In 2008, the MPG Champ Will Be....


I'm getting restless - the 5-speed Insight has been the mpg champ for the sixth year. It will end, but the question is by what? No doubt Honda or Toyota could do it tomorrow.

While I'm happy to be driving the most fuel efficient car sold, many advances have been made in the last six years...

_______________________


It would be cool if someone had a carbon-fibre car weighing around 1,200 pounds powered by a small diesel hybrid - it just might break the 100mpg barrier.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Hi Delta_Flyer:

___I think the Insight will still have the edge by quite some margin. It just has too many things going for it and those that drive them can’t help but notice how quickly they themselves adapt to make it sing like nothing in this world. The HCH-II pilots have a good shot if they can figure out the nuances of their EV mode in the next year or two but I do not think it’s nearly enough to overcome the natural ability of an Insight to run 100 + mpg tanks seemingly at will. Then again, who knows if Honda will finally get around to releasing IMAS-II or some other such extraordinary machine. Then there is always the Daihatsu UFE-I, UFE-II, and UFE-III sitting in some lab in Japan doing nothing but waiting for one of us to get their grubby little hands on it for a week or two

PS: I see you haven’t voted yet?

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

I finally voted "Insight II", but it seems as likely Honda won't introduce one by 2008. Not as likely, but not far-fetched is a next-generaton Prius or Civic with a lighter-than-steel body. From a business standpoint, upgrading the Civic makes more sense than an sucessor to the Insight.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

I did not leave a selection for European vehicles, unless "diesel hybrid" qualifies...

With my luck, VW will win in 2008 to make this poll look bad...

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Hi Delta_Flyer:

___You do not mean this, do you?

SMART Shows Diesel and Gasoline Hybrids, EV and CNG Prototypes of smart Car

Displacement = .8L ** ICE power 30KW/Motor Power 20 KW ** FE = 81 mpg ** 0 to 60 in 17.5 seconds <-- That is going to hurt

___I think the Insight 5-speed can take it let alone vastly out perform it

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

I was not aware of that, but the Insight 5-speed could easily be outdone if an automaker set out to do it - even GM.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

I voted for the orginal Insight. With such a trickle of demand for the super-ultra-high mpg niche, Honda won't be introducing a new Insight in the next two years. The HCH-II is, I'm sure, a wonderful car capable of mpg that will only be truly revealed this summer. The Prius is obviously a great contender, but unless a 2008 remodel incorporates vast reductions in weight and other Insight-level advantages (which would really not be cool, because it would take away some of the awesome functionality of the Prius), it won't be the top of the food chain. Also, any additional hybrids introduced in the next two or three years are more likely than not to embody the performance trend (a la HAH) or at least the crowd-pleasing moderate balance trend (a la Camry hybrid), and so won't be super-ultra-high mileage capable.

Of course new generation technology could easily best the Insight, but I seriously doubt it will happen in the next three years. Or else somebody would already be hearing about such a project already in development.

I'm not crazy about this body style, but a diesel hybrid version of this ultralight car would get over 100mpg.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Are we allowed plug-in hybrids? Because technically you could get over 200 mpg equivalent in one of them.

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/ecotech/ecot.htm

I'm with clett. I vote PHEV.

R2-E2, 2G Prius.
Highway/City/Husband/Wife MPG: 56.5, as of 12/2005, 26K miles

Jac Nasser, Ford President: "We are planning to launch a hybrid version of
this car [P2000] within this year [1998]. We will also make FCEV available in
2004."