Poll Vault: How many mpg does your vehicle get?

When I worked at a paper in the South suburbs in the late 1990s, I used to fill up at a Phillips 66 near Oak Forest that was in a price war with another station on Cicero Avenue. A gallon of basic unleaded cost less than $1. I could fill the tank of my Mitsubishi Eclipse for under $15.

Those sure were the days.

Thursday evening, the cost of the cheapest gas at the Shell station near our Arlington Heights office was $4.59 a gallon. I currently drive a Saturn Ion with a gas tank that holds about 13 gallons. If I were on fumes, it would set me back almost $60 to fill up.

Typically, though, I ride to work with my husband in his Honda CR-V. It holds 15.3 gallons of gas, so now we're looking at $70 for a full fill-up, and the SUV gets fewer miles per gallon than my car.

Yikes.

There are some folks at the Daily Herald who aren't feeling as much pain, though. Deputy Managing Editor Diane Dungey drives a Toyota Prius. She reports her car averages 44 mpg in the winter and 52 mpg in warm weather.

What kind of vehicle do you drive? Is it a gas guzzler or a gas sipper? Are you considering a hybrid or electric car for your next automobile purchase?