Torsion Powered Vehicle

[Kevin]

Now , I barely remember the GEO Metro , I know it was tiny , could almost pick up the front end (engine and all ) by myself ( :lol: ) , fantastic gas mileage and super cheap , and then they seemingly vanished .

I had a 1989 Geo Metro that I got in 96, it had 77,000 miles on it when I got it. Due to some of the conditions it had to live in it finally died in 2003, frame cracked. I had put I think another 80,000 mies on it. Towards the end of it's life the MPG had falled to 35 or. But some of that was because I hadn't given it the best care either. But from 96 to 2001 it would regularly make the 450 mile trip from where I lived to where my parents lived (and the 28 additional miles to where my wife's parents lived) 1 to 6 times a year. Most of that driving was done on interstates, much of it at 70-80 miles per hour (oh yes I would speed, I even got a speeding ticket for going 89 in a 70 zone one year). The little bugger would be carrying 800 pounds between me my wife and the stuff we were hauling. I would frequently see 50 miles to the gallon when I filled up the little 10 gallon tank. Several of those trips were made with no stops at all. We would eat stuff from the little cooler and could go 7 hours without needing the restroom.

The tanks of gas that got burned all on driving in town were still often over 40 MPG.

Did it have it's drawbacks? Yeah, it wasn't exactly a power house. A 5 speed transmission (it was a manual not an automatic) on a 998 CC (that was embossed on the engine block) 3 cylinder engine isn't exactly super powerful. It was basically an in line instead of cylindrical motorcycle engine in a car. It was a light vehicle. I could lose speed going up a hill. I drove it a bit like a semi with trailer. I would let it overspeed at the bottom of the hill so that I would have a bit more momentum for the next hill. But it wasn't too bad. I did actually pick up a side to get a block under it to change a tire once, that was when I was in better shape than I am now. And while it was small, it was bigger than it looked. I'm 6 foot tall. Many of the cars sold today are awful for me to sit in the back seat. My head hits the roof and my legs are cramped. I had no issues in that little 5 door Metro in the back seat.

For a poor college student, it was a fantastic vehicle. Insurance was like $100 a year. Gas was like $100 a year. :) It got me from A to B with stops at C and D in the middle sometimes just fine. I ended up replacing it with a 1988 Honda Civic, of course the engine in that Civic was made in 2003. I was so disappointed when I calculated my first tanks gas mileage at 32 MPG. It felt like such a low number and then there was a tank that was in the 20's since it was all in town driving. Sure it was the upper 20's but it was in the 20's.

I can understand why the Metro didn't last. People didn't feel safe in them. It's not a lot of car around you and the fact that yes you could lose speed going up some of the steeper hills and you needed to "wind-up" a bit sometimes to pass folks would put people off. But I liked the little guy. Of course I was in my 20's and quite poor too. :)