Fast Car + Good MPG = Myth?

Gaygle · 20 Feb 2009 at 19:39

Janesy B said:
Not so far out, some are hitting 6k now..

??? where?

The cheapest ones i could find on autotrader/PH were £8500 :confused:

L0rdMike · 20 Feb 2009 at 19:40

My MR2 gets 40mpg is you drive with fuel econ in mind. 56mph for hours on end.

Peter Diffey · 20 Feb 2009 at 19:41

aproctor said:
MX-5 or an RX-7

EDIT: Maybe not the RX-7

I dont think MX-5's are 0-60 in around 6 seconds

Unless FI

lordrobs · 20 Feb 2009 at 19:43

mattx2 said:
something with the VAG 180bhp engine should be around those figures ie vw golf gti/seat cupra/skoda octy vrs are all around the 5k mark now

I was just about to post the same. Doesn't fit the OP's 0-60 criteria but a remap should put it in the right ball park without hitting the economy much, if at all.

Octavia vRS's are depressingly cheap now but you mention a commute along a rural bumpy road. Maybe I'm just a miserable old git but mine has been driving me mad recently with the potholes and speed bumps that seem to be breeding like rabbits at the moment. The ride is firm (as you would expect) but also pretty crashy over poor surfaces.

Ladforce · 20 Feb 2009 at 19:59

I do 80 miles round the m25 and m4 every day in my dc2 and get 41mpg average at 70mph (4k rpm). (filled up 27 litres or so last time for 3 days of travelling).

loltim · 20 Feb 2009 at 21:02

Dup said:
K20 should do 30mpg+ at decent speeds in 6th on the motorway and the the EP3 isn't bad for what they can be bought for at the moment.

Civic-R EK9 will do 30mpg+ too, afterall it's only an ickle 1.6

(book time 0-60 5.7s if you want to believe book times...)

gurusan · 20 Feb 2009 at 21:02

The Ek9 will do 30mpg but the gearing is quite short so your cruising speed will be low.

I had a b16a for a few years and it got around 25-28mpg doing 80-85 mph on the freeway. Engine speed was around 4500-4800 if I recall correctly.

Skeeter · 20 Feb 2009 at 21:06

Bike engined kit car

wez130 · 20 Feb 2009 at 21:12

[TW]Fox;13540217 said:
Your car is only 5k now? Wow thats lost value.

fair point, didn't take the value into consideration.

loltim · 20 Feb 2009 at 21:42

gurusan said:
The Ek9 will do 30mpg but the gearing is quite short so your cruising speed will be low.

I had a b16a for a few years and it got around 25-28mpg doing 80-85 mph on the freeway. Engine speed was around 4500-4800 if I recall correctly.

It'll be a legal cruising speed though

digitalwolf · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:21

Surely a hill at 50mph in 5th in an EP3 would be an epic fail?

Trick · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:30

An S2 Elise will do 0-60 in 5.5 seconds and will happily return 38mpg. An S1 with the wide ratio gear box will do that at over 40mpg.

The 111s will return over 35mpg and will hit 60 in 5.1

I think the 111r claims 4.9 and over 32 mpg.

gurusan · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:30

As much as I love the Elise, it's hardly a commuter's car is it?

Trick · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:32

gurusan said:
As much as I love the Elise, it's hardly a commuter's car is it?

The S2 Elise is a perfectly feasible every day car - there are hundreds of people on SELOC who do pretty decent commutes everyday. An Elise may be a pain to get in but once you're there it's very comfy and incredibly easy to drive. Add some sound deadening (or a cd player) and you're laughing.

gurusan · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:34

Trick said:
Add some sound deadening (or a cd player) and you're laughing.

BLASPHEMER!

oweneades · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:40

Trick said:
The S2 Elise is a perfectly feasible every day car - there are hundreds of people on SELOC who do pretty decent commutes everyday. An Elise may be a pain to get in but once you're there it's very comfy and incredibly easy to drive. Add some sound deadening (or a cd player) and you're laughing.

Erm but can you get one for 5k?

Ev0 · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:40

digitalwolf said:
As for maintenance, thats what is putting me off a Clio. Girl at work has had terrible problems with her 182's electrics.

I've had my 172 for over 4 years now, it's just ticked over 90k (60k of that by me) and it's been fine. Very cheap to run for what you get imho.

Trick · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:42

gurusan said:
BLASPHEMER!

Why? I know the Elise is all about weight but a few grammes of sound deadening and a cd player is hardly going to make a jot of difference. You can improve the power/weight by having a decent dump in the morning. I'd rather the car be a comfortable place to be than worry over a few added grammes from some creature comforts.

I've lost far more weight on my Elise than I've ever put onto it simply by replacing some of the cheap OEM parts with decent light weight 3rd party addons. New back box, alloys, discs, bolts and nuts, diffuser, battery, seats etc.

Trick · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:43

oweneades said:
Erm but can you get one for 5k?

tbh I didn't read that bit, I was answering his original question. You can get a decent enough S1 for about 8 grand which won't cost you a fortune to bring up to spec. Granted this won't be as 'comfy' as an S2 so would prolly be rulled out of most peoples shortlist for 'commuter'.

oweneades · 20 Feb 2009 at 23:50

Trick said:
tbh I didn't read that bit, I was answering his original question. You can get a decent enough S1 for about 8 grand which won't cost you a fortune to bring up to spec. Granted this won't be as 'comfy' as an S2 so would prolly be rulled out of most peoples shortlist for 'commuter'.

I was thinking S2 Elise for 5k - tell me where to sign

Personally if I were the op I would be looking first at a Clio 172 / 182 (probably the latter). As long as you get a good one it should be reliable. IIRC one thing to make sure it has had done is the camelt at ~60k.