Car and Driver has a nice comparison of several cars that might be alternatives to the Prius (in terms of size and function, not in terms of fuel economy, emissions, technology, price, or performance.) I still enjoy reasonably efficient compact cars with manual transmissions and thought you might enjoy this comparison road test. It makes me wonder how the 2.0 liter Mazda3 would compare, when we might get a diesel Rabbit in the USA, and what the next Corolla will be like. http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/11...sentra-20s.html Of course Car and Driver gives less weight to fuel economy than they do to interior styling and doesn't give any weight to emissions. If they weighted these like some Prius owners, they might have ranked these Civic, Mazda 3, Corolla, Elantra, Rabbit, Sentra. Still, the article is great for everything other than fuel consumption and emissions. We can always go to http://fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm for that.
They never seem to get their hands on a BMW or VW that they don't like. I do agree with their comments on the Corolla's seats and driving position, though.
The magazine print article should contain their fuel economy results as well. Hopefully the Rabbit TDI will return for the 2008 model year.