Top New Cars for College Students

From TheCarConnection.com

With the fall term about to start, college students are looking for the perfect car for parents to “subsidize” — or to drive off to college along with parents’ furniture, computer and life savings. And while it doesn’t take an economics major to find a great car for college — it does take a little research to find one with high marks for reliability, fuel economy, safety and of course, a reasonable price. TheCarConnection.com’s editors have studied 2008 models available for sale in the U.S., from crash-test scores to gas mileage. Of all the new cars driven and researched by TheCarConnection.com’s editors, these eight stand out:

• Ford Focus– The Ford Focus is a roomy entry-level car-and a music lover’s dream thanks to its SYNC system, a voice-activated, hands-free communications and entertainment interface that links the car to all manner of phones, PDAs, MP3 players, and portable storage devices.
• Honda Fit — The 2008 Honda Fit is a subcompact five-door hatchback with entertaining road manners and frugal fuel economy. The Fit gets 34 mpg on the highway and 28 in the city, and does it with a light touch in its controls and a roomy interior with a folding “Magic Seat” that opens a cargo area big enough for a standard-sized bicycle.
• Hyundai Elantra — The 2008 Hyundai Elantra is a recent winner of a compact-car comparison from Consumer Reports. Fuel economy is as good as 25/33 mpg. The interior is outfitted with power windows, power heated rearview mirrors, power door
  locks, remote keyless entry, and a tilt steering wheel. Options include a Bluetooth hands-free system, leather, a power sunroof and a 220-watt premium audio system with an iPod jack.
• Mitsubishi Lancer x — The Lancer is Mitsubishi’s smallest sedan and lowest-priced car in the U.S. lineup. Base versions have power windows and a CD sound system, but upscale versions can be outfitted with Bluetooth, automatic climate control, a 650-watt Rockford-Fosgate sound system, and a navigation system that includes a 30-gigabyte hard-drive music server.
• Pontiac Vibe — The five-door Vibe returns with a new body style, a pair of engines and all-wheel drive as an option. Pick from a 158-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder or stick with the base 1.8-liter four, making 132 horsepower. Both can be teamed to a manual or automatic transmission. Fuel efficiency is good and the rear seats fold flat to expand the cargo area. A 320-watt Monsoon sound system is among the options.
• Saturn Astra — The new 2008 Astra is a European-bred car from GM’s Saturn brand. It comes in two flavors — two-door hatchback and four-door hatchback. The sweet-revving four-cylinder teams well with a five-speed manual that offers a light-touch clutch; there’s a four-speed automatic offered as well. The Astra has features not often found at this price point, like steering-wheel-mounted audio controls and express-up power windows.
• Scion xB — The 2008 Scion xB is the second generation of the popular four-door hatchback sold by Toyota’s youth-oriented brand. Fuel economy is 22/28 mpg. There’s room for four or cargo room to move most of a dorm room in one trip (minus the flat-screen TV and MicroFridge).
• Suzuki SX4 Sport — The SX4 Sport is a small crossover vehicle with a wagon body, an upscale interior and plenty of driving fun. The government rates the SX4 Sport at 21/28 mpg with the manual transmission. Six airbags are standard, as are anti-lock brakes and a seven-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

For more details on finding the right new car for college, go to TheCarConnection.com.

Source: TheCarConnection.com