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Madact · 08-03-2014, 01:33 PM

Greetings all!

As per the title, I hail from Australia. Currently driving a 90s Toyota Camry wagon that gets about 9 litres to the 100 (around 26 mpg to you USA folk) on the open road, so no great shakes.

Looked into acquiring a Honda Insight ZE1 recently (just moved further from work, increasing my commute from 6km to about 40) but apparently the red tape in this country won't let me have one unless it goes through a many 10s of thousand dollars certification proceedure (a once off for the model) and I can convince a garage to become an official 'compliancer' for them as well, after which anyone would be able to import them for a small compliancing cost (eg. change the headlight bulbs and wiper blades and add an 'unleaded fuel only' sticker, which seems to be it for most cars that have gone through this process). So... nope.

Plan B: I happen to own a Subaru Fiori (aka 700 / Rex / Sherpa) which has some potential, especially contemplating a chop top, laid back windshield and some serious aero improvements at the rear (and possibly some bigger wider tyres - it's been off the road a while for a minor prang in a situation where it REALLY shouldn't have lost grip). The thing has a 700cc engine, weighs next to nothing, and already (last driven a few years back) gets in the ballpark 5l to the 100 (45-ish mpg) if memory serves correctly. Not sure about taking on another project at the moment, but I'm curious how far it could go..

Other relevant interests include:
HPV and hybrid (of the human power - electric sort) design & construction
CFD / FEA analysis
Model aircraft
Computer programmer (by profession)

08-03-2014, 01:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
Madact EcoModding Apprentice Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Adelaide, Australia Posts: 120 Emerald - '97 Honda Civic CXi 90 day: 40.13 mpg (US) Thanks: 53 Thanked 53 Times in 32 Posts	Hi from down under! Greetings all! As per the title, I hail from Australia. Currently driving a 90s Toyota Camry wagon that gets about 9 litres to the 100 (around 26 mpg to you USA folk) on the open road, so no great shakes. Looked into acquiring a Honda Insight ZE1 recently (just moved further from work, increasing my commute from 6km to about 40) but apparently the red tape in this country won't let me have one unless it goes through a many 10s of thousand dollars certification proceedure (a once off for the model) and I can convince a garage to become an official 'compliancer' for them as well, after which anyone would be able to import them for a small compliancing cost (eg. change the headlight bulbs and wiper blades and add an 'unleaded fuel only' sticker, which seems to be it for most cars that have gone through this process). So... nope. Plan B: I happen to own a Subaru Fiori (aka 700 / Rex / Sherpa) which has some potential, especially contemplating a chop top, laid back windshield and some serious aero improvements at the rear (and possibly some bigger wider tyres - it's been off the road a while for a minor prang in a situation where it REALLY shouldn't have lost grip). The thing has a 700cc engine, weighs next to nothing, and already (last driven a few years back) gets in the ballpark 5l to the 100 (45-ish mpg) if memory serves correctly. Not sure about taking on another project at the moment, but I'm curious how far it could go.. Other relevant interests include: HPV and hybrid (of the human power - electric sort) design & construction CFD / FEA analysis Model aircraft Computer programmer (by profession)