Fun commuter that is good on fuel

Woohoo, my first what car thread of the week.

With the new house and the longer commute, the typical BMW fuel consumption of the ix and the fact that it appears to try and poison me when I drive it too slowly (that's a separate thread though) had me thinking about getting a "cold weather" commuter car. We'll probably keep the ix for the winter anyway so it doesn't have to be AWD, just something with a decent heater that gets better mileage than the Miata.

The Miata isn't an option, with the work I've got planned out for it for the next few months I don't want the additional burden of piecing it back together every Sunday night for the Monday morning commute.

The vague requirements are:

• Should get 40mpg highway or better, at least in the mainly 50mph stretches of highway that I commute on
• Must be fun to drive. I commute over some decent mountain roads so boat-like handling isn't a characteristic I prize. Low-ish power is fine, but good handling is a must
• Consumables should be a NAPA away and not require mail order
• $5k-$6k max budget and I don't want something that's got 250k on it for this sort of money or needs to have a full restoration before being useable again.

So far I've come up with the following:

• mid-80s to mid-90s Civic Si. I'd prefer one of the earlier ones, all of them are hard to find in good, unmolested condition and are scrote magnets. I've found a reasonably low mileage one on CL down in the Bay Area for the sort of money I'm looking at spending but every other one I've seen advertised is either on borrowed time, riced out or most likely both
• CRX, preferable a 1st gen. I can find reasonable examples out here, find a really good low-mileage one is an issue though. Plus, a lot of them fall in the "molested" category again and they're scrote magnets, too
• 1st gen MR2. I've been hunting off and on for a good one, having a hard time finding one out here.
• Hachiroku or a prior generation Corolla like the one oldskweltoy has. That would most likely blow the budget and it's hard to find one that isn't completely riced out. OTOH there's a place in LA that imports them from Japan, but we're talking over budget again and the temptation to build an N2 replica
• I have had a TDI, they don't fulfil the "fun to drive" requirement. I don't need better mileage that badly.
• I don't want a FWD Corolla unless it's an FX-16 and try finding one of those
• I doubt I can live with the looks of a Saturn, sorry

Any other options that I should look at?

SVT Focus? Misses the mileage by a tick maybe but hits solidly on the fun to drive and cheap fronts.

I think 40 mpg is a tough number to meet. You might relax that spec a little. My MR2 got mid 30s at best.

Re the mileage requirement - on that commute, I can get between 33-35 out of the Miata as it's pretty much all "slow and steady" with hardly any stop and go. That's measured mpg by the way, not "gut feeling" .

One other option that came to mind but appears to be slightly over budget (plus I don't know how it'd fit in the "fun to drive" requirement) is a first gen Insight. Plenty of those to be had in the Bay Area, but I'm not sure how it'd deal with the mountains around here.

Lots of unmolested "showroom" nice 2nd gen CRX's going for around $3500 around here. Prices on your side of the world are berkeleying insane though, or so I'm told. I'm guessing you wouldn't see 40mpg, but I've also never had a 50mph commute. Nice 1st gens pop up too. There was a really, really clean DX that a guy couldn't give away on CL for a few months. I'm guessing he got a grand for it. Might be worth the drive.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/3505019934.html

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/3492707743.html

Be aware: Stock parts for 1st gens are getting harder to find; as in, they're not ever going to have them on the shelf at napa, and a lot of non-wear items are going to be JY only.

Festiva? Painfully slow, but killer fuel economy, and fun as E36 M3 to throw around. I'm guessing $2k would buy you the nicest stock Festiva in the country! Just add nitrous!

give Woody a call ... seems he has a nice CRX he's trying to sell

In reply to poopshovel:

Actually finding a CRX within my budget is not a problem out here, but finding one that wasn't covered in glue and crashed into the car accessories aisle at Walmart is. Or ones that had a B16/B18 swap that "just needs finishing because we couldn't get the engine to run". One of the downsides when you live that close to "Honda tuning central".

