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OVERALL BEST
Honda Insight
This car's mileage ratings of 68 mpg on the highway, 61 in city driving might
look like a mistake at first, but it's for real. The secret to this car's
mileage is the assist the gasoline engine gets from an electric motor. The
3-cylinder gasoline engine divides its work between powering the wheels
directly and charging the batteries for an electric motor that takes over
part of the workload as the situation demands.
Our test drive produced a lower, but still pretty amazing, 50 mpg. You never
have to wonder how you're doing on mileage since you get a constant digital
readout. Good-looking in a "retro" sort of way, the $19,420 Insight can cruise
at 70 mph easily and rides reasonably well for a little car. The one big
drawback: where you'd usually find a back seat there's a bunch of batteries.
That limits the Insight to carrying two people and very little gear.
Toyota Prius
The Prius, though second in mileage, tops the Honda Insight in practicality.
(In a quirk of the technology, Prius gets 52 mpg in city driving but a lower
45 mpg on the highway). The Prius is also a gas/electric hybrid (and thus
potentially eligible for proposed tax credits), but it's cavernous compared
to the Insight. With a sticker price of $20,450, Prius is a four-door sedan
that can haul up to five people. Seating is roomy, too, with plenty of head
and foot room. And the Prius comes with plenty of standard equipment like
air conditioning, power windows, and remote keyless entry.
Honda Civic HX
The Civic, the best-selling small car, was redesigned for 2001, and the result
is more power, better mileage, and a higher safety rating (mostly five-stars
in government crash tests). Sticking with Honda's conservative styling, the
Civic is, nonetheless, attracting loyalists. Honda engineers, known for their
talent with low-emissions, high-mileage engines (see the Insight) put a
lean-burning, 1.7-liter, 117-horsepower engine in the HX. The HX, which comes
only in a two-door coupe with a list price of $14,000, gets an EPA rating of
36 mpg in city driving and 44 mpg on the highway.
Suzuki Swift
At $9,729 the price is right for the Swift's GA model. But low price and high
mileage are about all this small car has to recommend it. The Swift's 1.3 liter,
79 horsepower engine is rated at 36 mpg in city driving and 42 on the highway.
But the Hyundai Accent, with a similar price, has a more powerful engine (27
mpg in city driving, 37 on the highway) and carries a 10-year powertrain
warranty, which the Suzuki does not. One of the few options you can get with
a Swift is automatic transmission, which cuts mileage to 30 mpg in the city,
34 on the highway.
Toyota Echo
Like Honda, Toyota knows how to make high-mileage cars. And the Echo's
1.5-liter, 108-horsepower four-cylinder engine combines surprisingly good
acceleration with mileage of 34 mpg in city driving, 41 on the highway with
a manual transmission (31/28 mpg if you get the automatic). But the
goofy-looking styling and less-than-great handling keep this from being a
really top-choice small car. The base price for the Echo is $10,980, but items
that are standard equipment on a lot of cars, like air conditioning and power
steering, are options here. Add that equipment, and you're hitting $12,000.
The Honda Civic uses less gas and is still a better buy.
NEXT: The overall worst fuel-efficient cars >>
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