Which vehicle to purchase for mountain FE?

[gottachangegears]

I am new here and to all of this really and will post introduction and update profile soon. Time right this minute is limited and I wanted to get my question in.

I live in north GA in the mountains and regularly drive in elevations up to maybe 3600 feet(north GA to western NC). The terrain is hilly and twisty but not much stopping. Right now I am looking at buying a new car and was considering the Honda Civic VX 92-95, however I am starting to wonder if the lean burn would be advantageous to my driving conditions or not. If I understand correctly the point with that vehicle is to try and keep it in lean burn which seems like it might be difficult given the terrain.

Would I be better off with a Cx model or perhaps a Geo Metro Xfi? The only requirements I have for a vehicle would be four seats and not expensive. Any insight will be appreciated!

[dcb]

An older metro is going to be notably lighter than a vx, meaning you can climb the hills with less energy spent. I bet you can work that to an advantage.

[Frank Lee]

Modded Ford Escort ZX2 in Colorado claimed over 100 mpg...

[bestclimb]

my guess if you are in the mountains you would be going from plenty of throttle to go up(out of lean burn) and DFCO or some type of coasting to go down. VX may not be the right car.

another advantage to a metro is less inertia coming back down, so less brakes.