gas-powered i Fuel Economy

[PV1]

For our members in the UK, Japan, and anywhere else the gas-powered i is sold, does anyone know what the fuel economy is? Would they meet US requirements should one be imported?

Hate to be looking for a gas burner, but my parents are looking for a high mileage car for road trips.

 

[DaveMiller]

Have you considered a Prius for your parents?

Dave

 

[PV1]

They're looking at the Prius, Prius V, and C-Max Hybrid, but they're all just a tad more than they want to spend. They like the ride of the i-MiEV, the only two complaints are range and no armrest, which is an easy fix.

I was hoping to find one fairly cheap and import it. From digging on the net, I found one figure of 45 mpg, which is pretty good.

 

[MLucas]

The Mirage is the closest you'll get here in the US. But it does have very good gas mileage (44 mpg) and some interesting features for a car similar to the i-MiEV. Looks like they have a $1000 factory rebate going on right now.

 

[dsmall24us]

I test drove the Mirage and would recommend that you test drive it. Nothing fancy but it is roomy feeling like the i-miev and the dealer told me that buyers were reporting back getting 50mpg.

 

[PV1]

Thanks. I'll see if they'll look at one. I followed a purple one the other day and it's about the same size as the i-MiEV.

 

[Zelenec]

They like the ride of the i-MiEV,

Gas burning Miev (as any other) is far from i-Miev ride experience, so I don't think it makes any sense to import ICE Miev.

 

[aarond12]

The gas-powered i would not meet US crash test results. Because of this, you could not legally or gray market import this vehicle for any use other than race track use.

Its 660cc engine would have trouble keeping up with traffic. Remember, the gas-powered i is slower than the i-MiEV.

 

[PV1]

Really? I thought they would be pretty close. I knew the MiEV was faster.

Thanks for your input. I see if they'll try out the Mirage. If not, maybe a gas range-extender for the i-MiEV.

 

[misterbleepy]

Another issue if the car were from the UK or Japan, is that the steering wheel would be on the wrong side. I'm not sure it was ever made in a LHD version.

 

[PV1]

Never thought of that, either.

I didn't think this through very well, did I?

 

[JoeS]

Never thought of that, either. I didn't think this through very well, did I?

PV1, aaah, but you really did your homework before you bought your i-MiEV! In perusing some of the other EV forums, I'm appalled at how little thought some people put into their EV purchase - and then gripe about it! My impression is that the people who buy an i-MiEV are very astute.

 

[markweatherill]

Hi,
for what it's worth, I get around 45 - 48 mpg (imperial) in the UK in warm weather. Cold weather around 40 - 45 mpg.

Now, someone could always take the entire running gear and drivetrain from a gasoline 'i' and retrofit it into an iMiev shell...

 

[rmay635703]

The gas-powered i would not meet US crash test results. Because of this, you could not legally or gray market import this vehicle for any use other than race track use.

It has nothing to do with MEET,
US Government, EVEN IF IT WERE 100% IDENTICAL WOULD BAN IT BECAUSE EACH DRIVETRAIN REQUIRES A NEW TEST!
That is why we are forced to get specific motors in new cars, for example, I can buy many US spec cars (even big ones) overseas with a 1ltr engine as an option, here I am not allowed to have the option because Ford would need to spend $$$ to crash test a car with an engine that was .35ltrs smaller.

I really wish that crash test and emissions garbage would be thrown out the window,
1st world countries other than the US are more than capable of testing cars to a standard that meets or exceeds our own, its long long long past time to allow USED gray market cars into our country if they come from a 1st world nation.

Reagan and his ideotic gray market laws which ban gray market cars were obsolete special interest handouts in 1985 and they still are.

Too bad we can't get about a million americans to push the government to remove crap like drivetrain crash test requirements and gray market laws used against used high quality first world cars.

Heck the VW Lupo (the 80mpg car) passed our crash tests and emissions but is still impossible to import.

Bleh!

/Rant off
______
Now back to the topic at hand, His best bet is a Mitsu Mirage, it is the ONLY car I know of that is a decent econo box.
It is like the modern version of the Geo Metro, except built better with decent crash ratings.

http://mirageforum.com/forum/

Its quite easy to hypermile, even the dumbed down pathetic US modd'd 1.2ltr Mirage manual into the 50mpg + area and this beats the 660cc 2 cycle Jap spec MIEV by a long mile.
If we could get the Mirage Eco 1ltr version low 60's would be easy.

Too bad the US has to be behind everybody else because our laws have to protect us from inexpensive imports of like models from other countries.

 

[PV1]

Thanks for everyone's input. They bought a C-Max Hybrid. I drove it today and got 45.8 mpg coming home. It's a nice car, though I found out rather quickly that I personally don't care much for a parallel hybrid drivetrain in a car. Very small electric range and just staying in electric mode isn't easy.

With the gas engine running, it has a lot of pickup. It also achieves READY nearly instantly, way faster than the i-MiEV.

This is the first hybrid I've ever driven. I went from gas straight to electric.

 

[offgridQLD]

I would much prefer the (Imiev) than the ( I car) but I think your watering down the I cars specs a little.

The I car is only 890kg vs 1100kg for the Imiev

The I car has a 660cc 3cyl double over head cam, variable valve timing, inter cooled turbo motor. It has the same power 48kw as the Imiev

The preliminary version of the 659 cc engine was first seen in the "i" Concept test car introduced in 2003, and used Mitsubishi's Smart Idling system which turns off the engine automatically when the vehicle is stationary, and can restart it within 0.2 seconds.[3] So equipped, Mitsubishi claimed the prototype was capable of fulfilling the "three litre initiative" for gasoline engines, meaning fuel consumption of no more than 3.0 liters per 100 km (94.2 mpg, 78.4 U.S. mpg).[3]

Though real world the engine when used in the I car consumed around 5.2lt /100km

Personally though I think there are way better gas burners than the I car . It's a dated car now .

Kurt