49.4 mpg on a stock hm '99 Metro

[Scooter_man]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Just think of the great shape our country and economy would be if most people drove cars like this.


Well, when you can get a decent running and reliable vehicle for 2-grand or less with highway gas mileage as good as a hybrid, it's hard to go wrong.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: Scooter_man
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Just think of the great shape our country and economy would be if most people drove cars like this.


Well, when you can get a decent running and reliable vehicle for 2-grand or less with highway gas mileage as good as a hybrid, it's hard to go wrong.


Ah-ha. I was waiting for someone to say that. It's one of my favorite misconceptions/myths on the internet. At its core, it's a basic apples/oranges problem. A 1988 Chevy Sprint/Metro can indeed replicate Prius-like mpgs. But beyond that, the comparison is absurd. A Prius offers interior volume vastly larger than the Metro (roughly 75 cubes for the Metro and 95 for the Prius, depending upon exactly which models/years you compare), and the Prius offers nearly triple the cargo capacity of the Metro.

If all you care about is mpgs and purchase investment, and don't want modern safety features, sure, go buy an old Metro. I would not do so since the vehicle simply does not meet my transport mission demands.

Look, the quickest way to reveal one's self as being full of [you name the undesirable substance] is to blindly equate a Metro with "hybrids". Well, since the $100k+ Lexus LS hybrid is a "hybrid", are you guys comparing an old Metro to a $100k+ Lexus? ? ? Sounds silly doesn't it? It is. So is blindly comparing all "hybrids" with the Metro. . .

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: Scooter_man
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Just think of the great shape our country and economy would be if most people drove cars like this.


Well, when you can get a decent running and reliable vehicle for 2-grand or less with highway gas mileage as good as a hybrid, it's hard to go wrong.


Well, since I'm the guy who'd be DEAD right now were it not for the side curtain airbags in my late 2002 Camry, I'll certify that I'll buy a Metro the moment you can point out where the side curtains are installed. Yeah, I know, that's not a really fair comparison, but still, I think y'all can see my point. If I wanted that bare a vehicle, I'd just get a Harley and have a really good time.

 

[Scooter_man]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Ah-ha. I was waiting for someone to say that. It's one of my favorite misconceptions/myths on the internet. At its core, it's a basic apples/oranges problem. A 1988 Chevy Sprint/Metro can indeed replicate Prius-like mpgs.


Yes, that is all I said, nothing more. Please don't read more into this than was originally stated.

Sure, their not the safest cars on the road, are a true sub-compact, not a power-house, no bells & whistles, etc.

But, it fits my relatively short commuting application and is very cost-effective. While not suitable for everyone - it fits my needs.

Otherwise, no - no comparison to a modern hybrid - that is a stupid thought. If you read my earlier statement - I was only referring to MPG's.

 

[ekpolk]

No problem scooter. Perhaps I overreacted. I'm just so used to the "I know all" prognosticators who want to tell everyone who is driving a hybrid that they "should be driving" a Metro, that I'm now maybe a little too ready to react to such threads.

 

[Scooter_man]

Dude, no problem here. I've heard those arguments before. It's all good - whatever works for the individual. I often catch myself over-reacting as well - very easy to do.

The Metro's had/have their place, just like the old VW Bugs - the epitome of simplicity. Not the safest and definately not for everyone, but they got around and many enjoyed them.

I also could've/should've worded my earlier statements a little differently. All is well...

Rob

 

[Mr Nice]

People can break 60 MPG in the Civic VX

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: Scooter_man
Dude, no problem here. I've heard those arguments before. It's all good - whatever works for the individual. I often catch myself over-reacting as well - very easy to do.

The Metro's had/have their place, just like the old VW Bugs - the epitome of simplicity. Not the safest and definately not for everyone, but they got around and many enjoyed them.

I also could've/should've worded my earlier statements a little differently. All is well...

Rob



No prob, and my apologies if it looked like I was using you as an ambush shill. Funny that you mentioned the VW. I drove a 69 Beetle myself for a couple years. We have a judge here in Pensacola who still drives one (a 67). I occasionally enjoy giving him a hard time about it, asking him is his has the "side curtain airbags". His good natured (yet frightening, since he's one of our very best judges...) is something to the effect that his car has a crumple zone -- it's the car itself!

Anyway, sounds like you get it. I do not, in any way, shape or form "look down" on cars like the Metro. It's the party line doctrine guys who insist upon lumping a very small Metro and any other hybrid into the same category. Just makes no sense at all...

 

[Hermann]

Originally Posted By: ps49556n
Hmm while 49.4 mpg is nice, the 60mph avg changes the whole game. Many cars, driving on the highway at 60mph will get dramatically better mpg. I can almost double my MPG in my wrangler 4.0 when I am cruising a highway at 60mph.

