[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally posted by BlueSideUp
I actually looked at an IS hatch quite some time ago and it was a nice car. According to the website the IS is rated at 18mpg city and 22mpg highway, it's just way too inefficient.

The Subaru is unfortunately not very efficient either. The non-turbo Forester has a combined rating of 22mpg and the turbo is rated at 20mpg. I guess that's aerodynamics and awd for you. The AWD isn't necessary in Socal anyway.

The BMW 325i Sport Wagon is rated at 20mpg as well.

We looked at an A4 wagon quite some time ago. It was an '00 or '01 model and my wife seemed to like it. The problem again is that you can only get a wagon with quattro and it's rated mpg is in the low 20s as well.

Where are your numbers coming from? Here's what I found:

Legacy wagon (non-turbo) Automatic: 23/30 mpg
Legacy wagon (turbo) Automatic: 19/25 mpg
All the other Subies are about the same, since they're essentially the same motor. All are over 25 MPG HWY with a stick.

New 325i wagon is 20/30 MPG

New A3: (Urban) 24 mpg, (Extra-urban) 32 mpg, 27 mpg

New A4: 22 mpg, (Extra-urban) 31 mpg, (Combined) 25 mpg

Take it with a grain of salt, but all MPG numbers are semi-BS. My 1.8T 5 speed A4 got almost 30 HWY, so I would bet those numbers are pretty close.

Lexus IS I have no idea, but that seems VERY low. Most modern cars get 25 MPG or better on the highway. Even my 540/6 speed managed 25.