A car that fits this bill?

[GLC1968]

Depends on what you consider to be 'great' gas mileage and on what you are willing to spend. But yes, I would bet that you could meet those needs in a car!

We have a MINI Cooper Clubman on order and while I can't say for sure, I'm guessing we will be able to fit two bikes in the back, particularly if we are willing to remove the front wheels. It's rated at 36 HWY, it's 4-cyl and if it's anything like my old MINI, it should do great in the snow. They also just introduced a clean diesel version of it that gets 56 mpg (in Europe), so there is hope for the US eventually...

Came back to add that there are probably lots of cars that qualify if you are willing to take the wheels off the bikes. If not, then yeah, you might be dreaming a bit! ;-)

[ny biker]

How many people need to ride along with the two bikes?

I can fit two bikes in my Prius easily. That is with the rear seats down, so there is only room for me and 1 passenger, but 2 people + 2 bikes works for me. There is also enough room for related stuff like a medium size cooler and a couple of duffle bags/backpacks.

I take the front tires off because it's easier to get the bikes in and out that way, but you could probably leave them on if you wanted.

The Prius gets me around fine in the snow conditions we get in the DC metro area, and that's with the stock tires on it. I have heard the Prius is also fine in snowier places if you put snow tires on it. A search of priuschat.com should confirm that.

[TsPoet]

We have a MINI Cooper Clubman on order and while I can't say for sure, I'm guessing we will be able to fit two bikes in the back, particularly if we are willing to remove the front wheels. It's rated at 36 HWY, it's 4-cyl and if it's anything like my old MINI, it should do great in the snow. They also just introduced a clean diesel version of it that gets 56 mpg (in Europe), so there is hope for the US eventually...

The Clubbie is less deep (high) in the back than a Cooper (non-clubbie), so I believe you'll have to lie your bike(s) down. My recumbent won't fit in the back, but I did get it in the back of my Cooper, because of the extra ceiling room.
I have the turbo, I get ~36 mpg on the highway and ~32 in town - with runflat tires. When I switched to non-runflats, my mpg went way down.
and yes, the front wheel drive is awesome.
I've also espoused the virtue of these trailers before
http://www.sportsrig.com/
get you little gas-miser car, and a small trailer and you've got the best of both worlds, IMHO.
there is also a MINI Countryman, which I think 2 bikes would fit in the back of. Not sure of the gas mileage in that vehicle, though.

[KnottedYet]

Subaru Impreza Wagon.

I can fit 3 people and 2 bikes in the car. Haven't tried 3 bikes and 3 people.
Get 32-36 mpg. (manual transmission)
All-Wheel drive. Great in the snow.

[GLC1968]

there is also a MINI Countryman, which I think 2 bikes would fit in the back of. Not sure of the gas mileage in that vehicle, though.

Actually, the Countryman is smaller in the back than the Clubman. Or, smaller USEABLE space. I think it's not very well designed in that regard, but it does have the handy 4 doors feature. We went in to test drive the Countryman but ended up ordering the Clubman becuase the cargo space was better (for dogs, not bikes...but still!). The Countryman is slightly lower in gas mileage than the other MINI's (low 30's HWY) and it's not quite the zippy little thing that the other Coopers are, but it's still a very nice car and plenty fun to drive. It also comes in AWD, which would be handy in a snowy place.

I'll also ditto that we could fit two bikes in the back of the Prius with the seats down. Mine with wheels on, DH had to remove his front one (bigger frame). While the Prius handles ok in the snow (I drove it over the mountains near Denver in a snow storm!), the mileage drops significantly in the cold.

I'll also throw the Toyota Matrix out there. Handles fantastic in the snow (seriously, with chains, it blew our 4x4 out of the water for handling!!), gets low 30's MPG, easily fit two bikes in back with plenty of room for other stuff (more vertical space than the Prius) and ours has been 100% issue free in the last 117K miles. Great car. Boring car, but great car.

[OakLeaf]

I love my Prius, but the only way two bikes go in the back is one on top of the other with a blanket in between. It's fine for me, and I've done it, but some people might object, and a heavy bike would be pretty hard to maneuver.