What kind of milage does this thing get going 75+mph???


If lots more folks drove 60 instead of 70+ we would be sending lots less money to the unfriendlies. At a real 62MPH my scanguage reads 32 MPG in a un aero truck.

 

[Vikas]

>> What kind of milage does this thing get going 75+mph???

Come on, we are talking about 3-cyl Metro here. You should try to find the 0-75 times for Metro

- Vikas

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Curious Kid
Newer vehicles have to contend with stricter emission standards, especially NOx. This curtails lean burn conditions, like during cruise loads, keeping the standard catalytic converter operating around it's peak conversion efficiency window about 14.7:1 IIRC. I though I heard of lean burn cat's out of Canada, but it might be a profit vs. progress stumbling block.?.

OT - Corporations seem stuck... torn between profits/share holder interests, answering calls by consumers/effect data, and putting jobs at risk as related to potential impacts to the established infrastructure.


Well to quote Rudolph, +1

I pulled 46.9 MPG from a sohc saturn trying to average around 58 MPH. Trick was having a window cracked, HVAC blower on vent, and temperate weather. Nice June weather.

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: Scooter_man


I just recently took a decent highway trip with my '99 Chevy Metro 1.0 5-sp. 229k miles - and got 49.4 mpg.

Now, I averaged about 60-mph and didn't get in a real big hurry - but for a stock car/3-cyl.



I can get 31 - 32 mpg at 65 mph in my porky G8 with the a/c blasting and all the modern amenities and safety features. On a 1000 mile trip, with your Metro doing 60, and my G8 doing 65, the difference is about $30 bucks in gas. I'm not a Rockefeller, but for me it's worth $30 bucks and the price of the G8 not to be stuck in a tiny death trap for 1000 miles.

For another 15-20 bucks, I could do 70+. Glad you like your Metro, but I'll take something bigger and heavier.

 

[IndyIan]

Good work, do you do any hypermile tricks? 50 mpg without them is pretty good.
Also I see that this generation of cars actually got 4/5 stars for frontal crashes so its not going to kill you in a 20mph fender bender anyways.
Drive it keeping mind its safety features and odds are you'll be fine with extra cash in your pocket!

 

[PF52]

We used to have a 1983 Civic "1300FE" where the "FE" stood for Fuel Efficient. It had the small motor with a 5-speed in an era when most cars still came with 4-speeds. I don't remember what all was part of the package but I know it had almost no options; no AC for example. In the days before the 65-MPH speed limit, it would do over 50 MPG easily and once turned in 63 MPG. Keep in mind this was driven by my elderly parents who seemed to have the philosophy that if the speed limit is 55, its better to go 53 "just to be safe". I'm not sure what this car would do at 70.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
. . .
I pulled 46.9 MPG from a sohc saturn trying to average around 58 MPH. Trick was having a window cracked, HVAC blower on vent, and temperate weather. Nice June weather.


Where I live, we'd call that a "recipe for a heat stroke". . .

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: css9450
...I'm not sure what this car would do at 70.

My guess would be the low 40s. Tantalizing to me, but still, since I'm the guy who would, without any question be DEAD were it not for the side curtain airbags in my 2002 Camry, unless you can show me the side curtains (old car or new), I wouldn't have it.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: css9450
...I'm not sure what this car would do at 70.

My guess would be the low 40s. Tantalizing to me, but still, since I'm the guy who would, without any question be DEAD were it not for the side curtain airbags in my 2002 Camry, unless you can show me the side curtains (old car or new), I wouldn't have it.

Maybe its not a good topic for public discussion, but could you have avoided getting hit in the first place?

 

[eljefino]

I don't think OP was suggesting the metro was the car for everyone but rather appreciating an asset no longer made.

No reason for everyone else to get defensive about their choice of ride. Pick up a hitch hiker, suddenly you're getting better miles per gallon per person.

 

[brandini]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: css9450
...I'm not sure what this car would do at 70.

My guess would be the low 40s. Tantalizing to me, but still, since I'm the guy who would, without any question be DEAD were it not for the side curtain airbags in my 2002 Camry, unless you can show me the side curtains (old car or new), I wouldn't have it.

Maybe its not a good topic for public discussion, but could you have avoided getting hit in the first place?

irrelevant. he's alive.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: css9450
...I'm not sure what this car would do at 70.

My guess would be the low 40s. Tantalizing to me, but still, since I'm the guy who would, without any question be DEAD were it not for the side curtain airbags in my 2002 Camry, unless you can show me the side curtains (old car or new), I wouldn't have it.


you wouldn't drive a vehicle without side air bags? I've never owned a vehicle with side air bags