The 5 most fuel efficient cars

Gas wars once meant plummeting pump prices - a phenomenon now fodder for those memory-lane emails that frequent your in-box.

What we have here is a reverse gas war - fueled by an oil industry in seeming turmoil - with the consumer the big loser. There's not much the average motorist can do about the world market, but there are ways to staunch the flow of transportation funds from the family checking account.

Worldwide auto makers - generally caught out by the severity of the oil crisis - are fighting back. Improved gas mileage as a top corporate priority will be ever more evident in the 2009 model lines.

In the meantime, check out our list of the five most fuel efficient 2008 cars currently on the U.S. market.