I think it's an interesting mental exercise. Maybe not for a grocery-getting 19mpg Excursion, but for their close cousin: the Humvee...the evil that started it all...
How could Humvees be modified to return better mileage. I bet 90% of the time they are just tooling around the desert, with the rest spent smashing down gates and outrunning terrorist potshots. I believe the military would be heavily interested in fuel efficiency...it lessens the logistics of supply convoys.
I'm thinking high psi tires, overdrive transmission, regeared axles, TDI (if it isn't already implemented), curved body panels (which would probably help deflect bullets/shrapnel), and a severe weight cutting regimen (kevlar instead of steel?)...
Composite HMMWV
- LostCause