We all need to spend money more wisely these days, but that shouldn’t mean compromising too much on our driving choices. I, like everyone else, require a safe, high performance car to get me and my family from Point A to B.
No matter how much money we have, it’s frustrating that automobile costs are continually soaring upward. But weeping gently at the gas station after filling up doesn’t have to be a grim certainty. For starters, we can take charge by tackling fuel efficiency. Small improvements and savings can add up quickly, saving us a modest fortune over the lifespan of our cars.
Driving a more economical, fuel efficient car may have been seen as the ‘boring’ option not all that long ago, but with new vehicles being re-designed and rolled out at great pace, that is no longer the case. Cars such as the latest limited edition Honda Jazz Si prove that a ‘fuel efficient’ vehicle can be sporty and exciting, as well get us fantastic gas mileage (50.4mpg, in this case).
Happily, big car manufacturers are getting in on the act, offering a variety of high performance gas, diesel and hybrid cars. All increasingly lighter and made with better materials, new cars embrace the need for safe and stable performance but with lower drag and more aerodynamics. Ultimately, this results in lower fuel running costs than ever before. The latest Honda model – of which only 1,000 were manufactured – is a sporty, improved version of the multi-award winning Jazz and starts at just £14, 550. This fair price gets you bespoke 16” alloy wheels, spacious design, privacy glass and newly redesigned
suspension settings as well as silver and leather trims on the interior.
Soon, the cars we drive will embrace fuel science to the max, with hybrids becoming the norm rather than the exception on our increasingly busier roads – even if we have expectations at the sporty end of the spectrum. At this year’s Detroit Motor Show, Honda recently unveiled an innovative next-generation supercar: the NSX Concept. This vehicle is the first to utilise a new Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All Weight Drive) system, with a two electric motor drive unit working alongside a more powerful V-6 engine. It boasts all the handling of a powerful supercar but without the prohibitive running costs of a conventional one.
Car makers have never so carefully been trying to entice us into buying ‘environmentally friendly’ with higher MPG and lower CO2 emissions than ever before. The fact that as car buyers we can now afford more performance for our buck than ever before and still save money in the long term is an added bonus.
I have a Honda civic and am pretty happy with my 30mpg in city and 40mpg highway. I take it the jazz is just an overseas car?