Early Metros came with a 55 hp 1.0 liter 3 cylinder engine. These are Suzuki cars sold by GM as Geos. Suzuki sold the same car as a Swift, they came in two models a "ga" which was a sohc 1.3l 4 cylinder with 70 hp. And as a Gt with a dohc 1.3 with 100 hp, these cars weigh about 1500 lbs so they are fun to drive. The later Metros have big sway bars and big brakes because they are heavier cars. All that stuff fits the early cars. My car has the 70 hp engine, big bars and brakes, rear discs from the Gt. The seats are from a Suzuki Esteem. This is a fun, fast, light weight cars that really is fun to drive.
The down side is they are small cars with no sound deadening. I tow this behind my motorhome and commute to work.
The Saturn will tow behind the motorhome and it actually has Roadmaster tow bar mounts already install. I am ready for a nice car that is more comfortable and quiet. I have used Michelin tires before and have had good luck.
Thanks for your replies.
We will get to know each other better over time.
Andy

 

alrighty then. Thanks for the info. Is your commuting route conducive to hypermiling?

If so, that would be something to explore. I guess every little bit helps.

Surprisingly, the newer cars that have the monitoring features that tell you when you are driving "economically" really CAN save you $ by allowing you to visualize in real time where the gas is getting eaten up. Whether it's a jack rabbit start you do out of habit for the last 30 years, or a 10 mph accel to pass when there's no real traffic around, it puts it in your face and lets you retrain yourself to drive more economically, without driving like a grandma with cataracts and a sparking trailing muffler.

Alas no such feature exists in the L cars, but you catch my drift. See what you can improve with your foot and your head without the new tires first. V6 has power and we all like to use the power we have---but if you want to squeeze better mileage out of it, it's likely you can make larger strides by changing your driving habits right off the bat, then going for the add ons afterward. Just be sure to do your comparisons with the same amount of fuel added in the same range in the tank (10 gal from 1/4 to full) using the same gas at the same gas station. Same pump if you can pull it off so the shutoff is as close to the same as possible (yes I am ****). If you don't hold these variables constant, your results will show variances so wide that we will not be able to determine anything.

Do 6 runs driving the way you do now. Calc the mpg by hand (make sure you capture the gal added and the odometer readings at fillups)

Then do six runs paying special attention to accelerating more smoothly away from stops and in general just accelerating more smoothly. There will be three lane dives where nothing but a pedal mash gets you there---so be it.

* The important thing about the same tank range at fillup is that it takes into account the weight of the gas in the tank as a function of time, which decreases as you consume it, which increases your mpg since the car weighs less (assuming all other things equal). Doing different fillup intervals like 3 gallons here and 5 gallons there will throw in data from different parts of that "tank fullness" curve which are influenced by the the weight of car + gas + you.

Feel free to post as you get the results.

As you see, you've obviously got me quite interested.

I drive a 95 and 97 sc2 outside of Pittsburgh. Nothing but rolling hills.I have to mash the pedal at most lights and rev to 3.5k rpm between shifts to not get rear ended, and if I'm coming up on a big hill I have to hit the bottom with a running start of 50 mph to not have to downshift on the way up. Used to get 35mpg highway in super flat NJ. Don't even calc mileage out here. Don't wanna know. 124HP + big long hills = only so much you can do.......

 

I have gotten as much as 54 mpg consistently in this Metro with an economy grind cam and a +10 degree cam advance gear. I drive the same rural route to work for the last 10 years. I have accurate fuel mileage logs for the last 6 years in this Metro. I installed the big engine three years ago. The Metro gets 43 mpg day in and day out with the "big" engine in it. I will know fairly quickly how this car does on fuel. I am still in the Metro I am waiting for paper on the Saturn before I switch over. Probably another week or 2, the car came from a dealer friend of mine and there is an Washington state title delay. This is normal with dealer auction cars as half of the cars at the Portland area auctions are from Washington.

 

If you can, buy an UltraGauge... It will tell you, in real time, how your driving affects fuel economy... Now, they're not super accurate until you calibrate them(don't ask me how, I forgot before I got the current car, so it's not calibrated for it), but it gives you a good idea of how to drive economically in your car... Some like it different, I know my Taurus was easier on fuel with a brisk(about 65-70% throttle) acceleration up to about 40, then smooth and easy from there, but my Redline absolutely sucks fuel if you accelerate briskly at all...

 

Looks like I may try Michelin Premier A/S H rated $500. Installed, I will check Tire Factory also, they sell Nokian.

 

UltraGauge OBDII Scan Tool User Manuals

Get to calibratin', Bones........

Andy -- pls let us know how this all unfolds; you're the first on the forum to try llr's on a Satty

 

This car has plenty of power for me, especially after the Metro. I may look at final drive ratios there are several combinations for this 4t40 trans. A little more research is needed in this department. I may look at some Goodyear llr tires also, I will go shopping Monday.