They did a recent study here, along those lines and found out that new vehicles aren't thriftier than their older counterparts. Despite minor improvements in aerodynamics, the older vehicles were light, because they didn't have so much gadgetry and re-inforced bodies
Speaking of Aerodynamics, Here's a photo of Basjoos' 1992 Honda Civic which has been modified to be an "Aerocivic" and it has a CD of 0.17 or so, As compared to a Prius which has a CD of about .035. He gets over 65 MPG in it, Usually and tracks his tank-to-tank data here: http://ecomodder.com/forum/em-fuel-log.php?vehicleid=3158 www.aerocivic.com