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SUV Gas Mileage Put To Test

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Oct 31, 2007 3:21 pm US/Eastern

SUV Gas Mileage Put To Test

by Paula Ebben
BOSTON (WBZ) ― Some auto makers are making improvements to increase fuel efficiency in SUVs.

Consumer Reports put several models to the test and found that SUV drivers don't have to settle for poor gas mileage, as many are.

Kristen Carollow used to love her Land Rover, but not anymore.

"Had I known that it was going to cost 75 or 80 dollars every time I filled it up, and I was going to be filling it up so often, I probably would have looked at another car," she said.

Her Land Rover gets 13 miles per gallon overall in Consumer Reports' fuel-efficiency tests.

That isn't even the worst-mileage SUV that Consumer Reports has tested recently.

The Dodge Durango Limited with a V-8 engine gets just 12 miles per gallon overall in combined city/highway driving.

"And that can drop to just eight miles per gallon in city driving," said Jim Travers of Consumer Reports.

However, in Consumer Reports' mileage tests, the Toyota Rav4 4-cylinder gets 23 miles per gallon overall and 17 for city driving.

Some other SUVs do almost as well. For example, the Subaru Forester gets 22 miles per gallon overall and 15 in the city. The Honda CRV-X gets 21 miles per gallon overall and 15 for city driving.

"At current gas prices, you can save close to 1,600 dollars a year driving a fuel efficient SUV compared to a big gas hog," Travers said.

Carollow says she can't wait for the lease on her Land Rover to run out.

Consumer Reports measures fuel efficiency on every car it tests. Plenty get 30 miles per gallon or more but they tend to be much smaller cars.

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