Tell me about THE FE cars

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Werd. The older a car is the more likely it shared a platform with plenty of other cars, and they tend to get scrapped in greater and greater numbers after a couple decades. A 70s or below vehicle may be kinda hard, but there are tons of 80s at the junks. VWs/Audis almost have a two decade parts window to work with, depending on the part.

[Compaq888]

I'm never getting VW/Audi.

The only thing i like is honda/Acura and toyota/lexus.

My best choices are civic, 05+ rsx, lexus Is300, and toyota supra.

[mexellent]

Im not looking to buy, Ive already got a Honda fit on the way. I just want to see whats out there. Just because you already ordered doesnt mean you cant look at the menu.

=]

[Peakster]

Any cool 80's cars?

If you want something that's great on gas and looks like an exotic vehicle, I suggest a 4 cylinder Pontiac Fiero (1984-1988). It was the most FE car Pontiac made before the Sprint/Firefly

I had a 1985 model with a 92 hp 2.5L engine 3 speed automatic that got 37 mpg @ 55 mph! The car also has no problem with taking corners with higher speeds because of its mid-engined layout. I drove my Fiero for 2.5 years before an SUV ended up on top of my hood (very safe cars in a crash btw)! If you can find a 4 banger Fiero with a manual transmission, (they even made high FE transmissions in 1984) 40+ mpg on the highway, and 45+ mpg in the city (using hypermiler techniques) would be very possible.

The only downside to the Fiero is that the Coefficient Drag is poor: 0.37 and 0.41 with the headlights up! This is because the front bumper rams a lot of air under the car, The wheel wells are very large for the P185 70 R13 tires, and the rear window is a straight drop which really disturbs the air going over the rear of the car.

[Compaq888]

Originally Posted by mexellent

Im not looking to buy, Ive already got a Honda fit on the way. I just want to see whats out there. Just because you already ordered doesnt mean you cant look at the menu.

=]

The majority of the places take your menu away after you order.

The honda fit is a good decision. Just the fact that 5th is a little short and it has agressive gearing in it, that sucks.

[JanGeo]

FIT didn't seem to get great mpg 33-38!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by mexellent

Any cool 80's cars? What about 70's?

Ideally, you want a '96+ model so you can plug in a ScanGauge.

If older than 96, You at least need something with fuel injection and a vehicle speed sensor so you can add a MID.

No matter what you drive, you likely won't get great FE without a fuel consumption display.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

my favorit car from the 80's is the 1984 crx 1.3 in 85 it became the HF with rather high gearing, and a 1.5L 55-ish horse power engine, it's so light, and the engine is tuned for tourqe, not horse power, so every bit of power produced is in the range where you will use it.
pre 1984 would be any civic hatch back made, leaning more twards the civic FE hatch back that was suposed to get in the low 50's for mileage (I think) but the normal civic hatch backs (stock form) are still getting in the low to mid 40's, and with updates should be able to get high 40's.
early 80's vw diesel rabbits, just buy the tools you need for setting the timing your self to make sure it was done right, it was either in 83 or 84 that vw started offering, as an option, a turbo on their diesel, if you find one, buy it, same mpg, more power, or I belive vw still uses the same bolt lay out for their engines to the present day (altho the 2004-newer have drive by wire) so any other engine should bolt right in.

of course if you want a nice car for mileage, get a honda n600, (comes with a 600cc twin that gets 50-70mpg) then get an engine from something like a cbr600rr (fuel injection) find someone who can regrind the cam to less agressive opening, and drop it in the 1,200 pound 4 seater car.

[BumblingB]

What I've SECRETLY been looking for and never mentioned it ANYWHERE at ANYTIME except to the wife.......what I would love to find......a LOW MILEAGE Chevette Diesel!!! That would be the perfect car to go in the stable with the Insight and Metro.

You need to define: inexpensive. I just picked up a Metro for $1000USD (paid too much but helped a relative or two). Dumped another couple hundred bucks into it for new synthetic fluids all around, belts, tires, racing disc hubcaps & tune up stuff and I'd be proud to drive it anywhere no matter how much people laugh at me in the funny little clown car.

If around $8000USD or so is inexpensive I'd go for an Insight. Of course if you are patient you could find a VX Civic or even a nice old HF CRX for much less but more than a Geo Metro.

[jolt-tsp]

I never got below 38 with my Civic HX back when it was stock, even with track miles. Over 40 was the norm. I would certainly recommend it. An HX motor and HX wheels on a CX hatch would be even better. I think that would basically make an EK VX