Cars.comparison: Fun, Efficient Hatchbacks

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t have a vehicle that’s fun to drive and fuel efficient. To the contrary, there are plenty of good handlers that are also misers of fuel. That’s the point of our latest Cars.comparison, which pits the 2011 Honda CR-Z, 2010 Mini Cooper and 2010 Volkswagen Golf TDI against each other. Each car is tuned and marketed as a sporty handler, but each uses a different energy source to sip gas – hybrid, diesel and small-displacement gasoline. Which one is best at appeasing driving enthusiasts and eco-conscious car shoppers on the same test drive? Continue reading to find out.

Cars.comparison: Fun, Efficient Hatchbacks

2011|Honda|CR-Z

2010|Mini|Cooper

2010|Volkswagen|Golf

Comments

hey colin,

why does the fuel economy shown on the article does not match the one shown on the "Learn more at Cars.com" box (the one under the preface page)? which is which?

The MINI's stats in the "Learn More on Cars.com" box are completely wrong. That looks to be the information for the ~208hp MINI JCW, not the ~118hp Cooper. The Cooper starts @ ~$19k and gets 37mpg highway.

That said, I agree with the majority of the results. The Golf has the nicest quality interior and offers the most total interior volume by far. It also gets great mileage. The MINI has a classic, high-quality look, and has class-leading handling dynamics. So, if you want roomy and great gas mileage, the Golf is the obvious choice. If you want sporty handling (let's face it, they're all slow in a straight line) and don't need the extra room, you can get a MINI and save some money. And then there's the CR-Z (btw, it's "CRX", not CR-X). With the 6-speed equipped, the CR-Z gets the same Hwy mileage as the MINI (2mpg better combined), also-ran handling, no rear seats, the same interior volume behind the front seats, and funky styling... and a slightly higher base price. Well, I guess the good news is that you get to say you own a Hybrid.