I live in New England and have a steep driveway, so I need a car that's good in the snow; however, I really want a car with good (or at least decent) fuel economy. Are these two goals incompatible?
Not at all. We found three vehicles that combine all-wheel drive with highway fuel economy of at least 31 mpg by using the Cars.com Vehicle Recommender. They are the Audi A4, which gets 31 mpg highway with a manual transmission and 29 with automatic; the Subaru Legacy (31 mpg with a continuously variable automatic transmission); and the Mini Cooper S Countryman, a small crossover SUV that gets 31 mpg highway with manual and 30 with automatic.
The possibilities increase when you include vehicles that get at least 26 mpg on the highway. Among the nominees are the Audi A3 and A6; BMW 328i and 335i xDrive; Buick LaCrosse; Cadillac CTS; Ford Fusion; Honda Accord Crosstour; Lexus IS 250; and Suzuki Kizashi. If you're willing to consider a smaller SUV, you can add the Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape, Hyundai Tucson and Subaru Forester and Outback to your list, among others. All get at least 26 mpg on the highway.
The Vehicle Recommender lets you create a shopping list that includes all the vehicles that meet your needs, from fuel economy, to price, engine type, body style and key comfort, convenience and safety features.
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Don't forget the Ford Taurus.
George (commenter below) is right to suggest looking into winter tires. Consumer Reports auto test engineer, Jake Fisher, posted recently about how his wife is able to commute to work and make it up/down their steep driveway just fine during Connecticut winters in a Toyota Prius fitted with a good set of winter tires. Not that AWD isn't useful, but winter tires are too, especially if you're concerned with year-round fuel economy.
great article
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Have you used the latest/greatest winter tires?
The Michelin PA4 should be here this fall.
http://www.motor-talk.de/bilder/adac-winterreifentest-2010-g25896582/michelin-alpin-pa4-i203562607.html