Good, Cheap Base Cars?
 

I am getting my first car soon and was thinking about what would be a good base for a fuel efficient and aerodynamic car.

I have a few Ideas in the form of these.

Mazda Lantis
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...V/IMG_3613.jpg
or the hatch style
http://www.carfolio.com/images/dbima...993_lantis.jpg

Honda Civic EG
http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoser...90852_full.jpg

What do you guys think? Is there any more cheap, economical, aerodynamic cars?

Chevrolet Cobalt.

For New Zealand?

Hmmm, this would be my vote on something in your area.
http://www.toyota.co.nz/NR/rdonlyres...4Lfront618.jpg

* 1.4 litre "D-4D" turbo-diesel engine
* 66kW of power
* 190Nm of torque
* 6-speed manual transmission

Good luck in your search.

Get a light weight car with a manual transmission, and the smallest engine available. Diesel, if possible.

Furai ,
Welcome to the place and enjoy your stay.

There are a few options apart from the ones you have already mentioned.

Mitsubishi have the iCar and the Colt which are both pretty good for aero and build quality.
Holden's Astra and Vectra models likewise.
Toyota's Corolla and Yaris models are worth a look.
Mazda 2 and 3 series are also worth a look.

Really it might depend on the best deal you can get on the day and the quality of dealers and servicing in your area in the end.

Pete.

Why is diesel recommended, in my area, (AZ) diesel is even more than premium... IT DIDN'T USED TO BE THAT WAY!!! in fact, a few years ago, it was the cheapest at the pumps.

Because the OP doesn't live in the USA, where taxes artificially raise the price of diesel higher than gasoline.

AWW... thanks for that

Fuel prices are artificially inflated by taxes anyway.
The US is not the only country where diesel is more expensive.
The UK is another example, so are Switzerland, Albania, Cypruss, Georgia. There are a bunch of countries where the prices are very similar.

I expect diesel will become a lot more expensive in the entire EU, as the diesel particulate matter issue has given diesel opponents a new reason to increase diesel taxes.


Diesels generally use less fuel than gasoline engines, so one can still win despite a somewhat higher price.

Actually, for most of the EU, I believe that diesel is cheaper because gasoline is taxed much much more than diesel is. And, of course, most diesel cars get 20%-50% better fuel economy than their gasoline-powered siblings.

-soD