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Old 08-29-2009, 03:14 PM   #27 (permalink)
MetroMPG
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,527

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 54.46 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car Mirage - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 62.14 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MadisonMPG View Post
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.
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.
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Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



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