I don't think I've seen a Festiva out here outside the pages of GRM, actually.

In reply to wbjones:

I heard that rumour, too, but I'm a little concerned about the final cost with shipping and all that. Plus for some messed-up reason I'd really, really like a 1st gen (already had a 2nd gen EUDM Si).

N/A 4-cyl MX-6?

BoxheadTim wrote: In reply to poopshovel: Actually finding a CRX within my budget is not a problem out here, but finding one that wasn't covered in glue and crashed into the car accessories aisle at Walmart is. Or ones that had a B16/B18 swap that "just needs finishing because we couldn't get the engine to run". One of the downsides when you live that close to "Honda tuning central". I don't think I've seen a Festiva out here outside the pages of GRM, actually. In reply to wbjones: I heard that rumour, too, but I'm a little concerned about the final cost with shipping and all that. Plus for some messed-up reason I'd really, really like a 1st gen (already had a 2nd gen EUDM Si).

Yeah. Like I said, might be worth the ride. We certainly have our fair share of fake chrome clad, prehistoric shark mouth bumpered hondas too, but there have been a lot of clean ones popping up lately. It's crazy how many REALLY clean Festivas there are up here. The local folks bought them new when you only had your choice of a Ford or Chevy up here, unless you wanted to drive a hundred miles to another dealership, and they hung onto them. I'm guessing most of the ones I see have less than 100k miles. There's one in that really hideous teal color that I'll buy in a heartbeat if I ever see a for sale sign in it.

@poopshovel, I'll keep that mind - the transport costs might not make it feasible, though.

Anybody got any idea what sort of mileage you get out of an E36 318ti?

2004 Scion xA ought to be dropping into your price range. Not horribly fun, but wheels/tires/rear swaybar/intake/exhaust takes it up a notch.

I can get 38 on the highway in my xB if I drive it gingerly, and since the xA is a lot more aerodynamic, I bet you can crack 40.

Curious Tim but how did the TDI you drove fail you on the fun to drive? The jetta and the golf are essentially the same at least in my mk4 I think. Although I would have preferred a hatch to a sedan.

When I got mine it had crappy no name brand all season tires so driving it sucked. But I found a deal on some used wheels off vortex and replaced the tires so now I run 17x7.5 Raderworks wheels with 225/45/17 Goodyear Eagle GT performance all seasons. The suspension was clunky and squeaky and it had the OEM shocks on it at 150k miles so I replaced all the bushings and suspension components with a refresh kit and koni reds, still using stock springs. The reds are essentially euro stock replacement not performance. The big difference I think came from the bushings replacement because you can swap the steering or control arm bushing? out for ones from the Audi TT which dramatically improves steering feel and slop. It's so common its part of the kits they sell for bushings

It actually feels easier to drive/more fun in some ways than my stock NA miata because of how rough the roads are and how the miata shudders and shakes

EvanR wrote: 2004 Scion xA ought to be dropping into your price range. Not horribly fun, but wheels/tires/rear swaybar/intake/exhaust takes it up a notch. I can get 38 on the highway in my xB if I drive it gingerly, and since the xA is a lot more aerodynamic, I bet you can crack 40.

I have a friend who has one of these. He's basically turned it into a track car at this point - built motor and gutted, the thing runs 11s. there's probably a happy compromise point between stock and insanity that would fulfill your requirements. I'll ask him what he runs as far as suspension upgrades.

Jaynen wrote: Curious Tim but how did the TDI you drove fail you on the fun to drive? The jetta and the golf are essentially the same at least in my mk4 I think. Although I would have preferred a hatch to a sedan.

I actually owned a Mk4 Golf station wagon in the UK for a while. Bought that off a friend who's big into TDIs, so it was a good one and a really practical vehicle. It worked really well on several European long-distance trips but overall it was just a bit of a snoozemobile. Felt like it came with a free valium supply.

