Economy Five-Door Hatchback Comparison

Once upon a time, not all that long ago, if you were in the market for a small, five-door economy hatchback, you were swimming in cheap-infested waters. Automakers seemed to think of the buyers of small, inexpensive cars as nothing more than an inconvenience, a market that had to be pacified through the cheapest means possible.

Well, no longer. Today's economy car market has grown by leaps and bounds, especially in the past five years. The Honda Fit had something to do with that, showing consumers and other automakers that an economy car need not be a penalty box. Predictably, the Fit achieved meteoric sales, and the rest of the industry was forced to catch up.

Today, the Fit is several years into its second iteration, and the industry is, in fact, catching up. Since our last look at this market niche in mid-2010, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, Chevrolet, and Mazda have all released brand-new players, while the current Fit is three years into its life cycle. Who stands ahead of the pack in 2012? To find out, we invited the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Mazda2, Chevrolet Sonic, Honda Fit, and Suzuki SX4 out for a couple days of testing and driving. The cars had to be five-door hatchbacks, and, to be equal, each had to have a manual gearbox. Ford said it didn't have a Fiesta for us, and neither did any rental agencies, but the other seven automakers were game.

And so the shiftbox revolution was upon us, as we set out to determine where your money would be best spent. The results may surprise you.

Read more : http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/hatchbacks/1204_economy_five_door_hatchback_comparison/