Fastest Fuel-Efficient Cars

True speed demons will have to wait to see how their favorite models are changed in the future, if at all, to meet the new standard; in the meantime, we've compiled a list of the fastest, most fuel-efficient vehicles on the road.

In Pictures: Fastest Fuel-Efficient Cars

Our list of 10 performance automobiles combines both speed and fuel efficiency. They aren't exactly gas sippers, but a couple get upward of 20 miles per gallon, like the Porsche 911 Carrera S, No. 6 on our list, and the Chevrolet Corvette, No. 2.

Gas prices are expected to remain lower this summer than they did last year, averaging about $2.31 a gallon nationwide, but the Energy Information Administration says the seesaw in pump prices is here to stay. And given the trend for all things green, even speed freaks might want to consider checking out a more energy-efficient model.

Behind the Numbers To compile our list, we evaluated combined city/highway gas mileage, horsepower and torque (the amount of force the engine delivers to the drive shaft). We awarded points on a place basis (one point to first, two points to second and so on) to the vehicles with the best fuel economy and highest horsepower and torque, with the scale weighted 2 to 1 toward speed. The 10 vehicles with the least points made our list. As a bonus, we're including two super-fast all-electric cars.

Our tally includes the Spyker C8, a quarter-of-a-million-dollar Dutch sports car that makes the 0 to 60 sprint in 4.5 seconds, topping out at 187 miles per hour. For just under $200,000, the Aston Martin DB9, with a 0 to 60 time of 4.6 seconds and top speed of 190 mph, comes in at No. 5. No. 1 on our list: the $130,000 Porsche 911 Turbo, whose 480 horsepower and 460 foot-pounds of torque push it to a top speed of 193 mph.

The essential duo of horsepower and torque makes these cars so fast. While horsepower will keep a car revving at blinding top speeds, it's the oft-unheralded torque that gets it there in the first place.

"When you think of a car, everybody thinks of horsepower, but what you feel when you press the pedal is actually torque," says David Paja, director of marketing for passenger vehicles at

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