Hi, one of my cars is an old 80s Ford Fiesta. It was never sold in the US, so here's a picture of one for reference:
This is a small B-segment car with a carbureted 1.1 liter 50 hp pushrod engine. It weighs in at 780 Kg and has a very poor .Cd of 0.40.
One of the things I never really understood completely is why this car coasts so poorly in neutral when compared to other cars I have owned or driven. It makes the car kind of uncomfortable for an hypermiler (i.e. it needs constant shifting)...
For example a Honda Jazz (Fit for you in the US) weighs only 980 Kg and coasts so much better.
The brakes aren't dragging. And the tires are 155/70 R13 Michelin Energy, hence eco-friendly... When I push it by hand it rolls easily.
Hypotheses:
- It's just too light to coast well.
- Ford uses very heavy gearbox oil when compared to Honda?
- Aerodynamics hurt it significantly even at slow speeds.
- All of the above combined?
I would like to hear from Metro owners for instance. They are light, I think. How well do they coast?
Is there any simple and cheap modification that would help the car coast better (it's an historic vehicle, I don't want to butcher it)? If I could make coast better it would become more comfortable and I would then drive it more...
Thanks!