And ... we wound up having to drive it in the snow once last year. It took several attempts to get it up our hill. I confess to being the one who got it stuck initially when an animal ran across the lane while I was climbing the hill - but DH, who's been driving confidently in slippery conditions since he was a teenager, couldn't get it to quit spinning after I gave up, either. A shovel, a couple of bags of sand, and a lot of cussing were involved before we finally got it the rest of the way up the hill.

For a lightweight FWD car, it has all the bells and whistles and it does handle great. But it's still a lightweight FWD car and I wouldn't recommend it in the snow.

[ny biker]

I love my Prius, but the only way two bikes go in the back is one on top of the other with a blanket in between. It's fine for me, and I've done it, but some people might object, and a heavy bike would be pretty hard to maneuver.

And ... we wound up having to drive it in the snow once last year. It took several attempts to get it up our hill. I confess to being the one who got it stuck initially when an animal ran across the lane while I was climbing the hill - but DH, who's been driving confidently in slippery conditions since he was a teenager, couldn't get it to quit spinning after I gave up, either. A shovel, a couple of bags of sand, and a lot of cussing were involved before we finally got it the rest of the way up the hill.

For a lightweight FWD car, it has all the bells and whistles and it does handle great. But it's still a lightweight FWD car and I wouldn't recommend it in the snow.

I suppose it depends on the hill. I've made it up the hill to my house, and the hill to my parents' house in NY, with a couple of inches of snow on the ground. And Chicago is pretty flat, so hills aren't really an issue. Although if I lived in Chicago I would get snow tires simply because there is more snow there.

[indysteel]

Define "great" and "fit." Most mid-size sedans and hatchbacks should be able to fit two bikes, especially if you're willing to take the wheels off.

As for driving in snow, get a set of snow tires and, assuming you're talking Chicago, keep them on the car from November until March. Your ride quality will suffer a bit, but your handling and traction will improve greatly.

[ASammy1]

Wow! These were quick responses! Thanks for the info

Indy-"great" is 35+ mpg, and "fit" is 2 bikes (front wheels off is fine) upright if possible.

[indysteel]

Wow! These were quick responses! Thanks for the info

Indy-"great" is 35+ mpg, and "fit" is 2 bikes (front wheels off is fine) upright if possible.

I think you can fit two bikes upright in the Honda Fit. I assume it meets your mileage expectation, but I have no idea how it drives in the snow. Knott's suggestion for the Impreza is a good one. A lot of people on roadbikereview's forums have them (or another Subura model). It's seems to be the cyclist's car of choice.

[Chicken Little]

4 cylinder Toyota Tacoma pickup with a cab. I think that is as close as you can get. The mileage thing is very limiting. I would make a compromise all the way down to 25 mpg city.

If you bought two Dahon folders, you can get all that in my Yaris.

[Biciclista]

depending on the bikes, a Honda fit works too. my husband has aerobars and long fenders so we can't do it with his bike. My car will always just have one bike in it, but i've seen a photo of someone's fit with two bikes (front wheels off) sitting happily inside of it.
can't help you with the snow.

[Blueberry]

depending on the bikes, a Honda fit works too. my husband has aerobars and long fenders so we can't do it with his bike. My car will always just have one bike in it, but i've seen a photo of someone's fit with two bikes (front wheels off) sitting happily inside of it.
can't help you with the snow.

Interesting re: large frames w/extra stuff!

One of the SAGs at a local ride was a fit. No idea how she did it - but she had 3 bikes and 3 people in there. When I saw it, there were 2 fork mounted bikes in the rear and plenty o' extra space.

[GLC1968]

Depending on how tall you guys are, you can put bikes upright in the Matrix. Mine fits fine, my DH's has to have the seat post either lowered or removed. If neither of you are tall, then they'd fit no problem.

VW TDI wagon might be an option too. 5-cyl but gets ~40 mpg diesel. Lots of room in back but I don't know about the upright bike thing or not. Most VW's do pretty well in the snow, so I can't imagine that the sport wagon would be any different.

I like the Subaru's but they really need to work on their gas mileage. We considered an Outback but found the MPG really disappointing and removed it from our list.

[maillotpois]

I think you can fit two bikes upright in the Honda Fit. I assume it meets your mileage expectation, but I have no idea how it drives in the snow.

2 bikes with front wheels off in the Fit no problem. One bike with all wheels ON also no problem.

A friend took her Fit over some snowy passes this winter with no problem.

I usually average 35 mph+ on the Fit, depending on the amount of city traffic I am in.