Photo: Ford
Sport-utility vehicles became all the rage in the North America for a reason: their supreme versatility. They are equally at home on an 80-kilometre commute with you and your foamy skim latte as they are stuffed full of gear and kids on an 800-kilometre family camping trip. That versatility, however, comes at a price, and a heavy one. Big, boxy and, in many cases fitted with inefficient V6 or V8 engines, utility vehicles gobble gas like a binge eater at an all-you-can-eat buffet in Las Vegas. However, in the current crop of 2010 model-year sport utes, a few can actually be considered fuel-pump friendly.
By using smaller engines, advanced engine-control computers, continuously variable transmissions and other driveline efficiency tricks to bamboozle the laws of physics, some SUVs dare to offer commuter-car mileage. So if you're looking for superior utility but don't want to spend all of your disposable income at the fuel pump, here are the most fuel-efficient SUVs for the 2010 model year.
