While better than EPA numbers, 29.7 mpg (8 L/100km) is kinda disappointing highway fuel economy for such a small and not particularly powerful car. Given reports of people getting 35-37 mpg in real world highway driving with the old car in manual form, and 9 years of technical advancements, I was hoping the new car would at least get 33-35 mpg in manual form on the highway.
I got the same 8 L/100km highway with my BMW M240i xDrive, a much heavier, larger, more powerful, AWD, and faster vehicle. I got around 8.5 L/100km in real world highway driving in my AMG GTS that was much bigger/heavier, more than twice as powerful with a twin turbo V8, and twice as fast. I got around 10 L/100km highway in my Mercedes CL63, a car that was 2000 lbs heavier, and had a 567 hp twin turbo 5.5L V8. A comparatively tiny, slow, and featherweight car burning only 20% less fuel would be disappointing.
With that said, fuel economy usually improves after break in, and the numbers I got above were in gentle driving on level ground around 110-120 km/h. I wonder what efficiency I’d get with my highway driving style after break in. My Ford Escape gets exactly its EPA rated highway efficiency with my highway driving, while the various German performance cars I listed above easily beat their highway ratings for me, especially the AMG GT S.