Here's A Quick Bit Of Geekery For You

[speedn_j]

Lemme guess, you're also active on the forum at gassavers.org. Cool site. I had the grill on my Geo blocked, mirrors gone, all kinds of stuff because of those guys. It works. I don't have the nads to do that to a turbo though, it needs the cooling. And I'd be raping an R.

nah im not gonna go that far. i still need a funtional car. basically just copying saabs with all the aerodynamic tricks they have. i miss my saabs getting 30 mpg at 110 mph

[T5BRICK]

Which insurance do you use? Was it the same coverage for all the different vehicles? If so, I guess I should be shopping around more!

[soiltron]

Which insurance do you use? Was it the same coverage for all the different vehicles? If so, I guess I should be shopping around more!

This research was done on Progressive's site for ease. State minimums to keep everything easy (which may throw another variable in the mix. Michigan has this stupid thing called "no fault" insurance. Basically it means if someone rams your parked car when they're drunk, YOU still pay for your own car. I think it was designed to force everyone to cover themselves. What it really did was send the cost of insurance so high that a lot of people don't even bother. You'd think being the only state with this kind of insurance they'd take the hint.) Most likely insurance in any other state would be even lower. I did notice that on cars 2001 and newer they were offering a 5% discount if you were willing to plug in a trip monitor. Probably worth it if you're not a habitual racer. I personally have Liberty Mutual which is a couple bucks more but my house is a lot cheaper to insure with them.

[info2x]

I would hardly call those other vehicles economy cars

[FINN]

what was the year difference? 1996 vs 97?

correct

[(n)A-GAME]

wow that gassavers website is nuts, who would think to use a swim noodle for a wheel arch fairing? unbelievable.

edit: wow

and because this is VS

[soiltron]

I thought you might find that guy interesting. Last I looked he was in the 30s. When I was nerding around with my Geo Prizm it was averaging 25mpg (not much better than my wagon). I pumped the tires 5psi over what they were rated, took off the exterior mirrors, blocked the grill like that 240, and looked for every opportunity to coast. Got to 37mpg, then it started developing more problems than I cared to fix on a rust bucket. I even took out all the seats minus drivers of course, to save weight, but that didn't seem to make any significant change.

[matt b]

Interesting info. Play around with different ECU's too, I noticed a difference between the stock auto ECU and the UK manual mapped ECU. I get much better mileage on the NA (duh'!) but the turbo can now get 25-26 mpg on the highway and still be driven hard.

[soiltron]

I can't believe I'm getting sucked back into the "Nerdery" but it is fun. I will have to look into the ECU game. My wheels just came in yesterday so now I'm on the prowl for tires and have settled on the Achilles ATR. It's V-rated and designed for lower rolling resistance & better gas mileage.

This could play into my hand: new R bumper = air dam, (I wonder if the wagon rear spoiler is at all functional?), hi flow exhaust could be justified, and ultimately the manual swap, would all technically help mileage. I have been noticing some weird tranny issues lately. It surges like it can't decide between OD or not on the highway cruising at 65mph. It's due for a fluid change, and I may be paranoid about getting stranded on the 2000 mile road trip we're supposed to take in June. But still.....

[NW T5R]

Both the T-5R auto fwd and the V70R 6 speed awd average 24 mpg. My 04 Ram 2500 diesel 4x4 averages 17 at 4.50 gallon

[magnum46]

thanks for the research. me and a few buddies with volvo was also thinking hard about other cars due to the gas price increase.

looks like you saved us a bunch of work.

good to know the volvo is still a good deal!!

[Chrisonfire]

Im getting about 20 mpg in my s70. at 3.80 a gallon its busting my balls.

I just pulled my 318i out of the garage and i may drive it 3 days out of the week just to help cut down gas cost.

[fasts60r]

Just an fyi about sites like progressive and what not, you should notice that to get a quote, you must enter your social security number. Why, you might ask? They are pulling your credit every time you go to their site for quotes. Now, what does that mean? Not a whole lot, but each credit inquiry will lower your score by a few point (2-3 depending). So just be careful.

[DARKSIDE]

Interesting info...

but you do know you have way too much time on your hands... :D

[PharmD]

I don't have any problem gettin 30+ MPG in the T5 on the highway if I keep my foot out of it and cruise at 65MPH or so, but then, my insurance on the T5 is a smidge higher than on my old 850.