Originally Posted by
MetroMPG
Yup! But possibly also true for some of its competitors, so the gap on "entry level" cars might be similar.
In some cases, for sure. The Scion and PriusC, though, are only offered with CVT. The Honda Fit LX with CVT gets good fuel efficiency (nearly Mirage, and it is bigger), however, that efficiency is only available in the LX CVT model - both the manual (6th gear, no benefit to top ratio) and other trims take more fuel (something about under-body aero panels specific to the LX - possibly a plan by Honda to claim "available 40+mpg and starting under $whateverbaseprice). Now the Yaris gets better mpg with a manual than an auto, so in a base/manual competition the Yaris would likely move up a bit. I'd still bet on the Mirage, though. In the real world, where manuals do better and autos do worse than their 5-cycle estimates, I would certainly bet on the Mirage.
I'd like to see a spreadsheet which would allow the user to also input distance driven and local gas price ($5/gallon here), and since I am wishing anyway - maybe also estimated 12 year repair costs!
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 manual: 45.0 mpg (US) ... 19.1 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.1 mpg (Imp)