10 Biggest News Stories of the Week: Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Makes Mileage, Ford Ranger Gets Buy

Manufacturer- and EPA-estimated fuel-economy ratings are a helpful guide for efficiency-conscious car shoppers. But because of gas-sapping variables in climate, terrain, speed limits, driving style and other factors, there’s just no way to know for sure how many miles per gallon you can expect until you get your prospective new ride out on the road to test it in the real world. As part of Cars.com’s intensive, comprehensive head-to-head testing of seven top competitors to find the official best compact SUV for 2025, we tested the group’s mpg mettle on a standardized 250-mile driving loop to determine which sipped and which sucked when it comes to gas mileage — and chronicled the evaluation in one of our most popular news stories of the past week.

Related: 10 Biggest News Stories of the Month: Toyota 4Runner Eases on Up, Hyundai Tucson Takes Up Space

Truth be told, none of the seven compact SUVs tested on our mileage drive sucked — but the winning 2024 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid’s 37.9 mpg was more than 10 mpg ahead of the last-place-finishing 2025 Chevrolet Equinox’s still-pretty-good 27.6 mpg. Filling out the middle with real-world fuel-economy results ranging from 36.5 mpg to 28.1 mpg were the 2025 Honda CR-V hybrid, 2025 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, 2025 Subaru Forester, 2025 Nissan Rogue and 2025 Mazda CX-5.

For the full details on our test to find the compact SUV with the best real-world fuel economy — including specific trims tested and their respective results — follow the link below to the No. 4 news story on this week’s countdown of most read articles.

Elsewhere in car-shopping news … choices, choices, so many choices. Even after you’ve settled on the 2025 Ford Ranger, you need to decide which trim level of the recently redesigned pipsqueak pickup truck to get. Then you need to decide if you want rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive — a decision that may come after you’ve settled on how much you wanna spend on your new truck, which ranges from just under $35,000 to well over 57 grand. To spend the least money, you’ll want to choose the entry-level XL trim, which comes with the base 270-horsepower, turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine making 310 pounds-feet of torque. To get the optional twin-turbo 2.7-liter V-6 making 315 hp and 400 pounds-feet of torque, you’ll need to upgrade to the XLT and Lariat trims. But if you want it all (and then some) without having to think about it, you’re gonna wanna blow it out on the range-topping Raptor variant that’s loaded with features and equipment to provide the ultimate off-road experience — only available with 4WD and a trim-exclusive twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 putting out 405 hp and 430 pounds-feet of torque, so there’s that.

Need more info to help you decide which trim level of the 2025 Ford Ranger you should buy? Follow the link below to the No. 7 news story of the week for a full trim-by-trim breakdown.

Beyond all of that, we’ve got headlines on the Toyota 4Runner hybrid, Cadillac SUVs, Chevrolet and GMC pickup trucks and SUVs, and much more — so don’t stop reading till the digits double. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in the past week:

1. What’s the Best Compact SUV for 2025?

2. We Bought a 2025 Toyota 4Runner Hybrid, And It Wasn’t That Hard

3. Which Compact SUV Has the Most Cargo Room?

4. Which Compact SUV Has the Best Real-World MPG?

5. Here Are the 10 Cheapest New Cars You Can Buy Right Now

6. It’s a Threepeat: 2025 Nissan Rogue Wins Cars.com Compact SUV Challenge

7. Which Trim Level of the 2025 Ford Ranger Should You Buy?

8. Here Are the 11 Cheapest Electric Vehicles You Can Buy

9. Nearly 600,000 Cadillac, Chevy and GMC Vehicles Recalled for Engine Failure

10. Which Electric Cars Are Still Eligible for the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit?

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.