Letters to the Editors
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Subject: "Gas-Sipper Smackdown!"
From: Kevin
After reading this article, I'm left wondering why you selected those four cars; I am sure they are not the best four. For example, my wife drives a 2007 manual-transmission Mini Cooper in Phoenix, Arizona, hardly ever going on the freeway, and she is getting over 40 mpg. I suspect this car would have comfortably beaten the Ford Focus.

I am concerned that you may have been influenced by commercial considerations, although I certainly hope this is not the case. I have found your site very helpful in the past. But why did you not choose the (likely) best four?

Many people seeing this article may assume that you chose the best four vehicles, so it would be good if you could add an explanation of your selection criteria.

We talked a lot about what cars to test. And a case can be made for any number of potential candidates. The cold hard fact is this: It is frequently impossible to borrow your first choice of test cars from any manufacturer. Getting the exact cars you want, equipped the way you want them on the exact day you need them, can be quite difficult, especially since automakers have a tendency to load up their test fleets with luxury options, upgraded engines and automatic transmissions.

As you know, we have our own long-term test fleet, so any cars we use from that pool have no logistical strings attached. But the cars that are in it are chosen for various reasons, only one of which is fuel economy. The Ford Focus, for example, is in our fleet because we wanted to spend some time with the breakthrough Sync audio system, and that's the first car in which Ford released it. But the number of cars that we can keep and maintain in our long-term fleet is limited; we don't have everything, either.

Nevertheless, we felt that we could put together a good technology comparison from within our own fleet. And we did see this as a technology comparison. Do hybrids really excel in the city? Gasoline mpg is said to drop off significantly in stop-and-go city driving. Diesel engines reportedly rival hybrids on the highway, but how do they do in the city? Does the lightweight half-car with the tiny engine crush them all?

Hybrid: Toyota Prius — the obvious choice Diesel: Volkswagen Jetta (used) — another obvious choice, but we can't test the new one until the 50-state car comes out this summer Gasoline: Ford Focus — not the highest-mpg car in the segment, but it is quite close (See below.) Dinky city car from overseas: Smart — so new and so different that we knew people might want to know what it can or cannot do

It just so happens that we have one of each of these in our long-term fleet. I agree that the Focus isn't the highest fuel-economy compact, but I want to stress again that the main take-away from this test should be how each type differs in city versus highway driving. How does straight gasoline differ from a hybrid, diesel or microcar?

Yes, a Toyota Corolla may have done a bit better than the Focus by an mpg or two, but that would have still left it 4th in the city and on the highway versus the other technologies. It would not have altered the basic results.

And a 2008 Mini requires premium fuel, a $0.22-per-gallon difference that negates a 2-mpg advantage (at 37 mpg), walletwise. If money is to be saved, we find it hard to pump premium into a tank as a recommended or required fuel. That the Smart required it was something we were willing to overlook because of its extremely unusual nature and high reader interest in this never-before-seen (in the U.S.) car.

(All numbers are for automatics.)
2008 Ford Focus 24 city/33 highway
2008 Toyota Corolla 26 city/35 highway
2008 Mini Cooper 26 city/34 highway (premium fuel)
2008 Honda Civic 25 city/36 highway

But don't worry: We plan to revisit this test on a semi-regular basis, especially when new technologies come out. We're excited about the new 50-state Jetta TDI, the upcoming Prius and, yes, we will rotate the gasoline representative so that the current mpg champ is represented (if we can get one). — Ed.

Subject: Road Noise and Water Leakage
From: Ian
How does Edmunds test for noise (road noise, wind noise, etc.), and how do you test for water leakage?

Thanks for your question.

Here's how we evaluate noise:

• Primarily, we use subjective techniques. Trained evaluators with experience in hundreds of vehicles grade performance on a 10-point scale. They consider engine noise, road and tire noise, and wind noise.
  
  
• General interior noise is measured using a microphone and decibel meter on a road surface away from traffic.