have shocked you when you first saw one, but it's growing on you! It's not quiet as economical as the non Clubman version (losing 2.5mpg) but it's worth it for the extra room the Clubman offers you. those extra doors and a real boot really help!

The Clubman is comfortable and spacious, and even though it's growing in popularity, it's not as common as the normal Mini. Get yourself something rare before everyone finds out about this great little car. 

4. Skoda Fabia Greenline 68.9mpg

Skoda Fabia

The Skoda Fabia is a great car. Skoda are part of VAG (Volkswagen Automotive Group) so in essence this car is the Volkswagen Polo Blue-Motion, but cheaper and slightly bigger! The slight increase in size means it's heavier so loses out 5.4mpg over it's VAG brothers. But the extra room and smaller cost means it's still a winner.

This is the mark 2 of the Fabia, and is it not a pretty car? It's a Volkswagen, so it's well built and well run for ever.

  

3. Mini Cooper D 72.4mpg

Mini Cooper D

For the majority of this millenium the Mini Cooper has been a massive success for BMW. It's been one of the coolest cars to own. There small, cute and fun to drive. There maybe some controversy over the looks, and the fact it's more Midi than Mini, yet the sight of one every 30 seconds in any major town or city speaks for itself.

The cooper D has been improved for 2009 and is now part of an very small group of cars to average over 70 mpg. Even with these current diesel prices, that's a lot of mileage for your money! 

2. Volkswagen Polo Blue-Motion 74.3mpg

Volkswagen Polo

The Polo is another car that's been around for years and is still very popular. Using the same engine and gear ratios as the Skoda and Seat, this daddy of the small VAG cars is a stunner. Amazing fuel economy, great build quality and VAG reliability make it a great car.

It runs joint top with the Seat (below) yet it sits in position 2 because of it's cost. It might still be popular, but being over £1000 more expensive than the Seat means it's not worthy of the number 1 spot. 

1. Seat Ibiza Ecomotive 74.3mpg

Seat Ibiza

Yes, the Seat Ibiza is the most economical car out today. using the same engine as the Polo and Fabia, this small little Spanish car is phenomenal value for money. It's a little over £10000 although they can be had for about £8000 if you look and haggle) and with 74.3mpg it will keep the pounds in the bank.

As with all VAG cars, it's well built, reliable and great fun to drive. The new version has just been launched, and Seat have really outdone themselves with the new model. There popping up everywhere. 2009 will see a great year for Seat judging by this amazing little car. 

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Toyota recalls more than 110,000 hybrid cars
 

                         Toyota said Wednesday it will recall more than 110,000 hybrid vehicles in the United States, Japan and Europe because of faulty transistors in electrical power control boards.

The US market is the most affected, with the Japaneseauto giant recalling 45,500 units of its Highlander Hybrid and 36,700 Lexus RX 400h vehicles due to "inadequate soldering".

Toyota said certain transistors could be damaged from heat caused by a large current flow during high-load driving due to the defect.

In most cases the vehicle will enter a fail-safe driving mode, resulting in reduced power in which the vehicle can still be driven for short distances. In the worst case the vehicle could stop, Toyota said.

Roughly 3,000 of the same vehicles are also being recalled in Canada, a Toyota spokeswoman told AFP. Toyota is also recalling 11,164 of the same vehicles in Japan for the same defect.

In Europe, the recall will cover roughly 15,000 vehicles, the spokeswoman said. Toyota said it is "working on" obtaining replacement parts and will notify owners when available.

The latest global recall is a another blow for the company struggling to restore its reputation as a quality automaker, having recalled millions of vehicles since 2009 over safety defects and paid US authorities nearly $50 million in penalties.

                           Toyota earlier this month also had to recall some 139,000 vehicles globally, including 106,000 first-generation Prius hybrid vehicles, because of a problem with the steering system.

Ratings agency Moody's on Tuesday said it had downgraded Toyota and its affiliates by one notch to Aa3, citing concerns for its profitability against a strong yen and materials costs.

It said the ratings remain on review for possible further downgrade.

Toyota had said it expected net profit in this fiscal year to drop 31 percent on-year to $3.5 billion on a strong yen and the effect on production of the March earthquake and tsunami.

The company expects to stage a recovery in the second half as supply problems caused by the earthquake fade

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Top 10 best Mechanical Engineering Universities 2011

           Mechanical engineering is the mother of all engineering disciplines. Mass, motion, force, energy, design, and manufacturing – these comprises the world of mechanical engineering. It encompasses the research, design, development, construction and testing of tools, machines and other mechanical equipment. Education from a proper well recognized university, college or school of engineering is vital for all the mechanical engineers due to the highly technical nature of mechanical engineering. According to the ranking of mechanical engineering universities, the top 10 best universities or colleges for mechanical engineering in the year 2011 are MIT, Stanford university, UC Berkeley, University of Cambridge, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Imperial College London, University of Tokyo, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), University of Oxford and National University of Singapore (NUS).

1. MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology):
MechE, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is perhaps the most renowned and the top best mechanical engineering university in the world, and is well known for its cutting edge ideas and philosophies on engineering education. When we talk about mechanical engineering then MIT is the best institute for it. Their mechanical engineering department offers three different undergraduate programs, all with specific occupational trajectories in mind and eight different graduate programs, including doctorate of science. MechE attracts and features an extraordinarily rich diversity and quantity of talented individuals, including 400 undergraduates, 500 graduate students and about 75 faculty members.
Website: meche.mit.edu

2. Stanford University:
California’s Stanford University is another high ranked among top 10 best mechanical engineering university in the world. Mechanical engineering at Stanford University is best known all over the world for its entrepreneurially oriented engineering achievements. Department of mechanical engineering at Stanford university offers degrees at bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate levels.
Website: me.stanford.edu

3. University of California, Berkeley (UCB) (UC Berkeley):
According to many reports and world rankings, UC Berkeley is another top mechanical engineering school in the world. In the world ranking of 2011, it stands at third position in the field of mechanical engineering. UCB offers undergraduate as well as graduate programs in the field, with specializations and more focuses in ocean engineering, mechatronics, energy and environment, manufacturing, bioengineering, computation and MEMS and NANO.
Website: me.berkeley.edu

4. University of Cambridge:
University of Cambridge is one of the best mechanical engineering institutes in the world. The University of Cambridge is one of the oldest universities in the world and one of the largest in the United Kingdom. Its reputation for outstanding academic achievement is known world-wide and reflects the intellectual achievement of its students, as well as the world-class original research carried out by the staff of the University and the Colleges. They aim at providing young mechanical engineers with all the analytical, design and computing skills that underpin modern engineering practice, while encouraging the creativity and problem-solving skills that are so important to a good mechanical engineer.
Website: eng.cam.ac.uk

5. California Institute of Technology (Caltech):
California Institute of Technology (caltech) is well known best mechanical engineering university. Mechanical Engineering at Caltech has a century-long record of excellence. It brings together three simple elements: exceptionally talented individuals; an emphasis on fundamentals principles of thermal sciences, fluid and solid mechanics, and mechanical systems; and an atmosphere that inspires one to address the critical technological challenges of the day. their particular interests evolve with time, but their core mission of training the leaders of tomorrow and conducting fundamental research to address major technological roadblocks remains constant. Today, you will find students and faculty working on nanostructured fuel cells, laboratory earthquakes, active ferroelectric materials and devices, neural prosthetics, debris flows, response of structures against accidental explosion, quantum mechanical origins of the strength of materials and genetic algorithms for design.
Website: me.caltech.edu

6. Imperial College London:
Another best college for mechanical engineering in the world is Imperial College London. It remains in the list of top ten mechanical engineering colleges of the world since many years. The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London is one of the largest and most advanced departments in mechanical engineering in the UK and across the world. They were the top-rated Department of Mechanical Engineering in the recent Research Assessment Exercise 2008, held by the UK Government. The overall mission of the Department is to deliver world-class scholarship, education and research in Mechanical Engineering, with particular regard to their application in industry, healthcare and commerce. Imperial college offers mechanical degrees at undergraduate, graduate and doctorate levels.
Website: imperial.ac.uk/mechanicalengineering

7. University of Tokyo:
University of Tokyo has a long history of providing best mechanical engineering degrees hence producing highly outstanding and technical mechanical engineers in the world. University of Tokyo offers mechanical engineering degrees at undergraduate as well as graduate level. University of Tokyo is the best engineering university in a country like Japan which is considered to be heart of technology all over the world. Mechanical engineers in Japan are considered to be the best technical innovators. So getting admission in University of Tokyo is like a dream come true for every student.
Website: mech.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/english

8. Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology):
Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) has one of the best Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering. They offer best engineering degrees well recognized all over the world. The Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering educates students for excellence and leadership in science and industry through cutting edge research on an international platform to face the challenges of the Swiss and global society and economy by engineering innovation in its technology fields. Their vision is to Reach and maintain excellence and leadership in fulfilling its mission as recognized (e.g. among the top five departments worldwide) by students, industry, peers and the board of ETH Zurich.
Website: mavt.ethz.ch

9. University of Oxford:
Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and lays claim to nine centuries of continuous existence. As an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research, Oxford attracts students and scholars from across the globe, with almost a quarter of our students from overseas. More than 130 nationalities are represented among a student population of over 18,000. University of oxford produces world’s best mechanical engineers who are well appreciated and well recognized in all of the industries worldwide. So University of oxford is one of the best mechanical engineering university in the world.
Website: eng.ox.ac.uk

10. National University of Singapore (NUS):
Acknowledged as one of the finest universities in the world, National University of Singapore (NUS) is a comprehensive university offering a broad-based curriculum underscored by multi-disciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. Department of mechanical engineering at National University of Singapore is known to be one of the best in the world. It remains in top ten best mechanical engineering colleges of the world since a long time. Besides undergraduate, a graduate and doctorate degree, NUS also offers mechanical engineering internships for mechanical engineers during summer vacations. These are research based internships for national as well as international students.
Website: me.nus.edu.sg

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