The Volkswagen Eco-Racer got 85 mpg and the Fiat Ecobasic got 94 mpg using existing technology. The Fiat even had four seats! So how did they do it...and why weren't they produced?

Both cars achieved such fantastic mileage primarily by being a heck of a lot lighter than anything else on the road. The VW eco-racer (not only economical, but also zippy) was made of carbon fiber. And while that means less gas, it also means a higher price. The Ecobasic on the other hand, went plastic. And that might reduce gas mileage, but it also can compromise safety.

In the end, neither of the cars are designed for markets that want fuel economy. If you want a "racer," they don't care how much carbon is flying out the tail-pipe, and if you want an economy car, you're not willing to pay thousands of dollars extra for fuel economy that will likely never pay for itself.

At least...for now. As gas prices go up, and carbon fiber gets cheaper, there's no way we won't see other incarnations of these vehicles on the road in the next ten years. Hopefully in hybrid or electric form.

Videos of both cars in action, after the jump.

Via AutoBlogGreen

The Fiat Ecobasic

The VW EcoRacer

Comments (6)

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Looks count more than performance for ma
written by Papa Hotel , December 05, 2007

You don't have to insist 0-60mph in under 5 seconds to be the type that likes a good looking car. I think the VW looks awesome, and I'd love to have that, even if it had only 100hp. Given the projected cost of gas over the life of a new car, I suppose there's a sizable market that wants sporty looking cars, but are are becoming more and more willing to sacrifice some performance for economy.

Note; a 1995 Tercel two-door base model only weighs 80 pounds more than that VW. It includes airbags, and can seat four.

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written by Steve , December 05, 2007

I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.11 on Ubuntu 7.10. I could not read this post, the right margin was cut off by the column "Blogs For Geeks"

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written by Charlie , December 06, 2007

I'm using Firefox on Windows. I can't read it either because the adds cover up half the text. I can read it if I do a print preview and get rid of the adds.

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written by Steve , December 06, 2007

I just got to work. The article is fine in IE on XP professional, but the same problem exists in firefox on XP.

FWIW, Firefox, Mozilla, a number of browsers built with Gecko ( the mozilla rendering engine ) and Opera are all w3.org standards compliant browsers. If you test your site to work in one of these browser you know your site fits standards and will work in about a half dozen browsers.

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written by tankd0g , December 06, 2007

The Honda CRX HF was a hell of a lot more useful than one of these things and it got 60mpg in 1985. My how we've gone backwards.

hi
written by yuliya , December 13, 2007

nice cars urs no well nice cars

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