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3-cylinder Geo Metro; Looking for 3-cyl Metro in Michigan
Topic Started: Jul 21 2014, 04:51 PM (4,425 Views)
HenryEPayne
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I'm looking for a 3-cylinder Geo Metro in Michigan to test vs. a 2015 Ford Fiesta 3-cylinder. I'm Henry Payne, auto critic for The Detroit News. Anyone have 3-banger?
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perfesser
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Elite Member - Former Metro owner

So you're going to test a 20 year old car against a brand new one with 2-3 times the power? That should be interesting! Head-to-head, there's no contest. If you use the comparison to put the Ford into a historical context of the advances since the '90s, it could be quite a good article.

In your piece, please be gentle with the Metro. It was never meant to compete with what the Ford is.
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mjspiess
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HenryEPayne
Jul 21 2014, 04:51 PM
I'm looking for a 3-cylinder Geo Metro in Michigan to test vs. a 2015 Ford Fiesta 3-cylinder. I'm Henry Payne, auto critic for The Detroit News. Anyone have 3-banger?
How far are you willing to travel? I'm in Lansing. I'd be glad to participate in this!
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Murf 59
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Do we have a 3 cly here. Man that is what this place is about. Let him run off against one of T3s. But I guess my first question would be, what is the test involve? Under what conditions?
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mjspiess
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I'm up for whatever. It's pretty obvious a 49 HP Geo Metro is gonna get smoked by a turbocharged 123 HP Ford Fiesta. It will be leaps & bounds nicer, quieter, safer, etc. We all know this. What I'm interested is steady state MPG at any given speed. Like I said though, I'm up for whatever.
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HenryEPayne
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Thanks for the fast response, boys. Yes, I'm looking to put these funboxes in historical context. MJSPIESS I can come to you (sent you a private message) with a brand new Fiesta 3-cyl. It's a blast and would make great compare to the iconic Metro
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perfesser
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Elite Member - Former Metro owner

When it goes live, would you please post us a link to the article? That would be greatly appreciated!!
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mjspiess
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HenryEPayne
Jul 21 2014, 10:33 PM
Thanks for the fast response, boys. Yes, I'm looking to put these funboxes in historical context. MJSPIESS I can come to you (sent you a private message) with a brand new Fiesta 3-cyl. It's a blast and would make great compare to the iconic Metro
Just replied to your PM. This may happen as early as tomorrow :thumb
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JellyBeanDriver


mjspiess
Jul 21 2014, 11:03 PM
HenryEPayne
Jul 21 2014, 10:33 PM
Thanks for the fast response, boys. Yes, I'm looking to put these funboxes in historical context. MJSPIESS I can come to you (sent you a private message) with a brand new Fiesta 3-cyl. It's a blast and would make great compare to the iconic Metro
Just replied to your PM. This may happen as early as tomorrow :thumb
Sweet!

See if you can get that Fiesta to last 456,000 miles on the original unopened engine and still get 52 MPG.

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allmountain40
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Too bad you weren't close to Washington, I'd let you test against my N/A swift GTi. Horsepower and trim are more comparable as well as mileage.
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Car Nut
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Would love to test drive one of those Fiestas but nobody has one anywhere near me yet. Maybe when the 2015 start showing up.
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mjspiess
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I had the privilege of meeting with Henry over my hour lunch break today. He was a very nice guy who is genuinely interested in the Geo Metro, its following, the forum and small cars in general. It was pretty neat! He took a lot of pictures and video and asked my input on a variety of things and all the differences I could think of between the two...mostly refinements, etc. I told him about the not so obvious modifications I made to my Metro. He was pretty intrigued.

He then proceeded to mount a GoPro to the top of my Metro. We swapped spots & I took the Fiesta for a spin while he followed. I was immediately impressed! Quiet, zippy little car! I can't believe how smooth, quick, quiet & powerful it was. It did not feel like a little 3 cylinder at all. It felt nearly as powerful as my Cruze 1.4T before I tuned it. I wasn't sure if the 1.0 in a Focus would be a good idea, but after driving the Fiesta, that 1.0 will handle the heavier Focus just fine. I was thoroughly impressed with the little car. We got on the highway for 4-5 miles. He got next to me & we did a 4th gear pull from 60 MPH. Fiesta pulled away easily. We then did a 3rd gear pull at 60 MPH & the Fiesta pulled away very easily. Not surprised by either scenarios :lol We got off the highway & I took a good hard right turn. Seemed to have a little body roll, but nothing crazy. We did a couple more rolling pulls. We exchanged positions on the way back a few more times. Then we stopped short of my job location & he put the camera on the back of the Fiesta & he got right behind me to get a view of the Metro driving as well & the Fiesta pulling away. Once we got back, we still had a few more min. so he took some more pics. and asked more questions. I told him about the turbo Firefly in Canada, the website www.fuelly.com, our forum, etc. And then he offered me lunch, but I had to head back to work.

From what I gather, his piece will mainly be a historical timeline of where the 1.0 3 cylinder started in America and where it's at 20 years later. I can say, a LOT has changed. The Ford Fiesta 1.0 is very technologically advanced and refined. Unfortunately, the 1.0 option is a $1,300 premium. You can buy drivable Metros for that price! Econoboxes now are leaps & bounds better than they were...however, the Geo Metro still wins the MPG war :) EPA rating of the Fiesta is 32/45/37 MPG while my Metro is rated 37/44/40 MPG. Although, my Metro is quite modified for maximal MPG. My last 10 fill ups I've averaged 52.2 MPG. The Fiesta averaged 44.6 MPG from Detroit to Saint Johns. Overall, very cool experience. The piece should be written in a few weeks. He said he'll keep me updated.

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Edited by mjspiess, Nov 26 2014, 10:17 AM.
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badappleny
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very cool ... to bad he didn't give you the Fiesta
Edited by badappleny, Jul 22 2014, 07:33 PM.
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mjspiess
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badappleny
Jul 22 2014, 07:25 PM
very cool ... to bad he didn't give you the Fiesta
No kidding. I'd love to borrow one for a week and see what kind of MPG I get during my daily commute. I'm getting 46.8 MPG over my last 10 fill ups with my Cruze Eco which is rated 42 highway. I'm pretty confident I'd fairly easily average low 50s with the Fiesta.
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Turbo Dan-O
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Obsessive Car Detailer

mjspiess
Jul 22 2014, 05:51 PM
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:wub: Still love my Metro...

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Edited by Turbo Dan-O, Jul 22 2014, 07:59 PM.
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