Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
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...
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Is that necessarily so? Consider the CRX, with decent fuel economy (~45 mpg the way I drove mine) from around 1500 CC engine and 2000 lbs weight.
Even though you have perhaps a larger engine than strictly needed, it seems as though the major reductions in body weight and CdA would more than compensate, much the way that Corvette owners reportedly get into 30s for highway mpg.
Then there are reliablity & availability issues. I don't know firsthand about the Metro, but it would be hard to beat Honda on either.