With higher gas prices, consumers shift toward smaller engines

Frazell ended up buying the car, joining an increasing number of U.S. car shoppers who are picking thriftier small engines in the face of gas prices that continue to hover around $3 per gallon.

The percentage of four-cylinder engines in U.S. vehicles has been rising slightly since 2002, but it still was only 25.4 percent of the U.S. engine mix in 2006, according to data collected by Ward’s Automotive Group.