The auto industry looks a lot better when one considers how much fuel it takes to move a ton of vehicle weight. That measure has improved nearly 58% since 1975. The EPA figures that if 2005 vehicles had the same distribution of weight and performance as in 1987, and car makers had applied all the technology they used to hold mileage steady as they goosed performance and size, the 2005 fleet would have been 24% more fuel-efficient. Another way to put it: Americans driving 2005 cars would have burned up 24% less gasoline than they did, assuming they didn't use their efficiency savings to drive more.

This is where the Yaris comes in. The Yaris embodies what the EPA is talking about. It uses little in the way of exotic technology to achieve its 40 mpg highway rating. It just puts fuel efficiency first. The car's little engine uses increasingly common technology such as computer-controlled variable-valve timing to enhance fuel efficiency. The hatchback offers 13 cubic feet of cargo space (almost as much as the larger Corolla.) I got a fairly large framed poster in the back with the rear seats folded down. A week's groceries would fit easily, as would several golf bags.

The Yaris is not all the car many Americans would want, but it is all the car many Americans need. With a manual five-speed transmission, it's possible to achieve perfectly adequate acceleration from a stop light or onto the freeway. And the car's diminutive size isn't an issue for a lone commuter: In my office parking garage, I would much rather have the Yaris than the large SUVs I drove recently. Better yet, I could hope to do a week's worth of commuting on roughly six gallons of gas -- a little more than half a tank.