General Motors has been hard at work building the smallest Chevy ever released, the 2013 Chevrolet Spark. While the Chevy Spark is definitely small, it hasn’t quite gotten the numbers that the automaker was hoping for yet. Instead of hitting the 40 mark, it is coming in just under with EPA estimates of 32 city miles per gallon and 38 highway miles per gallon. This mileage is coming from a 1.2 liter engine with a five speed manual transmission. In the automatic version of the Spark the estimates were 28 city miles per gallon and 37 highway miles per gallon.
While this mileage doesn’t sound like very much from such a golf cart looking vehicle, it is similar to its competitors such as the 2013 Smart ForTwo which gets a combined EPA rating of 36 miles per gallon. The 2012 Scion IQ comes in with better city mileage, but worse highway mileage at 36 and 37 respectively and the 2012 Fiat 500 only does 30 miles per gallon in the city, but gets up to 38 on the highways. It looks like the small car fans will have to choose from other features besides mileage alone when picking the best super mini convertible out. The Chevy Spark is expected to be pretty zippy for getting around in though, so it could definitely be a contender for best in class.
If you are shopping strictly for gas mileage though, you are better off looking at the Chevy Cruze Eco or Chevy Sonic because both of these models could outpace the Chevy Spark. The Chevy Cruze Eco has been reported at getting up to 42 highway, while the Chevy Sonic can get around 40 miles per gallon.
In fact, the Spark’s larger stablemates, the Cruze Eco and Sonic, can do almost as well if properly equipped. Both cars gets a combined 33 mpg with the turbocharged 1.4 liter and manual six-speed transmission. The Sonic even breaks the 40-mpg barrier in highway driving and the Cruze Eco gets an even better 42.
Source Inside Line