That said, maybe I do need to look at a US-spec TDI as the ones in Europe are slightly different.

szeis4cookie wrote: I have a friend who has one of these. He's basically turned it into a track car at this point - built motor and gutted, the thing runs 11s. there's probably a happy compromise point between stock and insanity that would fulfill your requirements. I'll ask him what he runs as far as suspension upgrades.

I should have pointed out that I didn't want anything that needs modding - I'm happy to throw some new shocks on there, but it's a commuter so I don't want to end up with the car splattered all over the garage.

BoxheadTim wrote:

szeis4cookie wrote: I have a friend who has one of these. He's basically turned it into a track car at this point - built motor and gutted, the thing runs 11s. there's probably a happy compromise point between stock and insanity that would fulfill your requirements. I'll ask him what he runs as far as suspension upgrades.

I should have pointed out that I didn't want anything that needs modding - I'm happy to throw some new shocks on there, but it's a commuter so I don't want to end up with the car splattered all over the garage.

Needs modding? No, not really. It just helps a lot. Wheels and tires are easy, shocks and struts not too bad. Rear swaybar bolts on in 10 minutes, and intake and exhaust aren't rocket science.

I'm not saying there aren't any fun commuters out there, but if you want something semi-modern, it does take a few simple mods.

Mazda Protege / 323 aka the 4 door, FWD Miata

Ford Focus

Hyundai Elantra GT w/ 5 speed manual

8-valve Golf or GTI.

My '89 would easily knock down over 40mpg if fed premium fuel. 35mpg on the cheap stuff. By cents/mile it was cheaper to run 92 octane. Hooray for Digifant.

Sadly, good (not "stellar" or "awesome", just not "trashed") examples have skyrocketed in price. When I was looking a few years ago, $1000 Golfs turned into $2500 Golfs.

BoxheadTim wrote: @poopshovel, I'll keep that mind - the transport costs might not make it feasible, though. Anybody got any idea what sort of mileage you get out of an E36 318ti?

airline ticket then ...what 3 tanks of fuel ... 4 maybe ?

Time is the problem, not necessarily the cost as in what comes out of my bank account. Most of my vacation time is already allocated to unimportant events like trackdays at Laguna Seca, Monterrey historics and family visits..

So you are looking for a 20 year old car to commute in? Virtually all of your choices are 20-25 years old. Seems hard to find a good example of a car that old- either it's been driven to death, or modified to death.

If your commute is really 50mph, you'd be surprised to see how good the fuel economy for virtually all B/C class cars. Which is basically Focus size. Civic, Corolla, Focus, etc- whichever you find the most entertaining- at 50, fuel economy is pretty amazing for those cars. But the car you say isn't a choice- the Miata- gets 35-40mpg at 50. At least that what I've gotten.

Hope you find something you like.

If your commute is really 50mph, you'd be surprised to see how good the fuel economy for virtually all B/C class cars.

That's true too. It'd be interesting to see what my fleet did at 55 mph. Sadly, I'm mostly set it and forget it at 75mph.

TDIs arent that hard to make a lot faster, but it would be hard to get one with less than 200k miles and catch up with the maintenance for less than $7500. They are very expensive in California.

I would think an Si with an HF trans would easily hit 40+ mpg @50mph. My 85 hf got 42 @ 75, but it was not quick or fun, really. My insight will get 70+ @50 but apparently they are out of your budget even though i got mine for $3800 2 years ago and already completely paid for it in gas savings vs 30mpg.

You said you didnt want a corolla but have you considered a mid 90s 2 dr tercel? Before they went paseo they were half-decent looking cars with a set of wheels and could probably be pretty fun to toss around with light mods.

Id also consider an early 90s 5spd mirage if you could FIND one. Easy to work on and probably hit your mpg number. Similar to tercel minus some quality.

mid 90s and earlier 1.6 sentras will clear 40mpg at 55mph