Edmunds holds "Gas Sipper Smackdown"

Toyota Motor Sales

Open your local paper's auto section and the effects of gas prices are on full display: SUVs? Cheap, both new and used. Economy cars? Not so much.

For example, a used Toyota Prius might well command a higher price than a new one. That's supply and demand for you.

Since econo-cars are in ever-increasing demand nowadays, the gang at Edmunds decided to pit some notable examples against each other in what it called the "Gas Sipper Smackdown."

The contestants were a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta TDI (the only diesel of the bunch), a 2008 Smart Fortwo, a 2008 Ford Focus coupe, and a 2008 Toyota Prius. The first three came out of Edmunds' long-term test fleet (hence the '05 Veedub), while the Prius was presumably on loan from Toyota.

Edmunds proceeded to pit the cars against each other to determine which of the test subjects posted the best fuel economy in three distinct driving scenarios. It also busted out the calculators to reveal which car was the least expensive to fuel overall and which was the cleanest in terms of emissions output.

This makes for an interesting read whether or not you're currently in the market for a new car. The Prius ultimately rises to the top, but what's most encouraging is that all four cars performed very well. The biggest shortcoming of the comparison is that it was limited to just these four cars.

Edmunds wants to make this an annual thing, and we certainly hope it does, only next year's Smackdown should have a bigger field that also includes entries like the Nissan Versa, Honda Fit and Civic, Toyota Yaris, and the new VW Jetta TDI, just to name a few.

After all, a steel cage match is so much better when you throw more contestants into the ring.

Alex Nunezs blog posts are provided by LifeWire, a part of The New York Times Company.