10 Biggest News Stories of the Week: Honda CR-V Efficiently Outperforms Jeep Grand Cherokee
In a time when the urban-assault-ready Hummer and ballin’-out Cadillac Escalade have been reimagined as all-electric vehicles, you know fuel efficiency matters to the mainstream. But you don’t have to be in the market for big-ass SUVs and pickup trucks, or even EVs, to remain mindful of your carbon footprint or monthly gas expenses. The consistently bestselling compact SUV class is also improving efficiency, as evidenced by the fuel-sipping star of Cars.com’s most popular news article of the past week, the 2026 Honda CR-V hybrid.
Related: 2026 Honda CR-V Hybrid TrailSport Review: A Compromise Against Compromises
The CR-V hybrid boasts estimated fuel-economy figures of 43/36/40 mpg city/highway/combined with front-wheel drive and 40/34/37 mpg with all-wheel drive. Among closest competitors, the FWD CR-V is bested only by its chief rival, the hybrid-only 2026 Toyota RAV4 (47/40/43 mpg), while the AWD CR-V takes third place to the RAV4 (46/39/42 mpg) and 2026 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid (38/38/38 mpg). Meanwhile, in real-world fuel-economy testing by Cars.com editors, the CR-V hybrid was again second only to the RAV4, with the Honda’s Sport Touring trim returning 36.5 mpg versus the Toyota’s 37.9 mpg, with three entries from Hyundai, Nissan and Chevrolet finishing in third, fourth and fifth places.
For the full rundown on the 2026 Honda CR-V’s fuel-economy figures — including how its gas-only version stacks up against the model’s own hybrid powertrain — follow the link below to the No. 1 news story on this week’s countdown of most read articles.
Elsewhere in SUV fuel-economy news, the mid-size 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee’s newly available turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine presents some interesting trade-offs in choosing it over the 3.6-liter V-6. On one hand, the four-cylinder provides only a 1-2 mpg savings over the six-cylinder in any given measure between similarly equipped models — and no more than an estimated $200 annual fuel cost savings. The four-cylinder’s best figures come with its two-wheel-drive, regular-wheelbase setup (21/27/23 mpg city/highway/combined and annual fill-up costs of $1,900); meanwhile, the six-cylinder’s best with 2WD and the regular wheelbase are 19/26/22 mpg and $2,000 a year in gas expenses. Perhaps counterintuitively, however, the 2.0-liter is actually more powerful than the 3.6-liter despite 1.6 liters less displacement and two fewer cylinders.
For our full report on the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee’s fuel economy — including a model-by-model breakdown of mpg and annual gas expenses — follow the link below to the No. 7 news story of the week.
Beyond that, we’ve got headlines on the Mazda CX-5, Toyota C-HR, Chrysler Pacifica, aforementioned Tucson Hybrid 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 Honda CR-V’s MPG?
2. The 2026 Mazda CX-5 Is Bigger and Better, But Still a Mazda at Heart: Review
3. The 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee’s New Turbo Engine Sure Is Growly: Quick Spin
4. The 12 Most Fuel-Efficient New Cars You Can Buy for Under $35,000
5. Here Are the 10 Cheapest New Cars You Can Buy Right Now
6. That Was Fast: Deals Aplenty on the Unnecessarily Powerful 2026 Toyota C-HR
7. 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee 2.0-Liter MPG: Barely Better Than the V-6
8. Every New Car Offering 0% Financing in February 2026
9. Chrysler Reveals Next-Gen Pacifica
10. Hyundai Offering $3,000 Cash on Tucson Hybrid SUV
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