South African motorists can’t seem to catch a break these days as the price of cars and the fuel that powers them continues to trend upwards at a rapid pace.
Of course, there are plenty of vehicles on the market that boast exceptional fuel consumption, but most of these tend to be hybrids that have a noticeably higher sticker than comparable models with no electrical assistance.
Case in point, the cheapest hybrid in South Africa right now is the Toyota Corolla Cross XS, but this requires a minimum payment of R486,100, putting it out of reach for consumers looking for a set of wheels that is price-conscious both in the showroom and at the pump.
Thankfully, there are still a handful of budget cars in the country that get great mileage out of every litre of petrol on account of their small engines.
The most economical car in South Africa that costs less than R300,000 is the Fiat 500, which runs on a small 0.9-litre petrol mill with a five-speed automatic gearbox, giving it an average usage of just 4.0l/100km.
This is followed by the Suzuki Celerio and its half-sibling, the Toyota Vitz, which share the same 1.0-litre plant and manage 4.2l/100km.
The Suzuki S-Presso is also on the list and has a slightly higher listed consumption of 4.4l/100km, despite using the same engine as the Celerio.
Finally, there’s the Renault Kwid, which also has a 1.0-litre drivetrain and sips fuel at a rate of 4.9l/100km.
Budget cost-savers
These are the five cars with the best fuel economy that can be bought for less than R300,000 in South Africa.
Note that the Suzuki and Toyota models also have access to a manual gearbox, but their consumption is a little worse than the automatic units, though only on a scale of about 0.2l/100km.
In Renault’s case, the manual and automatic units have the same listed economy figure.
Click on the underlined prices for more information.
Fiat 500 TwinAir Cult
- Fuel consumption – 4.0l/100km
- Fuel tank size – 35l
- Driving range – 875km
- Gearbox – 5-speed auto
- Power – 63kW/148Nm
- Starting price – R268,900
Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GL auto
- Fuel consumption – 4.2l/100km
- Fuel tank size – 32l
- Driving range – 762km
- Gearbox – 5-speed auto
- Power – 49kW/89Nm
- Starting price – R225,900
Toyota Vitz 1.0 XR auto
- Fuel consumption – 4.2l/100km
- Fuel tank size – 32l
- Driving range – 762km
- Gearbox – 5-speed auto
- Power – 49kW/89Nm
- Starting price – R239,900
Suzuki S-Presso 1.0 GL auto
- Fuel consumption – 4.4l/100km
- Fuel tank size – 27l
- Driving range – 614km
- Gearbox – 5-speed auto
- Power – 49kW/89Nm
- Starting price – R188,900
Renault Kwid 1.0 Life
- Fuel consumption – 4.9l/100km
- Fuel tank size – 28l
- Driving range – 596km
- Gearbox – 5-speed manual
- Power – 63kW/148Nm
- Starting price – R196,999
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