What car - Good MPG at 80 mph

I have a 50 mile highway drive to work. Traffic moves along pretty well at 80 mph. I'm looking for a reliable manual trans DD that will get around 35 MPG at 80 MPH.

Hoping to keep budget under $5k but open to ideas.

Most cars built before 2010 don't have a 6 speed trans so the revs wind up rather high at this speed. Also not that many cars capable of 35 or better MPG. Too bad the CAFE standards were only tightened under Obama and not earlier. People bitched endlessly about gov't "interference" in the auto biz but as far as I can tell it has provided me with better high MPG cars to choose from. Considering buying new but would prefer not to if other realistic options exist. The new Mazda3 seems cool.

Have considered a Miata but would need to switch out the rear diff ratio in order to get revs down.

Have considered an older Civic Hybrid but pricing is ridiculous on those. Same with the old Insight.

Ideas?

3.8L/5-Speed 4th Gen F-Body might get you there. The later LS1 V8's do have the double-OD 6-speed and are starting to be in that bracket. Good, clean aero.

Around town is going to suck though!

My MX6 does it, but a stock one won't.

A saab 9000 Aero might do it with a tune.

I'd say CRX HF but that shares the title of Hypermiler Hachiroku with the 1g Insight, and probably has a similarly high price.

Maybe a 2nd gen. Swift?

A Mitsubishi Mirage DE Coupe will do it, just keep to skinny 14" tires and avoid ones with wings and body kits. A word of warning, they are made from 36-gauge tin.

Honestly, the SX 6-spd Forte's will do that IF you can keep it steady. It's the getting to the speed that sucks the fuel down on those. 80mph on it = 2600rpms and it is not lugging at all. If you see much stop-n-go or heavy amounts of acceleration, you will be lucky to get high 20's. Sadly they are still above the $5k mark.

Maybe an HD Elantra with the 5-spd? There was one local for about that price range and their top gear was a little better than the previous XD's. IIRC, the 07-10 Elantra's were 2800rpms at 75.

I regularly got 34-35 highway with my 1st gen Neon ACR.

I feel for ya, I have a 70 mile each way commute and it cruises along at 80, makes even today's fuel sippers drop a few mpg. For instance, when I commuted in the Smart I could get near or over 50mpg if I'd keep it to 65, but keeping up with traffic at 80 dropped my average to 43.

paid under $5K for my ALH TDI VW ('99-'02)

45+ MPG lifetime average. I've put 130K on the car (bought it with ~120K on it)

Mine is a '99 Golf 2-door 5-speed.

I also have a 70+ mile each way commute, all highway. 80+mph all day everyday.

My 96 Civic hatchback averages well over 40 mpg at about that pace. Last tank was 44 mpg.

Watching thread with interest

JThw8 wrote: I regularly got 34-35 highway with my 1st gen Neon ACR. I feel for ya, I have a 70 mile each way commute and it cruises along at 80, makes even today's fuel sippers drop a few mpg. For instance, when I commuted in the Smart I could get near or over 50mpg if I'd keep it to 65, but keeping up with traffic at 80 dropped my average to 43.

this. before i hurt the engine, i was averaging 34 between highway and town, done over 1000 miles (two weeks for me)

even on 3 cylenders, im still getting 28 on the same rounds.

im pretty sure when the fresh engine goes in with the ported/polished head/intake/mid tube header and bumped compression i can get it to break 40.

michael

A C5 will get really close in 6th gear but 35 is pushing it. 32 for sure.

Saturn SC-2's will do what you want also.

Too bad the CAFE standards were only tightened under Obama and not earlier.

I have said that for a long time in different ways, ways that usually piss people off because it challenges their political worldview. Anyway, i agree.

Have considered an older Civic Hybrid but pricing is ridiculous on those. Same with the old Insight.

How exactly are their prices "ridiculous"? They're the same as for similar year 'normal' civics and accords and you get a more advanced car with better economy. I bought my 01 Insight for $3800 3 years ago and over the time i've owned it, due to my driving style, it has 'only' returned 48-50mpg. I know you asked for economy at 80 mph (which is 50) but i also tested mine to get 39mpg @ 90 mph. Im sure the high miles ones are cheaper now than mine was 3 years ago. Ive likewise seen many civic hybrids in the 3-4k range, along with 1g prii. Mine has 343k miles on it and i wouldnt be afraid to buy another one with 340k miles on it if something were to happen to mine.

3.8L/5-Speed 4th Gen F-Body might get you there.

