Was your 1st car good w mpg's???

[Arragonis]

Apart from a couple of "play" cars (classics mainly) my every day cars have usually been ones with economy in mind. I described my first (Austin Metro 1.0) in the "Rose Colored Goggles" thread, but it was cheap - group 1 insurance (the lowest group), 45 MPG daily which when you're 17 and make the valves bounce in every gear isn't bad.

On the couple of occasions where I had larger (for me) cars such as a Honda Accord or a Ford Mondeo for every day use I felt limited in how much I could use them by a fear of the cost.

They were company cars, not my choice, and they stayed unused on the drive in my spare time. This was more a mental fear than a real one, the alternative car (in this case the GFs Escort) was not much more economical. My first time filling the Mondeo cost me £35 which was a good £10-15 more than my previous Peugeot 205 ever took. And that £35 took me fewer miles.

When I did swap the Accord for a Diesel Rover 220 (~50MPG imp, 0-60 10.5 secs in 1997) I was finally able to use the car more or less as much as I liked....

...just in time to get married, move to Scotland and have to hand it back

[Fat Charlie]

My first one was a 77 Sedan DeVille. I've never bought a car for mpg, this one I got for the power and cargo space. The last car I bought was a 96 Suzuki Esteem, which I am proud to say I hypermiled even though I didn't know what that was. It was rated 31/37 (33) and I was getting 42 out of it.

[old redneck]

My first car was a 1960 ford falcon 4 dr I inherited kind of. It got about 28 mpg running flat out when the carb hadn't vibrated in two pieces, then 10-15 with the 144 engine and 2 speed auto. Got a 57 olds super 88 when i got married, came with the wife, her father had bought it for her. It got about 17-20 at hightway speeds. 61 Olds I hated as her father sold the 57 while I was in VietNam. Then a 62 1/2 Ford Galaxie 500 XL in 71. Don't know about mileage on it, gas was 24-28 cents a gallon. several beat up cars after that. Bought a really nice 76 Pontiac Astre wagon in 76, it got arounf 28. Then in 77 bought a junker 72 Vega wagon and played with it, had the 3 speed opel tranny and 1 barrel carb with home made water injection, 2 liter bottle, aquarium hose and valve to a vacuum port on the carb it got 44 mpg. had to change the rear spark plug every 150 mi or so, did a re ring on that cylendar in my front yard for $20.00. Now I have a 91 lincoln towncar with 230,000 mi that gets 24 mpg on the hiway, a 91 jeep cherokee sport with 225,000 mi that gets about 18, and my DD a 92 suzuki swift gt I bought for 300 and have spent 1400 on fixing that gets 37+ around town and on the road. I just pulled my 10 ft boat to Arkansas to my dad's with it and took 12 gal of gas in a boat tank in the back and averaged 35.4 for the round trip. Never had the boat over 75 and only hit 80 once on the way home. I still haven't forgiven my dad for not letting me get my dream car when I was 16, A 53 studebaker 2 dr sedan someone had swapped in a 318 poly engine and had traded in at the dealer in town they wanted 350 for it and I would have NEVER sold it. He said I would have killed myself in it. Just jealous I think.

[Arragonis]

I was thinking about the costs back then. My first Metro had a 5.5 gallon tank - yeah, I know - and the challenge was to get over 200 miles to a tank. My dad ran the 1.3 version and the best he got was about 210, I got to 230 once but it did cough as it rolled onto the forecourt.

Cost wise though a £5 note would take it from 1/3 to full on the gauge, £7 was probably enough to brim it from empty - this was ~1985-87.

The Mondeo had a 40 litre tank but a fillup could cost £50 if it was really empty.

My last car, the Fabia, I could squeeze 50 litres into it (by venting the reserve) and the cost was ~£60-70.

Scaling the range of the Fabia to the Metro the cost seems to be round 4x as large since then. I am comparing petrol to diesel though.

[sid]

My first was a 1972 Toyota Celica sedan. It got about 32 around town and 39 on the highway the way I drove it. My second was a Corolla hatchback that got me about the same mpg. Then I got a house and started playing in rock bands and needed cargo vehicles, like trucks and vans. So, since about 1985 until last year, my vehicles have been averaging about 21 city, 25 highway. I'm now driving a much more efficient pickup, but still not getting what I got with my first two vehicles.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by sid

Then I got a house and started playing in rock bands and needed cargo vehicles, like trucks and vans.

There's an old networking saying: "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway." Cargo vehicles exist because they are the most efficient way to move a bunch of stuff, and if you have to do that then your mileage isn't anything to be ashamed of.

[old redneck]

I forgot I had a 60 model Country Squire ford wagon that was totalled by hurricane Camille. The faster you drove it the better the mpg at 75 it would get 21-22 not bad for 7 1/2 cyl it had a burned exhaust valve.

[aporigine]

The first car I owned ... my dad bought for me, and he wanted something safe, somewhat reliable as indicated by "Consumer Reports" and devoid of postadolescent coolness. So ixnay on the Firebird ... (grin) and hello to a used 1976 Olds Cutlass Supreme in that weird "fleshtone" beige. It got mmmmaybe 20mpg.
First car I bought new was a Honda CRX in '85. That returned mid-to-high 30s. It saw me through the balance of grad school and a coupla years following.

Then I got a real job and had to have an Acura Legend, the 2-door with a 5-speed. Honestly don't remember the economy on that one. i drove it gently but with emphasis on being nice to the machinery, with good mileage being a welcome consequence. I rapidly tired of that car's miserable clutch ... and replaced it with a '92 Civic VX.
THAT was the car that kicked me from ordinary "sedate driver" to rabid hypermiler. It also had an uncanny knack for educating me in California's gas formulation (oxygenation) foibles. It was a very sensitive instrument for measuring fuel energy density.
Then the pendulum swung again. Spouse (who is no longer Spouse) didn't want the VX because it had the Wrong Tranny (sigh), so she got a '96 Accord slusher and I procured me the best car I ever owned - a '98 Bim M3, four doors, five speeds, sunroof delete. ~long sigh~ I miss that car. But fry me for a porkchop if I could ever exceed 22.x mpg mixed cycle, and that was with my VX driving style transplanted intact. I blame rolling resistance, specifically of the wide gummy low-profile Michelin Pilot Sport "puppy paws" on which that divine chariot addressed the tarmac. The ownership experience ended soon after my destructive career makeover ... another story for another six-pack.

Now I am 'miling it in my rapidly-aging minimalist Poop Wgn. I am old enough now to be primarily interested in mileage machines, even if my tastes tend toward non-diesel and non-hybrids. If something to match or exceed that late great VX comes along, I will stand right up on my hind legs and pay attention. A Prius with a small gas engine, no electrics and a 6-speed manual? Mr. Toyoda? (waves frantically) Hhellloooo?
cheers apo

[Rick323]

My first "car" was a 1973 Jeep J-4000 360 quadra trac. Fuel gauge and speedo didnt' work but I'm sure it didn't get any better than 10 mpg.

Second vehicle was a 79 chevy luv, it got pretty good fuel mileage. At the same time I had a 86 Yamaha xt 350 that got 65 mpg without trying.