What factory car is the steady state, 65 mph, MPG champion?

[Hersbird]

So going down the 2018 EPA raw data on fuel economy, looking at the unadjusted old style highway numbers (which still involves acceleration and deceleration and should be beatable steady state long haul), there are a few good numbers in there.

BMW 328d auto is 64.8 MPG
Cruze (hatchback or sedan) 1.6d manual is 77 **non-hybrid champ***
Cruze 1.6d auto is 70.2
Jaguar XE 2.0d auto is 63.2
Mirage auto is 64.4 **non hybrid, non diesel new champ**
Mirage G4 auto is 61.7
Prius c is 64.0
Fusion hybrid is 62.4
Sonata hybrid is 64
Camry hybrid LE is 71.8 (the XLE/SE drop to 64.5 for some reason)
Prius is 71.6
Prius eco is 77.8
Accord hybrid is 69.5
Ioniq is 74.9
Ioniq blue is 79.1 ***this is the champ, new car***
Kia Niro FE auto is 66.2

Now going back to 2001 and looking at the same test
Golf, Beetle, or Jetta TDI manual was 62.9 mpg
Prius was 57.9
Insight was 87.4 ****clearly the best ever****
Civic HX manual was 56.0

If you wanted to go older than 2001 in 1995
1995 Honda VX was 72 mpg *best non-diesel, non-hybrid I could find*
Swift was 63
Ferrari F50 gets 14 *best at something*

I think this should make the G1 the best but then again it is optimized from the factory. I wonder if any of the others would beat it with a few tweaks.

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/download.shtml

[19bonestock88]

Sounds like you could probably mod a Cruze diesel to just about match FE numbers of G1 Insight but it would be far quicker and more comfy...

[Ecky]

Physics pretty much dictates the G1 Insight will win unless you can get ahold of a VW XL1 or ride a fared motorcycle. 1850lbs, 0.25cd from the factory, small frontal area, and a 40% thermally efficient engine from the factory. Diesel has more energy per gallon but is often also correspondingly more expensive. Electricity prices vary making cost per mile a wash in some areas and BEVs have much higher upfront costs.

G1 isn't necessarily the right car for everyone but I like mine.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Physics pretty much dictates the G1 Insight will win unless you can get ahold of a VW XL1 or ride a fared motorcycle. 1850lbs, 0.25cd from the factory, small frontal area, and a 40% thermally efficient engine from the factory. Diesel has more energy per gallon but is often also correspondingly more expensive. Electricity prices vary making cost per mile a wash in some areas and BEVs have much higher upfront costs.

G1 isn't necessarily the right car for everyone but I like mine.

Agreed, but somebody needs to make a new version. It's hard to even find manual cars anymore. GM needs to bring back the EV1 molds and then put manual and high efficient power plant. Maybe the first diesel electric plugin.



EDIT: I just looked up the new 2019 Honda Insight and on my table above it comes in at 72.6 MPG which is pretty solid for an otherwise normal car, basically a Prius from Honda.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

That's what I was wondering for an G1 Insight. But sounds like a bone stock diesel Cruze will do close. I suppose nobody is modding them up much yet being under warranty and all. EPA says the 2018 manual is 52 mpg highway vs the Insight at 59 mpg (under the current test, not the old test in the 2000's) Diesels often beat the EPA test though while the hybrids are optimized for it (or the test is optimized for hybrids). Then the problem now is diesel here is $3.09 a gallon and regular is $2.58/gal so a bunch of that would be lost in cost per mile.

Nothing beats the pure electric in cost per mile as pointed out especially here as we have about $0.06 per Kwh electricity. Just the range doesn't make them a good Montana highway car.

The Cruze diesel is a good, modern choice. The Insight also beats the EPA - in fact today I put over 100 miles of stop-n-go hard driving delivery trips of 9 miles or less on the Insight and still managed over 65 MPG.

Like you said, the Cruze diesel also has to factor in the more expensive cost of gasoline. The Insight's advantage is that it is simple to work on compared to today's modern cars, while the Cruze offers more creature comforts and practical use for more than two people, at the cost of a few MPG.

I've always wondered how a Gen 1 Insight would do if fitted out with a 1.0L Earth Dreams (Honda's newest technology) + lean burn and a lithium battery from the factory. I'd bet on 100 MPG EPA ratings for that.

[live4soccer7]

I can tell you that the vx will do about 45mpg overall in the winter and 55-63mpg in the summer. This will vary a little depending on the kind of driving, but it loves it around 35-55mph. On the flats you'll be pressed to get it above 65 (in lean burn) unless there is a slight downhill or tail wind. Usually on the generally flat stuff I will be at 60-65 (lean burn). It'll go faster, but you'll get out of lean burn (instantly down to 30mpg) in order to get it to go faster unless you're going downhill or have a tailwind. At 60-65mph you'll get right about 50mpg. This is a 100% stock vx from 92, driving normal (no PnG), no aero mods etc... I have been driving mine for 8 years and it hasn't wavered from these numbers one bit.

I love the vx. If you have an opportunity to get one I would choose one. They are cheap, easy to work on, not much ever goes wrong (in my 8 years of ownership), there are TONs of parts available off of other hondas. Mine has 300k on it and still runs well. I'm sure if it had a rebuilt engine, I would probably see a slight increase in power/mpg but I wouldn't expect much honestly.