A look at very economical cars

With the petrol price constantly going up and up I thought it would be interesting to take a look at cars that use less than 7 liters per hundred kilometers. I’ve arbitrarily chosen this number as I feel it’s exceptionally low. Interestingly enough this excludes most cars at the very bottom of the price range who, despite such small size, are still using rather inefficient engines. I haven’t included pricing for each car as there are various different specifications that affect the price. The following is a list starting from the cheapest cars. Also note that I’ve excluded Diesel’s as the price of owning one is often not worth the extra purchase price as can be seen here.

The cheapest car that does less than 7l/100KM is the Kia Picanto with 6.9l/100KM. The Picanto has recently undergone a facelift and not only offers excellent value for money but also great economy.

Next we have the Daihatsu Charade. Again the car has recently undergone an external makeover. The car has a one liter engine which uses a tiny 5.3l/100KM of fuel. This is the only “really small” car that offers such good economy.

Next we have the Peugot 107 and the Citroen C1. The reason I place these two together is that not only do they use the same engine (which is also the same as the Diahatsu above) but they are technically the same car with a different exterior. Both consume a paltry 5.7l/100KM. Despite only having a 35 liter tank you’ll still get over 600 kilometers on a tank which is pretty impressive. Despite the same engine, these cars are larger than the Daihatsu and thus use more petrol to move that mass.

The next option is the Proton Savvy which uses 6.52l/100KM. Pricing is very competitive and the spec is high in this car making it an under-rated purchase. Considering Proton is hardly a well proven name I’d still choose the Peugot or the Citroen.

There’s also the Fiat Panda 1.2 which uses 6.8l/100KM but frankly I’ve heard so many nightmare stories about Fiat after-sale service in South Africa I’d stay far away from a Fiat until the situation improves.

Again using the same 1 liter engine as the Daihatsu, Peugot and the Citroen the Toyota Yaris T1 is the largest of the four and thus uses 6.4l/100KM. I’m not a fan of Toyota in South Africa as I find them over priced and underspecced. This is a solid car with good service backup but lacks extras such as airconditioning that the Peugot or Citroen will include at the same price. That said it’s a bigger car so if you need the size then this is the best choice of the four.

Higher up one the pricing spectrum is the Mazda 2. Not only is this the South African car of the year but also the World Car of the year. The 1.3 engine produces a nippy 62KW of power while only using 6.5l of petrol/100KM. If I was in the market to buy a new car I’d totally get one of these. They look great, are well spec’d and well priced.

Finally there is the 1.3 liter Yaris T3 which again is over priced for what you get but only uses 6.8l/100 KM which is actually awfully close to the 1 liter version. In a similar price range is the entry level Smart ForTwo which is also very frugal at 5.6l/100KM but is over priced for what little you get.

Honourable mentions go out to the following which just missed the 7l/100KM cut off:

The Mazda 2 1.5 which uses 7.2l/100KM and the Mini Cooper which uses 7.2l/100KM.

All in all it’s particularly difficult to find a petrol engined car that uses less than 7 liters per hundred kilometers. To get good consumption on a larger car you either need a Diesel or a Hybrid which are still prohibitively expensive. Legislation is creating a need for more efficient engines but this will only be in full force in 2015. Until then if you want to be a bit greener and use less petrol then these are your choices.

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