My take, and even why I am here at eco mod, is the boxer engine. The net has only fulfilled a hunch already.
If to target powerplant,(I see it as a task in the list you made) scrap the inline, and even transverse. the babbles all the way to "type of pavement" will seem to come from a ninny who doesn't know what torque for fantastic consumption is, after using a boxer with 3 mains. That applies to aerodynamics as well. A balanced drivetrain (that means for real, no counterbalancers pretending pistons and rod weight, I mean a benz crank type balance) does away with a whoooole lot of crazy theroies (crazy to me, and any long term boxer driver).
In fact to add to mainstream frustration, I am going to put a welded home made whistling in the wind steel roof rack on the sube some day, and know 40mpg is not even going to be bothered whatsoever...with 1781cc carrying it ALL. 10 gears, 15 inch wheels buzzing like monster treads and cruising behind the v8 bimmer in the 80s mph on a typical chauvinist highway.
