I WALKED INTO

this year's New York International Auto Show thinking what a difference a year makes. Last year I came looking for performance and found plenty of powerful all-wheel-drive options. I'm driving one now an Infiniti M and I love everything about it except for the mileage: 17 per gallon in the city, 20 on the highway. This year, with a recession looming and even

Toyota's

Naturally, this is a reflection of soaring fuel prices. As I write, oil prices just hit $114 a barrel, a new all-time record, and last weekend I paid $3.50 a gallon at the pump. Prices were high a year ago, too, but I was still under the delusion that was a temporary spike. We're now well into year three of $3-plus-a-gallon gas, and the faltering economy makes the high prices seem even worse.

But the quest for fuel economy is about much more than saving money. It's about conservation, the environment and "going green." I don't know about you, but I'm being treated like a pariah by friends and family because my car barely gets 20 miles to the gallon. I was somewhat taken aback when I heard a Hillary Clinton supporter in Ohio describe Obama voters as "latte-sipping, Prius-driving" elitists. These days I'd say that's quite a compliment, so long as the latte is skim.

So at this year's New York event always a huge showcase for new models and concept cars I resolutely ignored the Corvettes just inside the entrance and went straight to Toyota. There it was, off to the side, surrounded by admirers, the new automotive status symbol: the 45-miles-to-the-gallon-in-the-city, 48-on-the-highway Prius. The odd cigar shape of the car stands out, even in the mostly dull available colors. This one was silver. Inside I sat enveloped by drab synthetic upholstery and plastic dashboard trim that brought to mind the "veal gray" modular office furniture Tom Wolfe described in A Man in Full. My spirits sank.

I wondered: Is this part of the green image, this bland, no-frills interior meant to suggest you've put every penny to work saving fuel? Would a touch of genuine leather be deemed cruelty to animals? This seemed to be a consistent theme among the high-mileage hybrids: the Toyota Camry (33 city, 34 highway), the Honda Civic (40/45). Each one was cheesier than the next, and all featured gray plastic.

For a car enthusiast like me, the quest for a safe, fun, stylish vehicle that could also meet the green standard was not going to be easy.

The carmakers certainly aren't making it any easier. Despite the flashy exhibits of green prototypes and all the lip service paid to fuel conservation, it was surprisingly hard to find the actual fuel-economy ratings for most cars. Even at Lexus, which boasts a number of high-end hybrids, the mileage was posted in lettering so small you nearly needed a magnifying glass. Most models had none visible, and I had to ask. Fuel economy and high gas prices seem to be the last things the automakers want shoppers to be thinking about.

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There's also a fair amount of sleight-of-hand going on in green marketing.

General Motors

, a web site run by the Department of Energy, the hulking SUV gets 20 mpg city, 20 mpg highway. That's green only in comparison with the regular Tahoe, which gets 14 and 19.

Lexus is the only luxury make that offers hybrid options, and the Lexus display featured several of the fuel-efficient models identical in appearance to their nonhybrid counterparts. The GS450h sedan is rated at 22 city, 25 highway. But the regular GS actually gets better mileage on the highway 27 and 19 in the city. You pay much more for this negligible fuel saving, almost $55,000, compared with about $44,000 for the nonhybrid equivalent. (The high-end LS model also gets better highway mileage in the regular model than does the hybrid version.)

In other words "hybrid" is not a synonym for "green." Hybrid or not, a vehicle getting less than 30 miles per gallon is not going to pass muster for sensitivity to the environment.

There are surprisingly few nonhybrid models that exceed 30 mpg that you would actually want to drive. I'd just as soon ride a bicycle as squeeze into Mercedes Benz's micro Smart ForTwo. For its size (imagine a large baby buggy), you'd think it would do better than 33/41. I'm trying to get my mind around the idea of owning the new Mini Cooper Clubman. It looks great and was comfortable to sit in. Its added inches mean two people can sit in the rear seats along with some luggage, and it would be great for jaunts to the supermarket and hardware store. It is not bland, which in this category is high praise. The Clubman's manual transmission version gets 28/37, something to brag about on Earth Day. Would it hold its own on the New York State Thruway? That remains to be seen, but I rate it a contender, the only high-mileage model I can imagine being fun. (For more on the newest small cars, see "Revenge of the Runts

For car buffs salvation may be on the way. There's lots of buzz around the Chevy Volt, a sleek, low-slung sports car that attracted admiring crowds at the New York show; there's already a fan club at GM-Volt.com. It's a nearly all-electric concept car: A gas-powered generator charges the battery at speeds above 40 miles per hour. GM expects it to achieve about 50 miles to the gallon in highway driving and is staking a huge investment on the technology.

Amazingly, super-high-end Bentley has issued a manifesto promising a 40 percent improvement in fuel economy by 2012. All to the good, but hold on to your wallet: The Bentley Arnage RL ranks last among large cars in fuel economy, with 9/15. A 40 percent improvement won't amount to much.

More promising is a new generation of clean-diesel-powered vehicles that should offer greater fuel efficiency and fewer emissions. Volkswagen says it will introduce the first of these models this fall, in the midsize Jetta sedan and sport wagon. VW says it expects mileage in the 40/50 range with no sacrifice in performance. I wouldn't call the Jetta a luxury car, but it's sporty and comfortable, with nice upholstery and brushed metal accents inside and no fake or overlacquered wood. There's even more excitement about the smaller but sporty VW Polo diesel, currently available in Europe, which boasts an amazing 70 mpg. VW says it has no plans to introduce it in the U.S., but a model was on display in New York, turning heads.

BMW is also planning a new generation of "advanced diesel" models for the U.S., due to arrive in the fall. The company says it has developed a six-cylinder engine with 286 horsepower that can reach 60 mph in less than 6.5 seconds, while delivering 37 mpg. The models are currently sold in Europe. Mercedes had numerous "Bluetec" diesel models on display; the only one now on sale in the U.S. is the E320. But it's rated at just 23/32, not that much better than the premium-fuel E350, which is 17/24.

Toyota seems to be the only global auto company that anticipated the oil-price squeeze and the strength of the green movement. I realize new car development is a slow process, but once again U.S. automakers seem to have been caught flat-footed, dreaming of the day when SUVs will again fly off the lot. My bet is that will be no time soon, if ever. By next year I may be in a Mini, a diesel Jetta or a diesel BMW, something I never would have predicted a year ago.