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Im 41 years old and had a passion for speed for many years. Supercharged 500CI motors in old style American iron. Then I got into sport bikes and turbo'd my Hayabusa. All the while I also had my daily driver, my ZX3 Focus, which I hypermiled for fun. I currently own a 2004 GTO, with plenty of high horsepower mods, but I find myself bored...to many years of to much power. So I decided Im going in a different direction and rid myself of the GTO ( not for fuel efficiency or to save the plant, though thats a great out come of this venture ) and to find a new challenge with high FE cars.

I have been on this site for many years and Im now stuck with the problem of "what car to pick".

I recently test drove the CRZ, nice car, but the mpg concerns have me holding off. The Prius would seem to be the best candidate, but I just cant get past the 4 doors ( I have no children nor a reason for a large 4 door car ). Smart Car, Mini, Prius, CRZ, Insight, Civics, Yaris, and now I see the Scion IQ is coming.

The LEAF is REALLY what I want, but to often I have to drive 200 mile days for work...so it just isnt practical.

Has anyone here been in my predicament? How did you decide? Price is not a concern, though the Tesla isnt very practical for winter driving in Michigan.

thanks for any advice

I've been there. My sister got me into gas mileage when she use to let me drive her Saab Sonett III when I was in high school. It had a 2.0 liter V4 and weighed in around 1900 lbs.

Cars before finding MPG's

70 1/2 Z/28 350ci/350HP.
67 Buick Rivera 430 Ci 360 HP
65 GTO convertible, 389 Tripower, 4 sp 360 HP

Then I found the need for better gas mileage when I was paying $3.00 a gallon for premium back in 80-81 as a poor college kid with the GTO.

Got an 81 2.1 liter Volvo 242 Turbo.
Then moved up to an 86 2.3L Volvo 740 Turbo.
740 totaled by a drunk driver and I replaced it
with an 87 740 Turbo Wagon.
Picked up the 960 for dedicated highway use in 2005
since the 740 had over 300K miles on her.
Got rid of the 87 740 with 370K miles for the 2010 Prius.

When the 960's time comes, I intend to replace it with something the does better than 40 mpg on the highway. With me averaging less than 6,000 highway miles a year, she still has a few more years left in her.

Im 41 years old and had a passion for speed for many years. Supercharged 500CI motors in old style American iron. Then I got into sport bikes and turbo'd my Hayabusa. All the while I also had my daily driver, my ZX3 Focus, which I hypermiled for fun. I currently own a 2004 GTO, with plenty of high horsepower mods, but I find myself bored...to many years of to much power. So I decided Im going in a different direction and rid myself of the GTO ( not for fuel efficiency or to save the plant, though thats a great out come of this venture ) and to find a new challenge with high FE cars.

I have been on this site for many years and Im now stuck with the problem of "what car to pick".

I recently test drove the CRZ, nice car, but the mpg concerns have me holding off. The Prius would seem to be the best candidate, but I just cant get past the 4 doors ( I have no children nor a reason for a large 4 door car ). Smart Car, Mini, Prius, CRZ, Insight, Civics, Yaris, and now I see the Scion IQ is coming.

The LEAF is REALLY what I want, but to often I have to drive 200 mile days for work...so it just isnt practical.

Has anyone here been in my predicament? How did you decide? Price is not a concern, though the Tesla isnt very practical for winter driving in Michigan.

thanks for any advice

Hmm. I didn't have your predicament. I got the Prius because because it fit my price range and I knew it'd get good mileage even when driven "normally" as it does for many of it's "family" miles. I only have and tested a II so I can't say how nice a IV or V would be.

Given that it's just you, with 100% hypermiling, I think you might want to look for:
- 1st gen Insight - crazy numbers for hypermilers
- A manual Honda Civic Hybrid II - great on the highway
- a 2nd-gen Prius - more of a hypermiler car than the 3rd gen

Given your budgetary freedom, for hypermiling with refinement you could look at a Lexus or Lincoln hybrids or Audi and BMW diesels. There's at least one poster getting great results from a Lexus hybrid and Lexus will soon be releasing a new Prius-like hybrid). Both Audi and BMW have diesels that have had decent reviews from Wayne.

If you want something entertaining and engaging to drive efficiently, get a hybrid. Preferably a stick-shifted one.

I love my first-gen Insight. It's a lot like a CR-Z, but designed around maximum fuel efficiency.

If you're still in to modifying your cars to better meet your goals, the first-gen Insight is great. The high-voltage components are well understood by the community, and you can add batteries, grid-charge the one that comes with the car, control the electric motor independently of the gas engine, etc. If only it were a two-mode hybrid, I would definitely upgrade the batteries and do most of my driving without gas. Even though I'm only getting 75mpg (which is much lower than most Insight owners at this particular site), I love my Insight.

Find a cherry low miles 05 or 06 gen I Insight. Hands down winner for what you are wanting. The Gen I is the Hayabusa of fuel efficiency.

Find a cherry low miles 05 or 06 gen I Insight. Hands down winner for what you are wanting. The Gen I is the Hayabusa of fuel efficiency.

as a matter of fact thats is the one car I have been lusting after for the past few years. It seems to be the thoroughbred of FE. I didnt know about all the mods that can be done. That will certainly keep my interest. I would only get a manual trans. I havent driven an auto in over 10 years.

Well Ill keep looking for a Gen I, they have been tough to find. It appears the Gen I really hold their value and finding a manual is very hard. Im guessing they were not sold or promoted well in MI? only smog related states?

I have restored several cars over the years and enjoy keeping things in tip top shape, so I should be able to keep a Gen I going a long time. I got 250,000 miles out of my ZX3 Focus on the stock clutch LOL...hypermiling saves wear and tear on parts.

They sold badly EVERYWHERE. I got mine on eBay, but you can also try a Craigslist search engine, or the InsightCentral classifieds.

Try http://vast.com — that's how I found mine 2.5yrs ago. Expand your search to nationwide. Mine was actually in Portland.

That site is actually an aggregate site of sorts. It scrapes ads from a lot of different sites. I recommend sorting by listing date and being prompt about calling on any interesting ones as soon as you see them. It took me a good 1.5mo of nearly daily phoning on listings before I finally managed to call on one that wasn't already spoken for.

Good luck in your search!!

They sold badly EVERYWHERE. I got mine on eBay, but you can also try a Craigslist search engine, or the InsightCentral classifieds.

And they are getting even more rare. We lose a few every year to collisions, wear and tare, and just neglect. Preserving one is a mission, in my mind:)

I've been there. My sister got me into gas mileage when she use to let me drive her Saab Sonett III when I was in high school. It had a 2.0 liter V4 and weighed in around 1900 lbs.

.

Ahhh yes, the Sonett. Really a cool car, sporty looking and a great handling car, but also a stellar MPG machine as well.(for it's day). The V4 was actually a 1.7 Liter, and was manufactured by Ford. In fact, the original "mustang" concept car had this engine in it.

Titan, i have to agree with the Gen 1 insight.