Why can't they make a 300HP sports car that gets 35mpg?

WickedLou9 · 10-18-2007, 09:27 AM

I mean really. Whats the deal.

So I was driving home last night, and this is really just an illustration of my growing frustrations about how slow my god damned car is... I was driving home afte work and I notice this jerk in the left lane refusing to let anyone pass him. The guy behind him was quite frustrated. Well he didn't see me coming because he was concentrating on the car following him...so I just came right around them both and passed him.. A short while later he eventually got past me and back in front of me again. well traffic picks up and he refuses to accelerate or yield from the left lane.. Well I try and go around him but he floors it to prevent me from doing so. I have no idea why people are like this. So my little car has 109 HP and absolutely no prayer of passing anyone at all who doesn't want me to pass. So I was stuck. Absolutely powerless. I was lusting for my old Mustang which, if I had been driving that car, would have muscled pass the jerk easily. But no.. I drive 80 miles a day to and from work so I need a car that's good on gas.
But GOD, it's so god damned slow. I have to pin the throttle anytime I want to accelerate. Getting on the highway I have to wind out 3 gears to redline. Every time.

Don't get me wrong it's a great little car. It gets 35 mpg, it handles great, it is reliable, everything works properly, I can fit a ton of stuff in there... but my god is it slow. My frustration grows every day.

So Honda, or anyone.. please build a car like this with 300 HP that gets 32 or better MPG.

K thanks.

DosEquis · 10-18-2007, 09:36 AM

See GM vehicle with a manual transmission and a V8. Granted it might not be quite 35mpg... but its damn close to 30. Its a 5-8 mpg sacrifice in the name of 300+ horsepower.

Corvette, early 2000's camaro/transam, etc, all 300hp and all are 26-30mpg on the interstate.

WickedLou9 · 10-18-2007, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by DosEquis

See GM vehicle with a manual transmission and a V8. Granted it might not be quite 35mpg... but its damn close to 30. Its a 5-8 mpg sacrifice in the name of 300+ horsepower.

Corvette, early 2000's camaro/transam, etc, all 300hp and all are 26-30mpg on the interstate.

so probably 28mpg if I go 55 and don't accelerate. and maybe draft a truck.
Corvette is too expensive and I could never bring myself to drive an F-body.

7960 · 10-18-2007, 09:44 AM

I have a 2k2 maxima w/ 6 speed manual transmission. My dash shows I get 36mpg on the 250mile trip to my parents house. The calc thing in the dash is wrong and I calculated (miles/gas used) I got closer to 31 or 32mpg. The car is advertised at 255hp.

Of course when I drive it to have fun I don't get nearly that mileage, but when I put it in 6th and just go 75mph for a while I get over 30mpg.

But back to your original post...........get in the right lane and go 55mph for 10 minutes and he'll be out of your life. It's not worth the stress to try to get past him.

Roonie · 10-18-2007, 09:44 AM

Corvette's are the only really fast car that gets really good MPG. 400 hp and they get around 18 city/28 highway mpg. Some of the older ones around the 90's get 35 mpg.

WickedLou9 · 10-18-2007, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by 7960

I have a 2k2 maxima w/ 6 speed manual transmission. My dash shows I get 36mpg on the 250mile trip to my parents house. The calc thing in the dash is wrong and I calculated (miles/gas used) I got closer to 31 or 32mpg. The car is advertised at 255hp.

Of course when I drive it to have fun I don't get nearly that mileage, but when I put it in 6th and just go 75mph for a while I get over 30mpg.

But back to your original post...........get in the right lane and go 55mph for 10 minutes and he'll be out of your life. It's not worth the stress to try to get past him.

it's not just that jerk though, the car is just slow and it's generally frustrating to have to put it to the floor anytime I need to merge onto a roadway.

WickedLou9 · 10-18-2007, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by Roonie

Corvette's are the only really fast car that gets really good MPG. 400 hp and they get around 18 city/28 highway mpg. Some of the older ones around the 90's get 35 mpg.

They don't get 35 mpg. Thats a fantasy.

DosEquis · 10-18-2007, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

so probably 28mpg if I go 55 and don't accelerate. and maybe draft a truck.
Corvette is too expensive and I could never bring myself to drive an F-body.

Nope. I went 75mph down to Kansas City in the WS6. I got 26mpg on the way there and 29mpg on the way back. In 6th gear it is damn near idle at 75mph. Ok, I am embellishing a little.. but it is like 1800-2000 rpm.

I have a friend who took his 2004(? i think) Z06 up to minnesota from here and got 29mpg and 31mpg with 405hp.

7960 · 10-18-2007, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

it's not just that jerk though, the car is just slow and it's generally frustrating to have to put it to the floor anytime I need to merge onto a roadway.

I know what you mean. My wife had a honda cr-v and that's the reason we got rid of it. If it had a 6-cyl engine we'd still have it but the 4-cyl engine wouldn't get out of its own way.

DosEquis · 10-18-2007, 09:54 AM

The solution here is to legislate horsepower limits on cars to be 110hp. That way everyone drives slow cars and you have to rely on driving skill. Its like nascar with restrictor plates.

j/k

WickedLou9 · 10-18-2007, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by DosEquis

The solution here is to legislate horsepower limits on cars to be 110hp. That way everyone drives slow cars and you have to rely on driving skill. Its like nascar with restrictor plates.

j/k

hehe. Yeah but my car will still get up to 110mph or so the book says... So my problem of merging onto the highway still exists.
It will actually cruise at 80-85 mph quite nicely. It's just getting there that is a bitch.

7960 · 10-18-2007, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by WickedLou9

hehe. Yeah but my car will still get up to 110mph or so the book says... So my problem of merging onto the highway still exists.
It will actually cruise at 80-85 mph quite nicely. It's just getting there that is a bitch.

holes in the floorboards ... make it a sleeper

AVengeance · 10-18-2007, 10:30 AM

My racecar gets about 26mpg, 2.0L i4, powered by alcohol, 13:1 compression, and pulls low 13s in the quarter. It dynoed at nearly 275hp. It does 90 in 3rd gear. I'm honestly afriad to try to top out 5th. Why such good mileage and so much power? NO EMMISSIONS. The cat and all that OBD3 shit is GONE. I also have an intercooled turbocharged Spirit that pulls low 15s, and gets 24mpg. Sure, it's not 35, but it seats six (bench up front), has great trunk room, gets decent mileage, and tows my small boat without issue.

Everything's a trade-off. If you want 50mpg, you're going to have to deal with only speeding up going down hills. If you want performance, there are sacrifices there to be made for the available power. One good answer that isn't really popular yet is a hybrid that actually WORKS. Also, the government is holding us back with all the insane rules and regulations regarding emissions. My Neon is proof you don't have to do 18sec. in the 1/4 mile to get decent MPG, but the manufacturers have to work with the convoluted laws, and I don't bother to (btw: my racecar runs cleaner on Ethanol WITHOUT the cat than it did running gasoline WITH the cat).

AVengeance · 10-18-2007, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by DosEquis

The solution here is to legislate horsepower limits on cars to be 110hp. That way everyone drives slow cars and you have to rely on driving skill. Its like nascar with restrictor plates.

j/k

Like that Rush song- ...and the trees are all kept equal- by hatchet, axe, and saw!

thomez · 10-18-2007, 02:47 PM

I just laughed out loud, in the library, about a race car doing low 13's.

I'm sorry.