Possible to make/mod a 200 MPG highway cruiser?
 

I would like to know if anyone thinks it is possible to make/modify a car to get 200 MPG on the highway.

Here is the specs:

1000 miles unrefueled range
65 MPH average speed

Other than those specs, sky is the limit.

I don't think any production car car get 200mpg @ 65mph without extreme mods. Areo to the max, carbon fiber everything, and a small engine might just do it.

something like a 80-90cc scooter could probably do it if it had an aero body built for the sole purpose of getting mileage. I don't think it would be fun to drive though being wedged into an aerodynamic body with no ventilation and no room to haul anything except yourself.

The hard part is the 200 mpg (you'd need only 5 gallons to go 1000 mi.).

The specs for the Aptera at 55 mph with a parallel hybrid diesel are 230 mpg. At 65 mph, you'd need about 1/3 more hp and would probably get less than 200 mpg. It's not mass-produced yet but you can put a deposit on one.

Do you think a geo metro 3 cylinder with maxed out aero mods would do it. I mean radical aero mods.

http://www.cosmocentral.com/post/200...0-mpg-Car.aspx

Take this and mod it even more and see what you come up with. I'm guessing the best way would be to either take a turbine engine and tune it way down or taking a really small diesel engine and working with that.

That link looks interesting, but the car designs don't look very aerodynamic. When I compare Basjoos's car with those, there are no wheel skirts, air dams, or tail cone.

Next question:

To get to 200 MPG highway, what is the most important aspect.

1) powerplant/engine/fuel
2) aerodynamics
3) hybrid design
4) transmission

you can't just get if with one of those, you can have the best powerplant in the world but if your driving the empire state building around your not gonna get 200mpg, hybrid I think is the least of our worries, because we can get by on a turbine or diesel. Tranny is third.

Since we're traveling at 65, Im gonna go with aero, followed by powerplant, then tranny, and if we're doing a hybrid, so be it.

Oh, and the link, you take that car, then aeromod it. BOOM, better mileage. or you could take that and the aptera and combine the aptera's aero with this one.

I see what your saying, combine the aptera with the powerplant in the link. Off topic a little bit, but I think the Aptera should be 2 wheels only with outriggers that come down at slow speed. How cool would that be.

Aerodynamics, transmission, then powerplant/engine/fuel in that order. You can solve backwards for parameters to figure what ya need (lmk if ya need info/pointers). Based on my offhand calcs, you're probably gonna need the smallest Metro to have a drag coefficient of ~.12-13 and the best LRR tires pumped up a bit. Then, in order for the engine to operate as efficiently as possible the top gear ratio is going to have to be dropped significantly, the engine downsized, or both. Weight won't matter much compared to aero at that speed, so your best bet is to keep all the creature comforts and concentrate of aero then gearing. Basjoos could see ~130+mpg@65mph IMO w/ a taller fifth. You can also go diesel if you wanna "cheat" since diesel has ~12% more energy per gallon than gasoline and peak engine efficiency for gas/diesel is about the same.