EPA gas mileage statistics are your best yardstick by far when it comes to selecting your next car.

Up until very recently, automobile manufacturers were overly-optimistic with the mpg figures they claimed for their cars. Rather like some quoted top speeds in high-performance motor cars I could name. But the US Environmental Protection Agency has changed all that by carrying out its own strictly-controlled tests of vehicle miles per gallon. And these mileage ratings are freely published on the EPA site so you can choose your next car wisely.

The EPA gas mileage figures are quoted for both city driving and highway cruising, so you're going to have to make your own adjustments to the EPA mpg statistics, depending on where you live and work and your personal driving habits. But the good news is that while your personal driving routine may make your results slightly difference to the EPA stats. They are standardized so they don't favor any motor manufacturer or particular model of automobile.

If the EPA gas usage figures quote 25 mpg, and you buy that car and get only 22 mpg. You can still be assured that choosing any other car with the same 25 mpg EPA rating would have also gotten you 22 mpg instead. The difference is you... as in where you live, the traffic you encounter every day and yes, the way you use the accelerator and brakes in your vehicle.

As always, smoother driving habits will mean you burn less miles per gallon. So don't forget that. Slow and smooth is in the groove. Take it from me. If you can relax more as you drive, you'll live longer and you'll save gas. Your EPA gas mileage results will show it, too.