It had to happen: an automaker has begun to sell special editions of a car that are rated for better fuel economy.

Chevrolet has announced the release of its Cobalt XFE [eXtra Fuel Economy] edition.  What is it?  An ordinary Chevy Cobalt with the engine reprogrammed to use slightly more efficient valve timing, and a lower-resistance set of tires.

Autoblog explains that, due to soft demand in the recent past "for high-powered, high capacity people haulers, the current economy car market consists of fairly slim pickings."  In fact, many automakers have been slow to ramp up production of the small cars that most consumers now want.   "Many great developments are on the horizon, but the high cost of new technologies and the lengthy wait time do not do much to help buyers today. That is why, in order to snag a larger market share of drivers trading in their big toys for small appliances, Chevrolet has reprogrammed the Cobalt to offer the best fuel economy in its class."

Well, best in its class by a nose.  The Cobalt XFE claims 36 mpg on the highway.  The Honda Fit and Honda Civic managed 34 without any re-engineering.  And if automakers are going to compete for the low mpg title, then Honda engineers are probably already re-tuning their little four cylinders.

We're also skeptical because, as Ohio's Youngstown Vindicator notes, "Cobalts with automatic transmissions did not receive the mileage upgrade. They are rated at 31 mpg on the highway."   The fuel economy of a car with a manual transmission varies greatly depending on the technique of the driver shifting the thing, so buyers could seek out XFE models for their purported fuel economy boost, just to lose it to their own driving style.

Kicking Tires comments, "We’re glad automakers are adding more efficiency, but we’re not sure how we feel about slapping a special badge on what isn't a dramatically different vehicle. It will save confusion on the lot, though, where older 2008s that didn't receive the tweaks will look identical to the XFEs."

Research the Cobalt and its small car  competition with U.S. News' car rankings and reviews

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