Happy with mpg

[Gary Hilton]

I was in Tupelo, Mississippi a few weeks ago and had to go pick up an airplane part at an airport SW of Jakson, Ms. for a friend.

I chose to drive on the National hiway, the Natchez Trace. Nice scenic leisurely drive.
I topped the tank off a mile from the entrance to the Trace.

Being a Federal road, the speed limit is set at 50 miles per hour it's entire length from Nashville, TN to Vicksburg, Ms. No commercial traffic is allowed on this road.

I set my cruise control at 52 mph, and eased down the road. Those Mississippi drivers cannot do 50 mph, as I was getting passed even by mopeds, but I was on a mission to see what milage the car was capable of.

When I exited the Trace, it was 1/2 mile from the airport hangar. 174 miles....according to the instruments, the Mirage averaged 51.6 mpg! I t took a little over 3 hours, but dang!

I got back to Tupelo a longer distance getting on I-55 , but a lot faster at 75 mph and 46 mpg! Either trip, still better mpg than my Harley Street Bob!

[Mark]

I was in Tupelo, Mississippi a few weeks ago and had to go pick up an airplane part at an airport SW of Jakson, Ms. for a friend.

I chose to drive on the National hiway, the Natchez Trace. Nice scenic leisurely drive.
I topped the tank off a mile from the entrance to the Trace.

Being a Federal road, the speed limit is set at 50 miles per hour it's entire length from Nashville, TN to Vicksburg, Ms. No commercial traffic is allowed on this road.

I set my cruise control at 52 mph, and eased down the road. Those Mississippi drivers cannot do 50 mph, as I was getting passed even by mopeds, but I was on a mission to see what milage the car was capable of.

When I exited the Trace, it was 1/2 mile from the airport hangar. 174 miles....according to the instruments, the Mirage averaged 51.6 mpg! I t took a little over 3 hours, but dang!

I got back to Tupelo a longer distance getting on I-55 , but a lot faster at 75 mph and 46 mpg! Either trip, still better mpg than my Harley Street Bob!

Good example of what a Mirage can do!

The world would be a better place if more people drove Mirages!

I am still a bit surprised over how many cars have disappeared from the market in the past 5 years or so.

[Gary Hilton]

What do you mean by disappeared?

[precisionxt]

What do you mean by disappeared?

I think he's referring to competition in the subcompact segment. The Spark & Pilot are recent examples. The Mirage is the only N/A non-hybrid car left in the US in that class that I'm aware of.

[Fummins]

What do you mean by disappeared?

They quit selling the Yaris,Fit, Mazda2,Echo, Accent,Rio, Fiesta, and this is the last year for the Spark I believe. The small car market has shrunk to basically the Mirage is the last man standing unless you want to go to a bigger, more expensive car or suv.

[mohammad]

There's also mini cooper, but thats beyond most of our budgets.

[Dirk Diggler]

There's also mini cooper, but thats beyond most of our budgets.

Mini Cooper = cramped BMW

[Mark]

What do you mean by disappeared?

???

It's easier to list what remains versus what has disappeared.

Ford dropped everything, except the Mustang.

Chevy has dropped the Impala, Cruze, Sonic, & now the Spark.

Even though this happened quite some time ago - think about the GM companies that focused mostly on cars. Pontiac, Oldsmobile, & Saturn are long gone. You can't even buy a grandpa Buick car these days. Grandpa would have to upgrade to a Cadillac sedan today. How many newer Cadillac sedans have you seen in recent years?

Chrysler has the Challenger/Charger/300 and not much else.

If Chrysler didn't have their RAM trucks and a cult-like Jeep following, they would be long gone as a company in my opinion. How did Fiat cars do in North America?

Fit, Yaris, & Prius c are a huge loss!

The entire Scion line up is a huge loss!

Yes, the Accord, Civic, Camry, and Corolla still exist today. Mazda may still offer a few cars like the Miata & a few others. Hyundia/KIA may sell some cars like the Soul & others. I don't care enough about them to check.

In my mind, cars have been disappearing. It could be my imagination just playing tricks on me, however.

[MetroMPG]

Welcome to the forum, Gary!

I've seen pictures from the Natchez Trace - very nice.

Either trip, still better mpg than my Harley Street Bob!

But your Harley probably has more hp than the Mirage.