Most Economical Car

Most Economical Convertibles

Below are the top 10 most economical convertibles based on their combined fuel consumption.

There's a mix of smaller petrol engines and larger diesel engines in this group. No hybrid convertibles are here, something which I'm sure will soon change.

It's great to see a couple of true sports cars make the list. The Caterham Roadsport and Lotus Elise are economical yet powerful and would make fun track day cars. The Caterham Roadsport does 0 - 100 kph in 5.9 seconds, which is quicker than the range topping Porsche Boxster Spyder Convertible automatic!

Economical Car	Engine	Urban L/100km	Extra L/100km	Combined
Smart fortwo Cabrio MHD	1.0L petrol	5.2	3.9	4.4
Smart fortwo Cabrio	1.0L petrol	6.4	4.1	4.9
BMW 118d	2.0L diesel	5.8	4.4	4.9
BMW 320d	2.0L diesel	6.3	4.4	5.1
BMW 123d	2.0L diesel	6.7	4.6	5.4
Volkswagen EOS 103 TDI	2.0L diesel	7.5	4.9	5.8
MINI Cooper Cabrio	1.6L petrol	8.0	5.0	6.1
Caterham Roadsport SV 120	1.6L petrol	8.5	4.9	6.2
Lotus Elise	1.6L petrol	8.3	5.0	6.3
Saab 9-3 Convertible 1.9TiD	1.9L diesel			6.3

Smart fortwo Cabrio

The most economical convertible is the Smart fortwo Cabrio MHD.

MHD stands for micro hybrid drive. Essentially its just a stop-start system. Electricity is generated under braking which charges the battery. The engine automatically cuts out when the speed falls below 8km/h and automatically restarts when the brakes are released.

The 52kW 1.0 litre engine in the Smart fortwo also only produces a low 105 grams of carbon dioxide per km, a 6% improvement on the non MHD Smart fortwo.