You know what would rock...
 

...a 2dr Yaris with a Metro XFI engine and tranny in it!!

I really like the way those little Yaris's look, but the millage doesn't seem so great according to the fed website. If one could stuff the guts of a Metro into the shell of a Yaris, that would be really awesome!

Anyway, I know it's not possible, but just thought I'd dream out loud.

Better yet... take the above dream car and convert it to Nat Gas!! Not sure if you lose mpg with the conversion, but if not, that'd be sweet. 2+ bucks a gallon for NG at 50+ mpgs. That'd rock!

It's definitely possible, :p

Find one with a blown engine and do it!

I'd prolly just have a custom tranny with HF like gearing made

Hate to be a downer, but a swap like that wouldn't be smog legal. Atleast in any CARB states, the engine has to be the same year or newer....

That would be nice, but would the XFi engine and tranny even be capable of pulling the Yaris out of its tracks?

Yaris is a fine car. The numbers from the gov only tell part of the tale. It's not unheard of to get mpgs into the 40s. Only reason I didn't get the Yaris was because 2006 was its inaugural year and I wanted something with a little more space so I settled for the xA.

OK, 50+ mpg may be a stretch but with some massive modding and smarter driving, it is still in the realm of possibilities.

Hello,

The Yaris 2-door hatchback with manual transmission is the highest MPG non-hybrid car sold at the moment. EPA Highway is 41, IIANM -- my xA's current EPA Highway is just 34mpg. I'll bet the Yaris would be pretty easy to get to 50mpg.

Neil - FYI, the EPA currently shows the smart fortwo as the highest non-hybrid highway mileage (41) - Most and Least Fuel Efficient Cars

Yaris is listed as 36 hwy for the manual transmission.

Given that the smart is burdoned with an automagic, you'll be lucky to get 41. As for the yaris w/ stick, you'll easily do 25 - 50% more than 36.

yaris with a metro motor .. SLOW as heck.. but it may work , after all i saw a 10 hp diesel ina metro and it did 50mpg.. but a yais is 1200 lbs more than d the 1800 lbs metro..

However yes EPA on a Yaris 5speed is 36mpg, however, I bet you can pull 43-45 from it with hypermiling, I get 35mpg in my chevy colorado pickup its rated 25 mpg..

Definitely a handicap, yup.

Though the (not necessarily accurate) "MPG Estimates from Drivers Like You" portion of fueleconomy.gov shows 9 fortwo owners reporting an average of 37.7 combined, and the car has a 36 mpg combined rating.

Model 1 Vehicle Characteristics

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Back to the OP's topic... a 49 hp motor in the Yaris would work fine. It'd have a worse power to weight ratio than the original 40 hp diesel smart fortwo though, which got to 100 km/h in somewhere around 20 seconds.

I could live with that. (But I'm used to sub 20 hp peak power in the 2070 lb ForkenSwift).