Wow, either the .gov got it wrong as usual, or we had one heck of a Wednesday car, because our Suzuki saw hwy mileage as high as 43 - 44 mpg. City mileage was in the 30's because it was so dang fast it was hard to keep my foot out of it.
The Escort was a terrible car. I've driven them and they just plain are bad. We now have a Focus ZX3 with the Zetec engine. It's the best we could do and still have a hatchback -- 30 mpg or so for $12K new. My wife is a home health physical therapist who often carries walkers and such to her patients, so a hatchback is a necessity. All of our small cars since '81 were hatchbacks -- '81 Toyota Starlet, '83 Toyota Starlet, '86 Dodge Colt, '90 Suzuki Swift, '93 Ford Festiva, '00 Focus ZX3. Talk about hauling -- the Festiva was the smallest, but I took out the back seat and transported a kitchen table and 4 chairs, along with our normal luggage, from Florida to North Carolina.
I suppose everyone has their definition of performance, but I wouldn't put hauling into the label of performance. To me, hauling comes under the heading of utility, and utility is usually gained at the expense of performance. To me, speed is also the lesser factor in performance; handling is much more important, especially when it comes to safety. There is a simple rule that can be proved by asking anyone who has ever raced cars -- the lighter the car, the better it handles. Very few people haul something every time they use the vehicle.
<font color="blue"> "Very few people want to buy a Ford Aspire or Chevy/Geo Metro anymore." </font>
And, as I said above, that describes the problem. Of course, the Festiva was a better car than the Aspire that replaced it (even though both were made by Kia), and we chose a Swift over a Metro, even though both were made by Suzuki. Even I have my limits -- the 3 cylinder Metro was not worth the extra 8 mpg or so over the Swift.
We currently have the 5 speed Focus ZX3, a Windstar that's only used when we have to carry more than the two of us, a V6 5 speed Dakota, and a Pace Arrow motor home that gets about 6 mpg. I need a truck that can pull 12K lbs. to pull my dump trailer, and we're planning to get a 5th wheel RV instead of the motor home because we'll get better mileage from the tow vehicle. So, I'm planning on trading the Dakota and the Windstar on an F350 crew cab diesel dually. The wife will continue to drive the ZX3 until it breaks, or maybe get a MINI. I surely don't want to drive the big dually for trips when I'm not pulling a trailer, so I'll be looking for another small car. They keep talking about finally importing the Mercedes Smart, and that might be about perfect.
The Escort was a terrible car. I've driven them and they just plain are bad. We now have a Focus ZX3 with the Zetec engine. It's the best we could do and still have a hatchback -- 30 mpg or so for $12K new. My wife is a home health physical therapist who often carries walkers and such to her patients, so a hatchback is a necessity. All of our small cars since '81 were hatchbacks -- '81 Toyota Starlet, '83 Toyota Starlet, '86 Dodge Colt, '90 Suzuki Swift, '93 Ford Festiva, '00 Focus ZX3. Talk about hauling -- the Festiva was the smallest, but I took out the back seat and transported a kitchen table and 4 chairs, along with our normal luggage, from Florida to North Carolina.
I suppose everyone has their definition of performance, but I wouldn't put hauling into the label of performance. To me, hauling comes under the heading of utility, and utility is usually gained at the expense of performance. To me, speed is also the lesser factor in performance; handling is much more important, especially when it comes to safety. There is a simple rule that can be proved by asking anyone who has ever raced cars -- the lighter the car, the better it handles. Very few people haul something every time they use the vehicle.
<font color="blue"> "Very few people want to buy a Ford Aspire or Chevy/Geo Metro anymore." </font>
And, as I said above, that describes the problem. Of course, the Festiva was a better car than the Aspire that replaced it (even though both were made by Kia), and we chose a Swift over a Metro, even though both were made by Suzuki. Even I have my limits -- the 3 cylinder Metro was not worth the extra 8 mpg or so over the Swift.
We currently have the 5 speed Focus ZX3, a Windstar that's only used when we have to carry more than the two of us, a V6 5 speed Dakota, and a Pace Arrow motor home that gets about 6 mpg. I need a truck that can pull 12K lbs. to pull my dump trailer, and we're planning to get a 5th wheel RV instead of the motor home because we'll get better mileage from the tow vehicle. So, I'm planning on trading the Dakota and the Windstar on an F350 crew cab diesel dually. The wife will continue to drive the ZX3 until it breaks, or maybe get a MINI. I surely don't want to drive the big dually for trips when I'm not pulling a trailer, so I'll be looking for another small car. They keep talking about finally importing the Mercedes Smart, and that might be about perfect.
