Ford = EcoBoost
     GM   = Ecotec
      Harold Lunt

     Yeah, I'm still getting 47MPG with my '92 GEO METRO!!!   No air,
     1625 lbs with 1/2 tank fuel, 3 cyl, 5 speed.  Such progress
we've     been making  :)

     Dan F

Yup, you have to love progress. 1970 Mazda 1200 Coupe' got 40 MPG.
Same body as a R100 but a piston engine with carb. R100 had some
braces to stiffen it, so it was about 100# heavier. 1200 Coupe' was
about 1700#. Went like stink with a RX2 engine.

Dale Davies

Same goes for my RX2. Weight was 2300 pounds while my RX8 is over
3000 pounds with essentially the same weight engine. There was more interior
room in the RX2.

Perhaps we are letting the wrong people make decisions.
When first introduced, the Volt carried a $41,000 sticker, though it
qualified for a $7,500 federal tax credit. Is this the GM EV all
over again? Why are we, the taxpayers, having to subsidize these
unpopular cars?

Paul Lamar

Yeah but ..... did your RX-2 have door guard beams and crash worthy,
energy absorbing bumpers, catalytic converter and other smog
paraphernalia and a plethora of air bags plus air conditioning, power
windows, remote locking, seat belts and crash worthy seats ... even
cup holders?  That and dozens of other mandated features have driven
car weight upwards and made engines less efficient.

It is easy to carp about car design but difficult to do in practice
in todays regulatory environment.

SD

My point exactly. My RX2 had air as I recall and seat belts.

Paul Lamar


In Russia/Ukraine they have an expression; smart people, stupid machine. In
the western world we have to make the machine smart to protect stupid people.
I worked with a fellow whose expression is; stupidity is God's way of
controlling population growth.
In about '74 the RX2/3 cars gained 300 to 400 pounds due to impact bumpers.

Dale Davies