Real MPG: most efficient SUVs

What Car?'s Real MPG tests show what you can really expect from a car. Here, we reveal the top 10 most efficient SUVs we've ever tested...

Real MPG: most and least efficient SUVs

The official MPG figures published in car sales brochures can tempt you into buying a particular model, but they're often misleading.

Fortunately, What Car?'s Real MPG test tells you what sort of fuel economy you can expect to get in the real world, with our results reflecting what's achievable if you drive gently and stick to speed limits, without resorting to any unrealistically slow acceleration or special 'hypermiling' techniques.

Read on to find out how we calculate your car's Real MPG, or scroll down to see the SUVs that performed best in our tests.

How we test for a car's Real MPG

We perform our Real MPG tests in a laboratory under strictly controlled conditions. That means you can rely on them being a true comparison of one model against another, because there is no chance that the weather or traffic conditions can skew the results. 

Mercedes GLE laboratory emissions testing

Although the tests are done in a lab, they are realistic because they're based on a route we’ve chosen, which includes town, motorway and rural sections. 

All cars undergo a thorough preparation process, including having their tyre pressures tested to match the manufacturer's recommendations. They're kept in a temperature-controlled chamber, too, so that all cars are at the same temperature when tested. During testing, we keep the headlights off, and if they have air-con, it’s set to 21 degrees and the lowest fan setting. 

The fuel economy figures are calculated using measurements of the car’s exhaust emissions, and this is turned into our Real MPG economy figure. 

Read more: How we test a car's Real MPG

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