Chevrolet Spark Misses The 40 MPG Mark
Published: July 20th, 2012
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Glancing at its diminutive footprint and tiny engine specs, one would expect superlative fuel economy from the Chevrolet Spark, right? Wrong.
According to GM Inside News,
This is in a 2,200 lb car with a 1.2L 4-cylinder engine. I’m not one to invoke bygone tin-cans like the Honda CRX HF in the name of fuel efficiency and the pox that modern cars are on our landscape, but GM must be able to do better than this, given what they’re working with. If not, then why bother at all with the Spark? The Cruze and Sonic make this car look like a farce.
More by Derek Kreindler
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The rental car companies will love this car. It will become their new mid-size so they can bump up the Rios, Aveos and Sonics to full size/large, Corollas become premium, and Camrys/Altimas luxury.
So I saw in a comment on here that the Spark is around $4K less than the Cruze. The Cruze, according to chevy.com is $16,800 so $12,800 for the Spark. Not bad for an econobox. The hwy numbers suffer because of aerodynamics of shorter cars aren't that good at high speeds. Maybe the transmission too? But a $19K Prius C gets way better mileage, but way more expensive, too.
My 6 year old Vauxhall Corsa is a GM product with similar weight and a similar size engine with a 5 speed manual, and in a combination of city and open road driving has no trouble cresting 40mpg and even 45. With any luck those figures will be more suitable for the Spark.
On Fuelly, the 2013 Spark averages 38-40MPG for combined city highway driving for people who submit their MPG on that site. Better than a Chevy Cruze and about the same as a VW TDI! The EPA can STFU. Only thing better is a hybrid.