EPA city/highway mileage: 28/34 (manual), 29/36 (automatic)
Common wisdom says that if you want the best fuel economy you should buy a car with a manual transmission. That's not true anymore; many automatics get similar or better fuel economy than their manual counterparts (see the Honda Civic). But the Nissan Sentra takes goes one step futher with its continously-variable automatic transmission (CVT). The CVT Sentra not only gets better fuel economy than a manual, it also feels more powerful -- plus it comes wrapped in a roomy and handsome compact sedan that's easy to live with.
Read more: Nissan Sentra test drive and review