05/10/2012 09:40 | By JD Van Zyl, Contributor, MSN Cars
Frugal fast cars

Frugal Fast Cars



Frugal Fast Cars (© Lotus)
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Any car that is able to dash past the 60mph mark in around five seconds must be a thirsty beast, right? Not so. In fact the model that tops this list roars from zero to 60mph in just 5.3 seconds yet manages a more than respectable 51.4mpg combined economy. It's impressive stuff.

To select the cars in this list we only considered models which can complete the 0-60mph sprint in seven seconds or less while managing combined economy of 30mpg or more. Once we had our shortlist we weighed each model's consumption against its acceleration for a ratio, giving equal weight to both, to determine its ranking.

The result? The 20 models that strike the best balance between all-out sporty performance and real-world fuel economy. Click on through to find out which models give you all the go and none of the guzzle.

26Comments
04/10/2012 20:46
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What drugs is this writer smoking!? If I could afford a Jaguar xf or an audi tt rs, would i care about the cost of fuel!? No, I would burn it quicker than the chinese burn coal! An article on affordable fast cars, which means sub £10k to the average working class, means cars such as the focus st, honda civic type r, subaru wrx etc. Do msn really pay these people to write non informative tripe, which sucks readers in with an interesting heading, just to dissapoint them with £30k cars out of reach to most, just to generate hits? I bet any petrol head worth their salt could do better in 10 mins, than this muppet who was probably wrecked for 3 years during media studies at uni!
04/10/2012 13:58
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Check out the purchase price of these 'frugal' cars

 

Maybe on a MSN journo's salary but in the real world .....................

 

If you can afford to buy youre not going to be too bothered about the price of juice - idiotic article thats has ben re harshed and recycled  

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I don't understand this drivel (well I do). It starts out discussing good mileage vs performance but then (very quickly) sinks into a comparison between various models and the overall performance of the current crop of sports cars! Sorry, please tell me, how much are you (MSN Group) getting paid to advertise these cars under the false premise of a topical discussion?????
04/10/2012 13:35
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You never ever achieve the claimed mpg figures quoted by the makers.

Its about time real world figures were published.

07/10/2012 23:48
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motor bike +1 : )    won't break the bank, don't make me laugh. A set of tyres for most of these cars would leave me skint. Saying that... use 4 sets a year on the bike.... but what fun!
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They are snails compared to the 2010 yamaha v max at 2.5 seconds 0-60

But only expect 35 mpg

07/10/2012 22:20
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I'll stick to my motor bike. It will blow all this lot into the weeds, at a fraction of the cost  and ten times the buzz.
04/10/2012 10:21
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What a surprise, nearly all German.
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What is this? A BMW ad? How come there are multiple variations of BMW sporting the same engines taking up half the places, yet no Audi A5 3.0 TDI Quattro or TT TDI?
04/10/2012 16:34
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Just wondering why the Tesla Roadster was overlooked for this feature? Sub 4sec 0-60 and no gallons to the mile (electric). It does have a limited range of just over 200 miles, but that's not really the focus of the article...
10/10/2012 22:48
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what about giving the price of the top of the range car you're showing rather than the price of the base model. How lazy of you Reviewer!

 

08/10/2012 12:45
06/10/2012 13:00
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needs more info on the actual 0-60 time and mpg. and less German cars would have been nice.

06/10/2012 20:37
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How about a legnum vr4  0-100mph in around 10 seconds.. And  it's an estate, Had a few and tried it and would leave the cossy's,escort tickford turbo's and most thing on the road. enough said! except for one thing, it's the evo's dad.Look em up. Cheap insurance, petrol is very good for a twin turbo 18/20 ish around town and on a run around 30 to the gallon.
19/12/2012 11:04
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MPG varies wildly, my 23i will do 25mpg if you thrash it around town, but does 43mpg on a A road at 60mph, so to get any meaningful comparison is pointless.
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No 300zx twin turbo (z32)? might now be 22 years old, but would give every one of those cars a run for its money, not only did it make 280bhp / 300 (uk spec) with a few other mods it can make 380bhp easily, can be had for less than 10k, and cheaper on insurance as you can insure it as a classic.

 

Oh and if you are interested lol, 0-60 in 5-7 seconds, top speed of 156mph (limited but can be lifted again with a few mods) 14mpg around town, around 22 to 24 on a motorway. that MPG might seem low, but when you compare it to the cost of half the cars in this article, you will be offsetting that with the cost of insurance and purchase price lol

06/10/2012 22:12
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The only one of these cars I would have would be the caterham but I would much rather have a decent Seat leon cupra r over any of the others.
04/10/2012 14:30
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Re nearly all German, I have a Golf GTD and also a Polo, the Golf is faultless, cures my constipation every time I drive it and returns over 40mpg, the Polo has done 93k miles and apart from servicing bills has never failed me or cost a penny in repairs thats why I always buy German.
04/10/2012 10:34
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if you search "my name"

what a surprise!!!

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Yes it says what can do 0-60 in so many seconds but what it does NOT say is what most want to know, the total maximum speed of each vehicle!! If it can reach speeds of 150mph or more is what we REALLY want to know!!
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