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Army,
I'm jealous. I also wanted an "economical performance" car, but I was interested in the carrying flexibility of a wagon too. The HHR SS wasn't quite doing it for me at the time I needed to buy, so I opted for the pocket-rocket favorite Mazdaspeed3. It's fun, for sure, and the livability with two kids (and a lakehouse 200 miles away from home) is great, but man does it love gas. I haven't had it tuned yet, but for a commuter, at commuter speeds, I'm still lucky to break 26 mpg. That's with minor, easy tweaks, mostly driving style (i.e., grandmotherly). All I need is a couple hot stomps on the go pedal and my mileage heads south quick. I currently bide my time commuting, waiting patiently for autocross and track season to start though. The car does run circles around my last modified TT. But as far as FE goes, 40mpg is a total pipedream. I'd be lucky to hit 30. We'll see what happens after a tune. Anyway, glad to see it's working out for you.
FWIW - my cousin is down at Ft. Polk too. Recently back from building bridges in Iraq.
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