Popular Mechanics names Top 5 Retro Cars in MPG...
MOST STINGIEST
It seems a bit unfair to put a hybrid in this lineup, but the 2000 Insight was the first gas-electric hybrid on the US market, and its fuel economy is just too monstrous to ignore: 49 city, 61 highway. That's better than any production vehicle before or since, and the two-seater took home the economy title seven years running. It ran on a 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder engine that made 67 horsepower (bumped up to 72 in '05-06), assisted by a 10-kilowatt (13.4 hp) electric motor-generator with a nickel-metal-hydride battery pack. Widespread use of aluminum in the body structure helped keep weight to 1847 pounds, or 40 percent lighter than a steel-bodied vehicle of comparable size. Sure it was funky-looking, but the shape gave it a ridiculously low drag coefficient of .25, also a best for any production car besides the EV-1 or the 1935 Tatra. Alas, with peak sales around 4000 per year, the Insight was retired after 2006, allowing Prius to grab the top spot. Now it's coming back in 2009 as a five seater, with mpg in the vicinity of 40/45.
BEST NON-HYBRID
The age of the fuel injector had begun decades ago, but even by the 1980s, the Sprint didn't care. With a computer-controlled carburetor, a 48-hp, three-cylinder engine and a curb weight under 1600 pounds, the Sprint achieved 44 mpg city and 53 mpg highway, and it won the fuel economy title in 1986, '87 and '88. Suzuki engineered the car, basically an American version of 1985's mpg champ, the Suzuki SA310, and many of its basics carried through to the Geo Metro of later years (see Geo Whiz). The Sprint was available as a two-door or four-door with no change in fuel economy. A turbocharged and fuel-injected version made 70 horsepower and would zoom to 60 mph in 9.4 seconds, but mileage dropped to 37/43. The base model, with a sticker price around five grand, came with AM radio; load it up and you got FM too, plus a cassette tape player and a digital clock.
ONE FOR THE TRUCK LOVERS
The iconic VW Rabbit diesel was the mileage champ for five straight years beginning with 1978, peaking at 34/40 for the 1982 model with a 4-speed manual transmission. Designed and built in the U.S., the Rabbit Pickup was what its name suggested—a Rabbit with the rear seats removed and replaced by a 6-ft. cargo bed. It had unibody construction and front-wheel drive (the only pickup sold then that had either until the Dodge Rampage arrived) and weighed just over a ton. Featuring the same 1.6-liter fuel-injected Rabbit engine making 52 hp and 72 lb.-ft. of torque, it got 32 mpg city and 35 mpg highway—tops for any truck since the EPA started keeping track. It also had an “E light" on the dash, which alerted the driver when to shift gears for optimum economy. The 1980 Izusu diesel pickup got comparable mileage, but the Rabbit gets the nod for its slightly better city numbers. But goodness knows, this was no heavy highway hauler—it certainly wouldn't compete with these 2009 full-sized pickups. Its tow rating is not available; perhaps it was never determined. But with a 1200-lb. payload, a 0-60 time of 17.8 seconds, an 85-mph top speed it wasn't what you'd choose to hook to the jail cell window for an old-fashioned prison break.
GEO WHIZ: GEO METRO XFi
A couple of years ago we were calling automotive experts around the country to ask whether you could build a 100-mpg 4-passenger vehicle with today's technology. A great many experts said something like, “Sure. Take a Geo Metro, rip out everything but the seats, cover the wheel well openings and detune the engine for a top speed of 50 and you're there." We never tested that proposition, but there's no doubting the Metro's economy—the model's seven mpg titles are matched only by the Insight. The Metro XFI was especially frugal, winning five straight years beginning with the 1990 model that achieved 43 mpg city and 51 mpg highway with a 5-speed manual. Many owners reported highway economy over 60 mpg, and the 10.6-gallon tank was good for 500 or more miles between fill-ups. Like the Insight and the Sprint, the Metro featured a 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder engine. The Metro's powerplant weighed only 134.5 pounds, thanks to numerous aluminum components, and made 49 hp and 58 lb.-ft. of torque. But since the car weighed just over 1600 pounds, it had descent zip. It was reliable, affordable—base msrp was $5995—and with the rear and passenger seats down, you could carry along a 5-ft. foosball table. Game on.
ORIGINAL CHAMP, STILL CONTENDING
This is the only vehicle on our list that you can still get with that new-car smell. The Civic has been EPA champ six times, in three different decades, beginning with the Civic CVCC in 1975, the first year the EPA kept track. Perhaps no other model in U.S. history has such a consistent record for fuel-efficiency and reliability in one package. The most economical so far was the 1986-'87 Civic coupe HF, that delivered 42 mpg city and 51 mpg highway but lost the title in those years to the Chevy Sprint. The thriftiest yearly champ was the 1989 Civic CRX HF, a two-seater that got 41 mpg city and 50 mpg highway with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder and 5-speed manual transmission. Perhaps more relevant is the economy of the four-passenger Civic sedan; since 1986 the mid-grade model has never achieved less than 24 mpg city and 29 mpg highway, and in the last decade the figures are 25 mpg city and 33 mpg hwy and better. In the late 1970s, four passengers in a CVCC meant bruised knees for those in the backseat, but highway economy was about 40 mpg. The 2008 Civic has a spacious backseat, the usual expected amenities, and an umpteen-star safety rating. Our mileage on a recent highway trip? About 40 mpg. And that wasn't even the hybrid version.
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Later, QD.
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