Best base aero car?
 

I am wondering what the best base aero models are. And so easely adjusted for even better mpg, outside the prius and insight types, maybe toyota paseo, ford cougar. What are your ideas.

See the wiki link. The lower the CdA is the better.

Vehicle Coefficient of Drag List - EcoModder

Most go with geo metro, honda civic, etc... But I personally would go with a ford escort zx2 5 speed, If you never go over 55mph you can average 34mpg highway pretty easily and it can pull 5th gear at 37mph without bogging down to low. It doesn't have a good gear for 20mph if you have to do that speed in the city though.

34 MPG is not exactly very good mileage. My brand-new MINI gave me 50 MPG on a highway trip with cruise set at 55 MPH.

-soD

think about that though "Brand New" I bought this escort for $900usd its a 1999 and i trust it more for reliability and mileage than the 08 rav4 sitting in the drive. I personally am not going to take a brand new car and pull a bunch of mods to make it look bad. It would be alot cheaper to buy an old car mod it and get the same mileage

Well, yeah...circa 2012 tech will do better than circa 1998 tech. The other side of that coin is that a new MINI has a MSRP of $20,000, and a '98 Escort should be acquirable for <$4000. Then, at current gas prices, a 34-MPG Escort would burn around an extra 4c/mi relative to the MINI--that's a 400,000 mile road to "break even."

Also, the Mini is simply too short for a full boattail fairing without considerable superstructure assembly. Something like a compact wagon (Escort or other) would make a great starting point for someone with a Sawzall and not afraid to use it. (Also, are you really gonna cut up a brand new car?)

My advice: beater compact wagon+full aero+used diesel engine+MT=WIN.

(P.S.: doesen't the Mini require premium fuel? If so, push break-even out beyond the half-million-mile point.)

Remember :
It's tough to improve upon something that's already very good ;)

Besides the Prius and the Insight, the next best CdA is probably the Toyota Yaris.

OK, a 1998 Civic will get much better than 35 MPG at 55 MPH.

My 1990 CRX averaged 46 MPG over several years, with at least a couple of 50 MPG tanks in there. At 55 MPH, I'm pretty sure it was well over 50 MPG. Mine wasn't even the high-MPG HF version, which the EPA rated at 50 MPG with stops and starts and accelerations and decelerations.

35 MPG instantaneous at 55 MPH is really fairly crappy. Heck, a late-90s Vette gets close to that, and might even do better!

I'm pretty sure the Focus isn't a very aero car--the lousy MPG (if it really is 35) proves that point.

-soD

wow, a 95-03 BMW M5 is rated at .27 cd, maybe my next car :) lol