Tiny Fiat 500 earns an unimpressive 30/38 MPG & 27/34 with automatic

[frownonfun]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Very disappointing but I have to say not surprising. We have much larger, more powerful cars like the Elantra, Cruze, & '12 Focus achieving 40 MPG. That makes this Fiat toy unacceptable IMO. Never mind that it starts at $16K. Fail.

Are those other cars rated at 40mpg or is this figure just achievable? Cause there's kind of a difference. The Yaris is rated around what this Fiat is but we know it can do much better. Most likely the Fiat will too. Plus I agree it looks a little like a Mini. Which is a good thing imo.

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by frownonfun

Are those other cars rated at 40mpg or is this figure just achievable? Cause there's kind of a difference. The Yaris is rated around what this Fiat is but we know it can do much better. Most likely the Fiat will too. Plus I agree it looks a little like a Mini. Which is a good thing imo.

All of these numbers are official EPA ratings. The EPA tests every car the same way with their new "real world" testing procedures.

The 3 cars mentioned that get 40 mpg highway legitimately achieved that in the same testing that gave the Yaris a 35/36 highway rating. Most of us see more than 36 on the highway and it's safe to assume that most will also see more than 40 in the 3 cars rated at 40 (if driven at reasonable speeds).

In the case of the Cruze and '12 Focus, special ECO models only achieve the magical 40. All other models get around 38. All Elantra's get 40 though.