What's quick with good mpg?

Maybe a stupid question...

Have owned a couple of Yanks recently, a 5.0 V8 and 3.8 V6, starting to get tired of the 20mpg and associated fuel bills. What's the best way to get good performance without pushing the mpg too low? Is there a way to do this? I'm not sure if a small engine with a turbo is any more efficient than a large engine without? What's the best I can hope for whilst still getting in the region of 200bhp+? Can't afford anything new and fancy though (e.g. duel fuel and what have you).

Cheers Dan

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Something that doesn't weigh 2 tonnes with 100 odd horses.

Reply to
Doki

Yeah, should have mentioned before... not a big fan of small cars (hatches) so really looking at 2 door (but 4 seat) coupes or saloons. Just to make it even less possible to get good mpg :-)

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You're going to struggle to better US cars of the 80s for economy vs. engine size/torque, I'm afraid. My old Cadillac did 27mpg. I think my 3.0 Supra does 15-23, but rarely more.

Quick, fun and economical? Mk II Golf GTI 1.8. Large and all of those things? God knows. Lexus maybe?

Richard

Reply to
Richard Kilpatrick

calibra/cavalier turbo?

204 bhp they aint exactly slow plenty of potential for more power as well :)
Reply to
Rob

Diesel, obviously. There are any number of ~200bhp derv lumps around these days.

Then you're screwed :)

Reply to
Nom

Fiat Coupe? 220BHP std, high 20s combined - low 30s on a run. 4 usable seats, unlike it's GTV counterpart.

A
Reply to
Adam M

Um.. new and fancy I guess, but I have an stock 03 Astra GSi. 2ltr Turbo - plenty quick quoted as 200 horses.

Fuel economy is ~20mpg for me though (according to the trip computer). Worst I have had is 16mpg for trip to York and back (140 miles) - but I was enjoying the drive a tad.

So, if fuel economy is your bag - don't go for it :)

Mind you - I guess it depends how you drive it - but what is the point of having a turbo if you are not going to make it whistle....

------------------------------------------------ "We are all individuals" "I'm not!"

Reply to
Carl Smith

Put 100 oddly shaped horses in the back of any car and it'll weigh 2 tonnes at the very least.

Peter

-- "The truth is working in television is not very glamorous at all. I just go home on my own at night and sit alone and eat crisps."

Reply to
AstraVanMan

If that's the case - one word for you - diesel.

Now what's your budget? Also, how much power and how many mpg do you want - i.e. would you be happy with 25-30 average, raising to 35 on a gentle run, or a bit more than that?

Peter

-- "The truth is working in television is not very glamorous at all. I just go home on my own at night and sit alone and eat crisps."

Reply to
AstraVanMan

Depends how new and fancy he can't afford. An A6 2.5TDI (140bhp) can be had in nice condition and saloon guise, for around £3-4k, and you could well get a quattro for that price. They can be chipped up to 170bhp apparently. And they're very economical.

Peter

-- "The truth is working in television is not very glamorous at all. I just go home on my own at night and sit alone and eat crisps."

Reply to
AstraVanMan

The Rover 600 Ti :)

Avg 30mpg, 200bhp, 7.2s 0-60, ~140mph

That's a 2 litre engine with a turbo. I *do* reckon that turbo's are the way to go if you want decent economy. After all, driven "normally", it's a 2 litre engine. Driven "enthusiastically" (and they are lovely cars for doing that in) and you've got power equivalent to, say, a 3.0 V6. You've got the choice though, whereas if you just buy a 3.0 V6 then you've got shit economy like it or not.

Bigus

Reply to
Bigus

I should have ran a book on how long it would take someone to mention the "official car" of uk.rec.cars.modifications :-)

Yep, all true. And if you cruise at sensible speeds, they're generally much better on the motorway compared to a V6.

Peter

-- "The truth is working in television is not very glamorous at all. I just go home on my own at night and sit alone and eat crisps."

Reply to
AstraVanMan

yup turbos are they forward, drive like an old man, and its sooo economical, drive like a nutter and expect to get less to the gallon then a 5.0 litre

Reply to
Ronny

Shame that 90% of them are now well past their best.

Try an Accord 2.2 VTEC as an alternative - the Honda factory screwed their version of the car together much better than the lads in Birmingham did.

Reply to
SteveH

But they still cost real money. You can get a nice tidy Ti for a grand, years tax and ticket. Thrash it for a year, and get another.

Reply to
DanTXD

Alfa 166/164 (good money or peanuts). Choice of 4 cyl or V6.

Drive well, handle well Can be high maintenance, but with the 166, the depreciation has already happened in the last couple of years and the 164 might actually gain in value.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

I disagree. Driven correctly a 3.0V6 is just fine. You get hit when idling in traffic and when booting it. My Scorpio estate, 2.9 12v, well past it's best with 208,000 miles /and/ and auto box returned 33mpg on most Edinburgh runs - a good mix of 80mph bypass, 60mph A-road and 4 small towns. Likewise I got 28mpg from my Senator, pretty much regardless of how it was driven, as long as it wasn't all cruising.

If you want to cruise around town, screw the fancy engine, get something weird and small. If you want to drive, there's very little in it between a hard driven Turbo or 6/8 cylinder lump, and very little between a calmy driven 4 cylinder and calmly driven 6.

Even the old Cherokee 4.0 Limited I had - when new - would do 28/30 according to the trip computer, in 2WD mode (and it was usually fairly accurate) on motorway runs and good A-roads - and that should be multiplied by 1.2 to get a real UK mpg figure.

Richard

Reply to
Richard Kilpatrick

Quick and good mpg?

Lotus 7-clone with turbodiesel-engine .

Welcome to the world where 3 liters of diesel will get you 100 km far. Not that it will be comfy, but it has its charms.

A dieselpowered Messerschmidt will even keep you dry (more or less) and no more parkings dings! Not sure about the Robin Reliant but also this car (?) in dieselversion should drink fuel in the same ammounts as a Quacker bourbon.

Tom De Moor

Reply to
Tom De Moor

How about keeping the V8 and getting an LPG conversion? It won't help the mpg but it should cut the fuel cost quite a lot, for the moment anyway.

Reply to
Homer

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