Quote:
Originally Posted by MadisonMPG
I would think that a Civic or something with a more powerful engine would make for a much better car. Although, at 1100 pounds you're dropping 700 pounds out of the car so it may be better than one would expect.
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Any Civic engine you would put in a car of that weight would be vastly overpowered and leave a pile of efficiency on the table that would be better left on the cutting room floor. (Ooof! Mixed metaphors.)
Head back to Jack's first post and you'll note that among the short list of reasons for undertaking this project, he lists "
high fuel economy" first.
(OK, yes, "high fuel economy" is a relative term - some people might feel the ability to get
35 MPG in a 500 hp Corvette is "high" fuel economy.)
But having just read through Jack's
Mother Earth blog about his MAX car, I think it's safe to say we're dealing with someone who won't be satisfied with anything less than mileage approaching X-prize territory.
So most Civic engines won't cut it.
Maybe the VX lean burn 1.5L might (basjoos is
tentatively reporting 100 mpg (US) at 55 mph with the new-to-him VX engine in his super streamlined Aerocivic). The 1.0L Insight engine would for sure, but they're still harder to come by than the dime-a-dozen Suzuki 1.0L mills found in a few hundred thousand aging Metros that GM spat out over the course of a decade or so.