Realistic MPGs, M3 5dr A/T

[RatLabGuy]

High folks. Wife is looking for a new car, wants a small-ish 5dr... I love my '03 Pro5 and she likes it enough, so a Mazda3 5dr is a contender.
Possibly new('09) but lightly used '07-08 probably prefered.

One big concern for her on this will be MPGs... 2.3L and A/T comes at a price.

For somebody who is a fairly conservative/casual driver, auto trans, what is realistic mileage on the hatch? I read reports all over the board here from 22 to 38, which I assume is related to engine size and driving style.

 

[Rhon]

the wife commutes in her 08.5 about 20 miles a day, doesn't race anyone (I know of), easy on the gas and off, does the speed limit and we use it hard on the weekends and she's averaging 29mpg with it. That's been about steady since we got it about 6200 miles ago. Oh and that's even with me playing speed racer with the manual mode shifter

It hasn't been lower than 27 or more than 31.