Fueled Up: Ford Focus vs. Hyundai Elantra

Hyundai is promoting that the newly-redesigned Elantra has a higher mpg than the Ford Focus. The Elantra boasts 40 mpg on the highway, while the 2012 Focus gets only 38 mpg, unless the customer chooses the SFE or Super Fuel Economy package. Apparently this news didn't sit too well with Ford, and to prove that the Focus is a fuel efficient hatch, the Blue Oval organized a media drive in Romeo, Michigan.

The engineers over at Ford had automotive industry reporters drive the Elantra at a stable 45 mph around its 2.5 mile track in Romeo. Reporters then got into a Focus without the SFE package, and did a few laps around the track at the same speed. The American automaker said all conditions were equal, despite the absence of the SFE package. After many drives around the track, the results showed that the average fuel economy of the Focus was 40.4 mpg vs. 37.8 mpg of the Elantra.