Which mass produced car is closest to a teardrop shape ?
 

One of these days, when I actually own a house with a garage, I plan to create a car that is as streamlined as I can possibly make it.

If I ever get around to something like that, I would convert the car to an electric vehicle with a small biodiesel engine as supplemental power.

All this is just a daydream and would quickly be flushed down the toilet if there was an affordable electric car offered within my budget ( poor boy budget )

So this is just a daydream, but looking at the shapes of old cars, the 1992-1995 Mazda MX-3 looks very close to an ideal tear drop shape.
The car also has a small frontal area and low weight, unlike cars such as the Trans-Am or Camaro .

This is how I would butcher an MX-3 if given the chance :

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3202/...a34a7f8340.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/...a995612f_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/...231551909f.jpg

Looks like a big red almond doesn't it ?

More like a big red badass ;).

OHhhh I have wanted to tinnker with an MX3 for SOOOO long!!

They are SUPER light weight, have a ton of aftermarket stuff, and are TINY (Less frontal area).

I was actually ABOUT to buy oone about 8 months ago for $700 :D ... but didnt :(

A neighbor in my 'hood drives one. Catches my eye every time it goes by. It does beg for the mods you so skillfully photoshopped.

I'd be worried that an angry mob of MX-3 fans would track me down and beat the crap out of me if I ever did such a thing to a car like that.

A truly beautiful design. I would have been driving one already, except that even with a four cylinder engine, the MX-3 got horrible mileage compared to a Civic. ( less than 35 MPG on the highway )

Oh - and thanks on the "skillful photoshop" comment !
As you can see it's really quite far from being "skillful " though .

How about the CRX HF? :)

-soD

I like the mx-3, but i've been confused by its high Cd and its low mpg.

Do you know the car's Cd figure off hand?

Nice photoshop work indeed...

Supposedly, the MX-3 had a Cd of .32 and .31 in GS trim.

For comparison, the '92-95 Civic hatch had a stock Cd of .31 ( While oddly enough, the Civic coupe had a higher Cd of .32 )

I have seen the MX-3 Cd figures elsewhere and think these quoted on this site are legit, but I have my doubts about the mileage figures listed.

( I notice that the site is Canadian and was wondering if the Canadian version of the MX-3 did indeed get better mileage. )

Is it a Canadian thing Metro ?? :)

Source : MX-3.com - Mazda MX-3 Precidia Specifications

( Look at the bottom section of the page )