Most fuel efficient car under $_____?

[Canoehead]

The oft cited "most fuel efficient non-hybrid gasoline powered car sold in North America" has too many caveats for my liking.

How about the most fuel efficient car under $20,000, or under $15,000? That is a bit simpler. What is the price of the next car to beat the Mirage's fuel efficiency? Would that be a Prius C at around $21k?

[adrew]

The 5-speed Fiesta 1.0T is rated 32/45 compared to the 5-speed Mirage's 34/42. With almost double the power it would probably be the better car if one did a lot of highway driving.

Prius C is definitely up there. I almost bought a leftover '13, actually -- there are some good incentives on it right now.


It really depends on your uses, though. In my experience here in Texas (high speed limits) the MPG of <2-liter cars falls off a cliff once you go over 70-75 MPH (I feel like I need to keep up with traffic to be safe). It's much less of an impact in something like a Camry that might drop from 36-38 MPG at 60-65 MPH to 34-35 MPG at 70-75 MPH (experience from rental Camrys).

[Canoehead]

It really depends on your uses, though. In my experience here in Texas (high speed limits) the MPG of <2-liter cars falls off a cliff once you go over 70-75 MPH (I feel like I need to keep up with traffic to be safe). It's much less of an impact in something like a Camry that might drop from 36-38 MPG at 60-65 MPH to 34-35 MPG at 70-75 MPH (experience from rental Camrys).

Yup, here in Canada we don't love freedom quite as much, so 65mph is pretty normal, and 55mph is not uncommon.

I've heard the Ecoboost doesn't perform real world like it should, and they don't seem to be selling them here yet either. Still, impressive numbers! What is the price difference between the Ford and the Mitsubishi?

[adrew]

Yup, here in Canada we don't love freedom quite as much, so 65mph is pretty normal, and 55mph is not uncommon.

I've heard the Ecoboost doesn't perform real world like it should, and they don't seem to be selling them here yet either. Still, impressive numbers! What is the price difference between the Ford and the Mitsubishi?

Yeah, if you get into the boost a lot, it kind of underwhelms, but that's true of most little turbos (like the Juke). But stay out of the boost and it should do pretty well (and it would be nice to have the power for short merge ramps and etc.).

They do offer the EcoBoost up there; they're in your configurator, just hard to find. Go to it and build an SE with a 5-speed manual, then go to the "Exterior" tab and add the "SE EcoBoost Fuel Economy Package".

Here the sticker on one is $17,900 but there are usually $2k+ of rebates and etc so it is around $156xx.

[IchabodCrane]

The 5-speed Fiesta 1.0T is rated 32/45 compared to the 5-speed Mirage's 34/42. With almost double the power it would probably be the better car if one did a lot of highway driving.

Prius C is definitely up there. I almost bought a leftover '13, actually -- there are some good incentives on it right now.


It really depends on your uses, though. In my experience here in Texas (high speed limits) the MPG of <2-liter cars falls off a cliff once you go over 70-75 MPH (I feel like I need to keep up with traffic to be safe). It's much less of an impact in something like a Camry that might drop from 36-38 MPG at 60-65 MPH to 34-35 MPG at 70-75 MPH (experience from rental Camrys).

The CVT Mirage is the highest non hybrid mileage car, not the 5 speed manual... As far as experience in rental Camry's, they are decidedly NOT Mirages so your "mileage falls off a cliff" analogy doesn't apply until you've driven one.
As one who has driven my CVT Mirage at high speed (shhh.. don't tell anyone but I have done 100mph in mine) I I have never seen an economy average of less than 5.3kmL/100km or 44mpg US.
I will state from "my experience" in a mirage, that this car is wholly capable of impressive high speed fuel economy.
Mirage's claim of economy is based on a minimalist, no frills approach that isn't entirely dependant on your right foot. The "ecoboost" cannot compare... I have not yet met a single solitary person driving one that gets within shooting distance of promised economy.

[adrew]

I used the Mirage's 5-speed mileage figures as the Fiesta 1.0T is not available with an automatic.

They seem to be doing well on Fuelly: http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/fiesta/2014/gas%20l3

I haven't taken the Mirage on a trip yet, but my comparison is based on several cross-country road trips in the Yaris. If I take back roads and do 60-65 MPH, it will get 40-45 MPG (rated 38 MPG hwy), but if I take the interstate and do 75-80 MPH (not being an impediment) it only gets 35-36 MPG.

I have rented lots of Camrys -- just speaking from experience. It only drops a couple MPG if you bump it up from 70 to 80 MPH.

[cinder]

We've seen new Prius C 1s' around $16,500 . Test drove one and heard rattles along with stiff ride on poor roads .

[MetroMPG]

Don't forget that as a vehicles "MPG" number gets higher, it's normal for there to be larger swings in the observed fuel economy under normal use, even though the actual difference in fuel volume being consumed may be very small.

This is an effect of using miles/gal to measure fuel economy rather than L/100 km or gal/100 mi. Those latter two produce numbers (and graphs) that are less subject to big swings from relatively small changes.

[adrew]

Yeah, it's essentially a hybrid Yaris.

[adrew]

My ScanGauge shows gallons per hour -- now that one will help you keep your foot out of it!