What Luxury Performance Coupe Gets the Best Mileage?
The BMW M4’s, Cadillac ATS-V’s and Lexus RC F’s digital displays may spend more time in lap timer, g-force and sport tachometer modes than in fuel-economy mode, but that didn’t stop us from taking the three on a mileage drive to determine a fuel-economy winner.
Luxury Performance Coupe Challenge
Results | Performance Numbers | Mileage Test
Truth be told, if mileage is a concern when shopping for any of these three, the city/highway combined rating isn’t going to sway you. All three sports cars are rated at 19 mpg combined, and our observed fuel economy showed only a 1.3 mpg difference between first and last place at the end of a 162-mile fuel-economy loop. The automatic-transmission-equipped BMW M4 and Lexus RC F are EPA-rated at 17/24 mpg city/highway and 16/25 mpg, respectively, while the ATS-V we tested with a manual transmission is rated at 17/23 mpg.
The winner?
The Lexus RC F with its 467-horsepower, 5.0-liter V-8 and eight-speed automatic transmission achieved 24.26 mpg. The M4 with its 425-hp, turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six-cylinder and dual-clutch seven-speed automatic put down 23.46 mpg for second place, and the ATS-V with its 464-hp, turbocharged 3.6-liter V-6 and six-speed manual transmission got 22.9 mpg.
We drove all three cars in their street-driving modes to measure fuel economy: The Cadillac in Touring mode, the Lexus RC F in Normal and the M4 in its Efficiency configuration with auto stop-start activated. Final mileage numbers are an average of the on-board trip computer and our own fill-up calculations.
The RC F’s observed 24.26 mpg is notable for the group with the largest displacement engine at 5.0 liters, which also makes the most power (467 hp), and the RC F is also the heaviest of the bunch at 3,958 pounds, which is 258 pounds heavier than the ATS-V and 373 pounds more than the M4.
