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Thread: We are driving behemoths, gigantic enormous drinkers of dino oil....

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    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    We are driving behemoths, gigantic enormous drinkers of dino oil....

    when compared to an original Fiat 500.

    I pulled up beside one today. Good lord! Our Mirages are massive compared to that thing. I had to laugh when dude rolled down his window, so I did too, and he asked how I like my luxury car!!! Guy had a sense of humor.

    When I was a kid my mother and myself drove from Toronto to New Brunswick in one of these little beasts. It overheated, a lot, and at some point the rad got replaced. I recall my mother swearing at my Dad on the phone about troubles we were having with the Fiat.

    When we returned the Fiat was sold and Dad bought a Mini Woody Wagon. I probably get my love of small cars based on my family having a few.


    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


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    dspace9 (10-31-2019)

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    Yes, the Mirage is gigantic, but not very thirsty. According to this forum thread, the 500 does not do better than 17km/L, at 100km/h with a warm engine. My Space Star does 26km/L in the same situation.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2013 Space Star Cleartec Intense 1.0 manual: 55.7 mpg (US) ... 23.7 km/L ... 4.2 L/100 km ... 66.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    I can barely read dutch, but I can see they are referring to the 600cc Fiat from the 60-70's. 17km/l was pretty good for that era, wasn't it?
    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member MacClyver's Avatar
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    Yes 17 km/L would've been good then, in the prime era of 7L V8's. I don't think anything could get to 50 mpg(21.25 km/L) until the original Honda CVCC.

    I don't think I've seen one of those on the road. But subcompacts sure have grown. Comparing 80's or 90's subcompacts to the Mirage can show that. Wonder if an ultracompact class will emerge harkening back to those early cars like the 500 or Subaru 360.

    Anyone know of the Vanguard Electric car from the 70's?

    Hard to imagine that being approved in the age of land yachts. I feel secure in little cars, but that might be hair raising to drive today.

    Was thinking that until I realized that's just about how big the ForTwo EV is.


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    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MacClyver View Post
    Yes 17 km/L would've been good then, in the prime era of 7L V8's. I don't think anything could get to 50 mpg(21.25 km/L) until the original Honda CVCC.

    I don't think I've seen one of those on the road. But subcompacts sure have grown. Comparing 80's or 90's subcompacts to the Mirage can show that. Wonder if an ultracompact class will emerge harkening back to those early cars like the 500 or Subaru 360.

    Anyone know of the Vanguard Electric car from the 70's?

    Hard to imagine that being approved in the age of land yachts. I feel secure in little cars, but that might be hair raising to drive today.

    Was thinking that until I realized that's just about how big the ForTwo EV is.
    That car is a riot! Just as weird and odd as the critter I posted.

    My Dad made a dune buggy from a VW chassis. No seat belts, rather low sidewalls, absolutely no crash protection, the fiberglas in any given spot was 3/16" thick? Maybe less around the passenger compartment. We drove that thing everywhere, 75mph on the highway, tearing around city streets sliding like mad in every corner. I'm still here, nothing smashed.

    The automotive world has changed so much since I started driving 40 some years ago.
    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Wallythacker View Post
    I can barely read dutch, but I can see they are referring to the 600cc Fiat from the 60-70's. 17km/l was pretty good for that era, wasn't it?
    I don't know. My father had a beetle in 1970. I think it did 11km/L. So then 17km/L isn't bad, although that beetle was much bigger. But I was in the Daf museum once, where I saw a bunch of Daffodils, (you know, one of the first CVT's) which did 27-29km/L, according to it's sign.

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2013 Space Star Cleartec Intense 1.0 manual: 55.7 mpg (US) ... 23.7 km/L ... 4.2 L/100 km ... 66.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Some decades ago, I owned a Fiat 500 built in 1974. It had a two-cylinder air-cooled engine with 500ccm and 18PS(hp). Each cylinder was individualy cast, much like a lawnmower, and the cylinder head was aluminium. In idle the engine would vibrate up and down about 10cm (4 inches). During starting sequence, the rear of the car shook up and down and left to right like crazy. It did not overheat as the later produced FIAT 126 tended to do. The fuel tank was a horizontal cylinder in the tiny front "luggage compartment". Fuel guage was simply a plastic dipstick for sticking into the tank. Width was at least 30cm (a foot) less than the Mirage, but did not feel cramped inside at all.
    It was old and just about all I could afford at the time, but perfectly suited for the family. And yes, we all fitted in at once comfortably enough. Because it was not oversized, you could drive it through little goat trails off road where other cars incling 4x4's just couldn't go. Weight was barely over 500kg. It had a top speed around 100km/h and had no issue keeping up with traffic. Following FIAT custom, just as the smallest FIAT models were then and are today, you could easily take the engine or anything else apart yourself, for example to renew piston rings, with only a handful of very ordinary tools. It was succeeded by the FIAT 126, then the Cinquecento then the Seicento. The Sceicento was built until 2010 or so, and I bought one of the first ever made for a family member. It was sold last year at age 20 and was in perfect order without rust. In hindsight, should have kept it!
    Yes, compared to that, the Mirage is gigantic! If the Mirage were some 20cm or so narrower, it might have more appeal to European folks.


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    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_500

    https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Nuova_500

    https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Seicento
    Last edited by foama; 11-01-2019 at 12:38 PM.

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    dspace9 (10-31-2019)

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    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    Ah, Ok, it was a 600 that we owned as it's water cooled and I know for a fact our Fiat required liberal doses of water on the road trip to New Brunswick.

    Wiki says the 500 is all of 9' 9" long. I owned Detroit iron with trunks longer than that.
    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by foama View Post
    Yes, compared to that, the Mirage is gigantic! If the Mirage were some 20cm or so narrower, it might have more appeal to European folks.
    That's really interesting. I did not know the ins and outs of a Fiat 500 like that.

    I know my Dad had an old Fiat in Holland, I believe a Siecento (spelling?), the one with suicide doors.

    Dip stick gas gauge, wow that is primitive.


    Last edited by dspace9; 10-31-2019 at 05:06 PM.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.2 mpg (US) ... 17.9 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.7 mpg (Imp)


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