Any Honda Fit/Civic owners?

[Trek420]

That's what I thought. The idea of a $1-2k car that gets 30-40 mpg sounds great. But it probably won't have modern standard safety stuff.

[OakLeaf]

Maybe, maybe not. It's true, I couldn't find specs on cars as old as '83, but I was surprised to learn that my Prius (2932 lbs) is considerably heavier than the earliest subcompacts I could find (2100-2200 for 1990 vintage cars) - and of course a Prius is so roomy inside that it's considered compact, not sub.

But, the way I understand it, fuel mileage comes more from aerodynamics than it does from weight, and body design and wind tunnel testing are much improved in recent years.

I'm not convinced that automakers couldn't be doing a lot better if they had any motivation to.

[Irulan]

Maybe, maybe not. It's true, I couldn't find specs on cars as old as '83, but I was surprised to learn that my Prius (2932 lbs) is considerably heavier than the earliest subcompacts I could find (2100-2200 for 1990 vintage cars) - and of course a Prius is so roomy inside that it's considered compact, not sub.

But, the way I understand it, fuel mileage comes more from aerodynamics than it does from weight, and body design and wind tunnel testing are much improved in recent years.

I'm not convinced that automakers couldn't be doing a lot better if they had any motivation to.

mmm- I dunno. We currently own a nice little 83 tercel (one of those nice old lightweight high economy cars that you can't get any more with zero safety features) and a 08 Mazda. Which one would you rather be in a high impact collision in?

I do agree that the automakers could be doing a lot better. I was very disappointed in the offerings as we car shopped recently. I didn't want a hybrid, I did want good mileage, and I needed a wagon, and I wanted one nicely equipped, and not european. That left me two cars to choose from.

[Trek420]

I'm not convinced that automakers couldn't be doing a lot better if they had any motivation to.

Oh c'mon where'd this guy come from. This isn't TREK, HELP!! A major exec of a major car company has taken over my user id now he's writing .....

SUV's took no effort on our part. It's just a bigger, heavier car on a truck chassis. We didn't even have to change the production line, just higher prices and more profit for us. And the public gobbles them up. To you the illusion of power, safety and speed is soxy, that's what sells our cars. C'mon, nobody buys based on MPG, that's wimpy, practically un-American. Just watch our ads Powering through mud, hauling trailers up a mountain, taking the short-cut around gridlocked traffic off road up over a mountain, rescuing puppies from tornadoes and floods (I'm watching our ads right now!) and all with children safely tucked in back watching videos. Don't you just want one right now? We know you'll never do these things. We know you'll be stuck in gridlock at single digit MPG and not rescuing kittens from hurricanes. We know even the light truck frames these are build on get better MPG.

But by then you've bought our car and we're laughing all the way to the bank.

We're so smrt )