How the cars were tested

OWINGS MILLS, MD. The latest Cars. com, USA TODAY and MotorWeek Challenge set out to find the best compact car a budget- conscious buyer can get for a modest price with good gas mileage. We set a cap of $ 20,000 with shipping and required an EPA combined mileage rating of at least 28 miles per gallon.

The high bar excluded Chevrolet Cruze, Dodge Dart and Volkswagen Jetta because they offer no model at that price with that mileage. The new Mazda3, just on sale, wasn’t available.

The expert judges and consumer judge who tested the seven compacts:

Cars. com: Aaron Bragman, Detroit bureau chief; Jennifer Geiger, news editor; Bill Jackson, assistant managing editor.

USA TODAY: Fred Meier, auto editor; James R. Healey, reporter.

PBS’ MotorWeek: Brian Robinson, producer.

Consumer judge: Carol Gluckman, a librarian from Montgomery County, Md., who is shopping for a new compact car.

Three days of testing: A day of Baltimore- area driving on a 200- mile route, rotating drivers, to get realworld gas mileage. A day of experts driving the cars back- to- back. A day in which the makers briefed the consumer judge before she drove each.

The scoring: Experts’ combined scores: 75% of total; consumer judge scores: 15%; fuel- economy rank: 10%.