Total bullE36 M3. 35mpg? NOPE.

I'd say CRX HF but that shares the title of Hypermiler Hachiroku with the 1g Insight, and probably has a similarly high price.

my 85 HF got 42-43mpg and i sold it running perfectly for $500 and a little bit of body repair on my Lebaron. It was a great car, the only reason i sold it was because it didnt have AC and to me it didnt make sense to add AC and lose mpg when i had a 50 mpg car with AC already. The insight is a better car in pretty much every way unless you want to go racing (the Insight is faster, but it doesnt have the documented history of suspension mods of a CRX, everything would be one-off).

amg_rx7 wrote: Too bad the CAFE standards were only tightened under Obama and not earlier.

First off, this is not true. I am not going to flounder this thread, but please research before forming opinions like this.

My wife had a 98 Civic 1.8 5 speed that would get 43 mpg at 80 mph. It was a bit worse with A/C, and most of my mpg runs were made without it.

tuna55 wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: Too bad the CAFE standards were only tightened under Obama and not earlier.

First off, this is not true. I am not going to flounder this thread, but please research before forming opinions like this. My wife had a 98 Civic 1.8 5 speed that would get 43 mpg at 80 mph. It was a bit worse with A/C, and most of my mpg runs were made without it.

Motor swap?

nocones wrote: Saturn SC-2's will do what you want also.

SC2 will hit 36 easy, SC1 will touch 40mpg.

Here's my personal experience:

07-08 Honda Fit: These get about 35 mpg reliably at 80 mph. My wife drives mostly freeways and she's always at 80+, and every time I check her mpg it's about 35-38. It's buzzy at those speeds though, and very twitchy on the freeway.

92-95 Civic VX: Probably gets 45 mpg at 80 mph, turning maybe 3k rpms. But every time you take your eyes off the speedometer you unconsciously drift down to about 65 mph, because that's where the car is happiest. It doesn't sustain 80mph very easily, given the gutless engine paired with a super-tall gear ratio.

Vigo wrote:

Have considered an older Civic Hybrid but pricing is ridiculous on those. Same with the old Insight.

How exactly are their prices "ridiculous"? They're the same as for similar year 'normal' civics and accords and you get a more advanced car with better economy. I bought my 01 Insight for $3800 3 years ago and over the time i've owned it, due to my driving style, it has 'only' returned 48-50mpg. I know you asked for economy at 80 mph (which is 50) but i also tested mine to get 39mpg @ 90 mph. Im sure the high miles ones are cheaper now than mine was 3 years ago. Ive likewise seen many civic hybrids in the 3-4k range, along with 1g prii. Mine has 343k miles on it and i wouldnt be afraid to buy another one with 340k miles on it if something were to happen to mine.

Up here in SFBay, I have been seeing lots of the 2001-2005 Civic Hybrids for $5k - 8k. Cheaper ones are either salvage title or have blown auto trans.

Keep the ideas coming. Thanks.

Gearheadotaku wrote:

nocones wrote: Saturn SC-2's will do what you want also.

SC2 will hit 36 easy, SC1 will touch 40mpg.

Good point, I forgot about the Saturns!

My fiancee gets 35-37 mpg in her automatic Yaris in that kind of commuting. I think any recent car from that segment is likely to get you to your target. Finding one for five grand might be a challenge. I see Honda Fits for sale around here at $6500. Nissan Versa, Mazda2, etc. are all decent options.

Here you go: http://daytona.craigslist.org/cto/3981074034.html

Five grand also makes a helluva deposit on a new Chevy Spark, which I think is a pretty damn good little car.

Vigo wrote:

3.8L/5-Speed 4th Gen F-Body might get you there.

Total bullE36 M3. 35mpg? NOPE.

You must not have ever owned one. My 96 Camaro did 33MPG highway all stock with wider Z28 wheels/tires.

And once again, the prices you pay for cars are either total bullE36 M3, or incompletely reported. 1G Insight's go for $5K-$6K up here, and that's considered "cheap".

If you can sit on cruise at 80mph a 2011+ V6 Mustang, auto or Manual will easily do it. If you define 80mph as cycling between 75-85mph to average 80 then you're in trouble.

my '01 Integra LS gets between 28 and 38 ... depending on the type of driving

Javelin wrote: You must not have ever owned one. My 96 Camaro did 33MPG highway all stock with wider Z28 wheels/tires.

My '90 RS got 33mpg in 5th gear all day long so I can believe the better aero later body car could do it with less torque.