What's with the gas-guzzling small cars?
 

Have you guys noticed that some small cars get bad mpg?
Some examples:
2007 Suzuki Reno manual trans:26mpg combined EPA
2007 Chevy Aveo manual trans:30mpg combined EPA

These cars are both the same or smaller than my Yaris, which is combined 37mpg. How can they sell these? Where does the gas go?

I looked up the specs on the Aveo. I was expecting a giant engine, but it has a 1.6L 16 valve engine. WTF? I have no idea why this car isn't getting at LEAST 35MPG.

I'm wondering why exactly these cars keep getting made.

I'm disappointed with the mileage of the entire new crop of small cars. Even the gas mileage of the Yaris, xA, and Fit, which are the best of the bunch, doesn't exceed 40MPG, even though they are roughly the same size and weight as the early 90's Civic 4-door sedans which had EPA mileages (highway) in the upper 40's. My wife had a 92 Civic sedan that gave her 46MPG in normal (not hypermiling) driving.

I'm just as baffled as you, basjoos.

With all the attention being given in recent years to dealer-customization options for these cars, you'd think they'd realize there must also be a market for selling, for example, a taller top gear option.

Here's another small guzzler to add to the list:

Hyundai Accent 3 & 5 door 5-speed manual: 32/35 mpg (US) EPA

My favorite NEW small gas guzzler is............................ I have no idea why they are making this car.

The VW Rabbit 2007

https://www.vw.com/rabbit/index.html

22/30mpg

also puzzling is the dropping of the TDI versions of the Golf, Beetle etc.

Rick's already evaluated the Aveo, mehbe he'll try one of these others soon, :)

It all makes sense to me. If you compare an Aveo(26/35) to a Xb(30/34), the difference is probably because the Toyota VVT-i engine is more efficient through the entire rpm range, so city mileage is better, but since the highway mpg constraints are generally CdA, engine disp, and gearing, they're pretty close there. The Yaris(34/40) is the next gen echo, and has smaller CdA, than the Aveo and Xb, with the Xb engine iirc, so it gets better mpg all around, and the 2007 Rabbit (22/30) has a much larger engine (2.5L) than any of them, with at best, the ~ same CdA of the worst, so the mileage suffers due to pumping losses and aero drag.

gearing
 

When I test drove the manual fit at the start of the summer, I noticed a very brisk acceleration compared to my civic (smoother and much shorter gearing) although it really wasn't much faster at all...

On the highway, the engine rpm's were much higher than my civic too...I heard of people not getting the claimed 38 mpg in their Fit. It seems like with the bigger engine (compared to its japanese counterparts) our Fit is the gas guzzler...

Bense from H-T found this jewel of a write up...(a few of you might have seen this already)
https://asia.vtec.net/Series/FitJazz/lseries/

Screw bense! But yeah, the l12 would be awesome with a stick shift, but alas, honda...