2016 Honda HR-V Subcompact SUV Rated At 31 MPG Combined

2016 Honda HR-V

We now have EPA fuel-economy for the 2016 Honda HR-V crossover, which is based on the Fit subcompact.

With the sole option of a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, Honda's smallest-ever crossover is rated at 31 mpg combined (28 mpg city, 35 mpg highway) when ordered with front-wheel drive and the CVT automatic transmission.

All-wheel drive models get 29 mpg combined (27 mpg city, 32 mpg highway).

There's also a six-speed manual option for front-wheel drive models, which achieves a rated 28 mpg combined (25 mpg city, 34 mpg highway).

2016 Honda HR-V

The newly-released fuel economy ratings, first spotted by Autoblog, put the HR-V near the top of the burgeoning tiny-crossover class.

In the combined ratings the CVT-equipped HR-V proves more efficient than the recently-introduced 2015 Chevrolet Trax, which is rated at 29 mpg combined (26 mpg city, 34 mpg highway) with front-wheel drive and its sole powertrain option--a 1.4-liter turbocharged four and six-speed automatic.

With all-wheel drive, the Trax gets 27 mpg combined (24 mpg city, 31 mpg highway).

The HR-V also beats the 2015 Buick Encore, which gets slightly lower mpg than the Trax despite sharing a platform and powertrain with the Chevy.

The same goes for the Nissan Juke--arguably the progenitor of this segment.

There are too many Juke permutations to list here, but the most efficient model is the standard front-wheel drive version with the six-speed manual, which gets 30 mpg combined (28 mpg city, 34 mpg highway).

2016 Honda HR-V

The HR-V's 1.8-liter engine produces 138 horsepower and 127 pound-feet of torque. The basic platform is shared with the Fit, giving Honda a smaller model to slot below the CR-V in its lineup.

It will be built alongside the Fit in Celaya, Mexico, and arrive in showrooms later this year.

When it does, it will meet an onslaught of similarly-sized crossovers.

That includes the 2015 Jeep Renegade, 2016 Fiat 500X, and 2016 Mazda CX-3. It'll be interesting to see how the HR-V stacks up when official gas-mileage ratings for those models are published.