The familiar headlines blare about the pain at the pump, but before putting on a hair shirt and ordering up an anemic econobox as atonement, a look through our road test data confirms what we've intuitively felt all along — high performance does not necessarily come at the expense of poor fuel economy
All too often, sporty cars are lumped in with pickup trucks and sport utes as fuel-wasters. True, there's a fair share of exotic cars with EPA ratings in the basement, but more often than not, cars with an enthusiast bent post fuel economy that would be respectable for most family haulers while still providing enough 0–60-mph muscle and roadholding grip to bring a smile to any car lover's face.
After all the number crunching, here's our top 10 list of the Fast and the Frugal — it contains some of the usual suspects as well as some big surprises.
Road and Track's Fast And Frugal Top Picks
- Audi TT 3.2 quattro
- Mazda MX-5
- Pontiac Solstice GXP
- Nissan Nismo 350Z
- BMW 135i
- Mini Cooper S
- Chevrolet Corvette Z51
- Lotus Elise SC
- Honda S2000CR
- Chevrolet Cobalt SS
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