Quote:
Originally Posted by d0sitmatr
the chevette was a surprisingly good economic car though, most especially for its time. I had a friend who didnt drive it very conservatively and still managed to pull high 30's hwy
and the prizm/toyo is rated for 37 hwy so 40 is way easy to achieve. I dont know enough about spectra's so I cant really say anything about those.
I think your right though, in most respects, any car that is rated for the mid 30's is pretty easy to achieve 40mpg with a few simple changes with the wheel nut mod alone  |
Yeah, I forgot to mention that 86 Chevette was a slushbox (AT). It had TC lock clutch which helped highway but city mileage wasn't good at all. Mid to upper twenties was the norm. In hindsight the hatch glass seems to steep to support attached flow. All these aero handicaps is why I thought it a particularly noteworthy data point.
The Spectra is Kia. Basically, a Korean knock off of the Corolla. It replaced after my Prizm when totalled in 03. Specs were similar overall. The drive train wasn't as good. 16v 1.8L but gappy power band. Lower gearing so cruising 60 mph in 5th meant 3k rpm! Good for pulling grades with cruise engaged but not ideal for economy. Still, keep the speed down (er, steering nut tight) and it was easy on the wallet. A good value but if I did it over I'd pay extra for Corolla (Chevy dropped Prizm - sigh).
Cheers
KB