I'm looking at purchasing a VTI-L very soon, and one of the factors that influenced my decision was its fuel economy (compared with its competitors in Mazda 3 and Toyota Corolla). Honda lists the VTI/VTI-L manual economy figure at 6.9l/100km. I understand that these figures are likely to be higher, but many of the reviews I read mentioned that the Honda figure was very close (real-world perhaps more like 7.1). I've seen many around here indicate a MUCH higher figure, even after breaking the engine in - figures like 9 - 12l/100km are very disheartening.

I'm coming from a 93 EB Ford Falcon with LPG fitted, so I understand the Civic's economy won't match LPG, but it shouldn't be that big of a difference. I get around 350km on a 60 litre tank of LPG, Civic owners are saying they get around 400km on a 50 litre tank of ULP (a much more expensive prospect).

Can anyone shed light on this? I was under the impression the Civic was one of the best cars in terms of fuel economy (for the price).