(August 23, 2011) YONKERS, N.Y. (PRNewswire-USNewswire) — After Fiat's being out of the U.S. car market for nearly 30 years, Consumer Reports' tests of the Fiat 500 revealed it to be a fun-to-drive car in tests of fuel-efficient vehicles in the magazine's October issue.

Although it couldn't avoid enough shortcomings to score high enough in the magazine's tests to be Recommended, including a tight rear seat and cargo area, testers found it to be a likable urban car.

An inexpensive way to get a car with better fuel economy is to buy a very small car with a tiny engine, but that often brings with it some shortcomings. The Fiat 500, a retro-styled sporty car that competes with the Mini Cooper, is one example. The 500's 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine helps it achieve an overall fuel economy of 33 mpg.

"The tiny Fiat 500 has agile, go-kart like handling, a rev-happy engine, and a crisp-shifting manual transmission that make it fun-to drive," said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center in East Haddam, CT. "But slow acceleration, a choppy ride, and a noisy cabin are demerits."

The issue also features a comprehensive Auto Test Extra road test of the Chevrolet Volt after seven months and three seasons of ownership. Fuel economy varies depending on weather and driving conditions, ranging from the equivalent of 99 mpg on electric power alone to a less impressive 29 mpg overall when running only on gasoline.

CR's engineers found that the Volt is amazingly inexpensive to run on short trips, but when the gas engine kicks in and trips reach 70 miles, traditional hybrids catch up in running costs. While the innovative combination of a large battery, electric motor, and gasoline engine works well, the Volt suffers from some practical shortcomings.

The test group of fuel-efficient cars also featured the Lexus CT 200h hybrid hatchback, the diesel-powered Volkswagen Jetta TDI, and the Honda Civic Hybrid. The upscale CT 200h received the highest overall test score in this test group. The CT 200h hybrid gets an impressive 40 mpg overall in CR's own fuel economy tests.

But the car also had the highest price of the four vehicles in the test group. However, none of these vehicles were on par with the Toyota Prius, the most economical five-passenger car tested by CR that doesn't have to be plugged in. In CR's tests it averaged 44 mpg overall.