In making my rounds at the local bookstore last night, I headed over to the magazine rack to check out the numerous automotive publications. One cover in particular caught my eye and compelled me to grab the magazine and do a quick scan through the pages. Road & Track had a Fast and Frugal cover story wherein they establish a baseline system to establish which cars in their opinions fit that description. I've included the link below for your consideration, however I am convinced they missed more than a few cars that certainly fit that description. Their list included cars like the Audi TT, Lotus Elise, Corvette, Nissan 350Z , BMW 135i and Pontiac Solstice GXP.
As much fun as those cars are, and don't get me wrong they are fun, they also are expensive. Face it, when you think of an economy car, images of Corvettes and Nissan 350Z's don't normally come to mind, instead cars like the Toyota Yaris and Smart and the infamous Prius are usually good starting points for discussion.
But wait, there is such thing as a fast yet efficient economy car, isn't there?
So I got to thinking what cars fit this description, cars that are fun to drive, yet easy on the bank account come fill up time. While filling my BMW M3 last week at the gas station to the tune of $4.25 per gallon, the guy at the next stall complimented the car, but inquired as to the gas mileage. He was in a Nissan Sentra SE-R. I asked him how he liked his car and he told me he loved it. He said he was getting 26 MPG to which I replied, that beats the heck out of the 15 MPG of my car.
And so it is that I set out to find cars that are not only efficient, but fun to drive as well.
In doing this I set a few parameters, for instance the car has to get at least an average of 25 MPG when adding the EPA City and Highway figures and dividing them by 2. In addition, lets set a price cap of $25k, we are talking economy cars after all. Finally it has to at least look the part, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the Prius isn't going to cut it on this one. With this in mind, here is the list I came up with.
Honda Civic Si - I almost bought one of these last year, and honestly I still absolutely love this car. I like the looks, I like the enhancements the Si package adds to the base Civic, and I love to run the engine up and down through the gears. The great thing about this car is the harder you work it, the more it rewards you. The biggest reward comes at fuel time as this car averages a combined 25 MPG. Not bad for a car that gets up and moves.
VW GTI - This is a special car for a couple of reasons. First off the name GTI is among the elite of automotive nameplates, an icon that has been around for almost 30 years. Secondly, the available DSG transmission makes for a great driving experience while allowing the option of full automatic when needed or required. Third, the performance, while not the fastest at everything it does, it is certainly one of the most composed cars, exhibiting traits most often associated with much more expensive German cars wearing names like BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Rounding out this list of course is the 2.0 4-Cylinder engine. This 200 HP engine is powerful and refined making for a great daily driving experience. Of course at a combined average 25 MPG, you can smile when it comes time to fill up.
Mazda 3 - A favorite as well as a best seller for Mazda, this car shares its basic architecture with the European Ford Focus as well as the more expensive Volvo S40. Fun to drive and efficient, I don't think you can go wrong with this car. A combined average of 25 MPG again helps at the pump.
Mini Cooper S - Aside from being a great looking car, this car is an absolute blast to drive. I owned a 2003 Cooper S and can speak from first hand experience of how much fun this little car is to drive. Granted, when equipped with the sport suspension, it can get a little rough over rough roads, but you quickly forget that when carving up a mountain road running the transmission through its six closely spaced gears. A combined EPA average of 29 MPG is a nice perk as well.
Scion TC - While not as sporting as some of the others listed here, the TC brings to the table Toyota quality and reliability in a sporty fun to drive package. The gear box and clutch make working the engine a joy, and like the Civic Si rewards those willing to work for it. My brother-in-law has a 2007 TC, and he let me spend some time driving it last year when I was in California. Aside from the great gas mileage, the TC is among the cheapest performance economy cars on the market right now, and that alone gets it a spot on my list.
Nissan Sentra SE-R - This is the only car I have listed that I have not driven, so this is purely speculative. What I do know is Nissan has put together a decent set of modifications to create a good looking (certainly better than the base car) car that at least puts on a decent persona of a performance economy car. The combined EPA mileage of 27 MPG isn't bad either.
It is inevitable that I missed one here, so I throw it to you to decide. Who Makes the HOTTEST Performance Economy Car?
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