GAS MILEAGE: SMALL CARS
		model	hwy/city
		Honda Civic HX	44/36
		Suzuki Swift	42/36
		Toyota Echo	41/34
		Toyota Corolla/ Chevrolet Prizm	42/32
		Mitsubishi Mirage Coupe	39/32

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.

Toyota Corolla/Chevrolet Prizm
Sounds like an unlikely duet, you say? I know, but the Toyota Corolla and the Chevrolet (formerly Geo) Prizm, mechanically the same car, are built under a cooperative agreement between Toyota and General Motors. The 1.8-liter, 125 horsepower engine they share gets an estimated 32 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway in both cars and gives you good acceleration with a manual transmission. Since they're the same size, the two cars share a drawback: limited legroom in the front and back seats. The 2002 models of both already have been introduced with hardly any change. The base price for the Prizm is $14,205, for the CE version Corolla $12,568. Take the Toyota; its resale value will be much higher just because it's a Toyota.

Mitsubishi Mirage Coupe
It's not a Honda or Toyota, but this Mirage DE coupe has sporty styling and a quiet, comfortable ride. The 1.5-liter, 92-horsepower engine that comes only with the coupe has EPA estimated mileage of 32 mpg in the city and 39 mpg on the highway. The Mirage comes with lots of standard equipment for a car in this category, including a tilt steering wheel, remote-control outside mirrors and intermittent windshield wipers. List price for the Mirage DE is $11,877. The bigger ES four-door sedan version of the Mirage is rated for 28 mpg in city driving and 36 mpg on the highway.

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