New 2007 Honda Fit Base test drive and updated Top 10 Fuel Efficient Cars
I recently spent a week with the least-expensive version of Honda's Fit subcompact. Very impressive! Yeah, it's small, and yeah, it's tinny, but it's loaded with safety equipment, it has more than enough power to get out of its own way, and it gets great gas mileage.
I only had a few days with the car, so I enlisted the help of SUVs guide Jason and my wife Robin to put some miles on it. Most of our time was spent tearing around the city streets or sitting in Los Angeles' famous rush-hour traffic -- no gentle highway cruising here. We put on a scant 191 miles, but the Fit consumed an even more scant 6.1 gallons for an average of 31.3 MPG. Stellar! Most compact cars would struggle to break 25 under the same circumstances. See, there really is no substitute for small size and light weight.
The Fit's performance earned it a spot on our top 10 fuel-efficient cars. While I was updating the list, I also added the 2006 Mercury Mariner hybrid. Yeah, I know, it's an SUV -- but I averaged over 28 MPG in a week of driving the Mariner, better than many small cars that I drive. -- Aaron Gold
Photo © Aaron Gold
Comments
My concern is Fit’s size and weight. Did you feel safe in the vehicle? Was the car blown around by trucks? I’ll also be interested in how it handles in the snow.
Thats jsut sad, you’re praising 31mpg? My 12 year old civic still gets 34mpg with mostly city driving.
Carol: Yes, I felt safe — the Fit is small, but it’s well-defended and built to protect occupants in crashes with larger vehicles. You do feel the breeze from passing trucks, but not enough to throw the Fit off course.
Marc: Let Jason, Robin and I drive your Civic for a week, and we’ll see how well it does!
– Aaron
How about just listing the top 10, REAL WORLD gas mileage cars? And what they’re mileage really is for an average commuter, highway and city driving. I think we all know by now that whatever is on the window is barely acurate enough to use as rough estimate most of the time.
Yes, this is another car that i would like to run over with my hummer. By the way , can you consider this peice of plastic a car or does it fall under the go-cart species. Only way I would drive this car on the highway is if I were the only one on earth.
Jim: Here’s a good site for real-world gas mileage: https://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do
Douglas: Don’t knock (or run over) it till you try it. If I’m on the freeway and someone spins out ahead of me, I’d rather be in the Fit than a Hummer. Better chance of seeing the collision in my rear-view mirror than through my windshield. Anyway, the Hummer H1 might make it over the Fit, but not the glorified Tahoe (H2) or Colorado pickup with a wagon body (H3). Ooops — my Inner Cynic escaped!
thank you for the fuel mileage site.
Douglas, you are THE man!!!
Go Hummer, go Hummer! (cheerleader voice!)