Government fuel economy for the XFE stands at 26 city/37 highway, better than many Honda Civics. Add to that the fact that the new 2.2 liter engine in the 2009 XFE also gets a power bump of 7 horsepower from last year’s less fuel efficient base Cobalt motor. The once optional 171-hp 2.4 liter engine has been dropped from the lineup altogether. Who needs it when the base Cobalt has a class leading 155 horsepower?

The XFE varies from other non-SS Cobalts by only offering a manual transmission. Fuel saving measures deployed by the XFE will be familiar to those of us following the new European trend of introducing special “fuel efficient” editions of popular automobiles. Ford has “econetic” Focus and Mondeo models while VW offers “bluemotion” Polos and Golfs. Pretty much every manufacturer there has a similar program in the works.

None of the fuel saving measures on the Chevy Cobalt XFE is revolutionary and most likely few drivers will even notice they are even there. First off, the XFE rides on 15 inch low-rolling resistance tires made up of an extra firm compound to aid in your quest to save gas.

In addition, the final drive ratio on the top gear of the transmission is 10% higher so your engine will be revving at a lower RPM on the freeway. Lastly and somewhat annoyingly, there is an up-shift light on the dashboard to let you know the optimum moment to change gears for good fuel economy. While we appreciate the thought, if you aren’t a good enough driver to know when a good time to shift is maybe you should be looking at an automatic. Or perhaps, a bus pass.

We love to have our cake and eat it too. The new Chevy Cobalt XFE has an engine with more power than last year’s base engine but gets way better fuel economy. That is our idea of a great bargain.

Exact pricing for the new 2009 Cobalt XFE is not yet available but it shouldn’t be too much more than on the 2008 mod els.

Our view? So, you can either get a few more miles per gallon by buying a Prius (even though getting a new one is night on impossible with supply being so scarce) or you can save up to ten grand by buying a Cobalt XFE instead.

As we are not very good at math, we are not sure how long it would take to overcome the ten grand in the hole you start out in with the Prius what with its modestly superior fuel economy. But we are pretty sure it would take so long that the Cobalt would be long since rusted out and the batteries on the Toyota in serious need of a recharge.