Over the course of a 161-mile route of mixed city and highway driving, the redesigned 2012 Honda Civic won out with an average 36.8 mpg. This bested the 2011 Hyundai Elantra GLS by 2.3 mpg; the Elantra has a better EPA rating of 33 mpg combined city/highway versus the Civic’s 32 mpg.
The 2012 Ford Focus, 2011 Chevy Cruze and 2011 Kia Forte followed with observed mileage of 33.5, 33.2 and 30.6 mpg, respectively.
Come back to Cars.com and KickingTires on Monday to see which one of the five took the overall prize as the best high-mileage car for less than $20,000.
Managing Editor
David Thomas
Former managing editor David Thomas has a thing for wagons and owns a 2010 Subaru Outback and a 2005 Volkswagen Passat wagon.