ZX2 - 507 miles, 45.6mpg

[nemo]

Originally Posted by BabyDiesel

Right? The irony is incredible. Regulations and increased weight have taken a lot of economy gains that are possible. I'd love to see what kind of economy an older vehicle could get if it had a newer heart transplant.

For reference, me and Tygen1 got well into the 50s with our ZX2s. I believe we are the only ones to ever accomplish this with this model, and it took quite a bit of modification and driving technique.

I believe your sedan had a different 2.0 designed for more low-end power, and could have done better than our ZX2s!

My wife had a ZX2 bought new and had 75k miles on it when totaled. Lifetime average was 24.4 MPG and most of that was Short trips (under 5 miles) with AC and no mods. The highest recorded was 45.3 MPG. IMO the largest drawback to higher mileage was the final drive ratio always seemed like it needed another gear.

In contrast her Fiesta's life time average is currently at 32.9 MPG with a high fill of 51.4 MPG. It could also benefit a tad higher final drive. Both cars had / have manual transmissions.

It is fun to speculate how much better mileage is related to the engine changes and how much to other details.

[thad2000]

That actualy was one of my more probable thoughts (alignment) when this happened. Although, I doubt it could be responsible for the 2 to 5 mpg increase. I hadn't considered the summer angle.
As for aged cars I still remember being amazed when the geo metro/ suzuki swift came out. 45 to 50 mpg... wow.. still really unmatched.