Challenge! 13's in the Quarter with 30 MPG City?

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

This is a general THEORETICAL question, but it is a good one. Yes, you can easily get a 30mpg highway car that will run 13's in the 1/4, but what about city? Can you get 40+ highway and 30+ city in a 13 second car with A/C? Those are Smart Fortwo numbers, but with much better performance. So, this is a bit of an engineering challenge. I will post up the rules, and while there are no prizes for winning, it is nonetheless fun to think about.

Rules:
Must be based on a production car or truck with 4 wheels from any manufacturer around the world of your choosing (No Reliant Robins, but a Fiat 500, Subaru 360, Honda N600, Mazda Carol, etc. would be OK.).
Major parts must be obtainable at a junkyard, but not necessarily a US junkyard.
Car must be capable of 30MPG City fuel economy and run 13's in the quarter mile.
Car must have working A/C
Cost must be reasonable with a maximum budget of around $5,000 to build in your garage.
Car must use an internal combustion engine. Diesel, Wankel, 2 stroke, 4 stroke, Gasoline, Miller cycle, etc. are all permissible. Sterling engines and turbines are not as they are external combustion.
Car can't be a hybrid (negotiable point...)
Car must be capable of seating 4 adults in relative discomfort, but seat them nonetheless.

Obviously this would be difficult in a G body due to the weight and aerodynamic qualities of the car. So, feel free to look at other options from Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, The Soviet Union, etc. This is sort of a test of creativity as much as it is one of technical knowledge. I have a few ideas I may one day build, but I am curious as to what others can think of.

(Yes, I have posted this before, but I figured I would do it again because we have picked up new members since then who may have different ways of thinking that we have not yet been exposed to.)

 

[HurstOlds]

haha, nice concept. I wouldn't mind working on something like this if I had disposable income. Unfortunately I'm working on tuning my junk to get me into the 13's.

 

[Larryg]

The easy way to go would be a turbo eclipse/talon where you could play with the computer for various tunes from the drivers seat. Those cars haul the mail. You could even go with the awd version for extra hook. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTJj-YaMdsk

Shepherd may be the best but there are plenty of guys making this little cars fly.

 

[1985Diablo]

Hmm, maybe a Miata with a 350 SBC would do it.

 

[Carsten]

ok...
take a old used GOLF 1 /( called Rabbit in the usa ) for about 500 $ . Then take a complete engine 1,9tdi out of a Golf 3 , it has up to 100hp stock for about 1200 $ incl. gearbox and so on. Reprogramm the software for more power , ad a bigger intercooler and exhaust , remove cat.. (possible for up to 160 to 180hp on the wheels.)
Then sell the original gearbox on ebay and buy a gearbox out of a golf 2 diesel for shorter gears for better acceleration.. There should be money left after that...
Take the a/c parts out of a Golf 1 cab for about 150 $ from ebay.
Then throw in some lightwight hoods and maybe doors ( altogehter about 600 on ebay ).
Should be at about 750kg..
With some used slicks it should get into the 13th from what i know some people do over here...
All other parts u need you can get for very small money at a junkjard , because all the older cars were wrecked and the government gave you money for that , when you buy a new car , so parts get very very cheap in the moment...
Or :
Take an old Mini Cooper and spend all the money for a Honda Civic engine ;-)

 

[monte olrac]

possible you can do it, if you have a .20 overdrive and keep it below 15 in the city im sure you'll get 30+ miles

 

[shotgun]

Small 5-speed car with a turbo 4 , even a turbo sprint 3 banger.

Rebuild with higher compression or crank the boost to run on e85.

Add a 50/75 shot of n2o when needed for 13z.

Next question!

 

[axisg]

I have always had a soft spot for the 1989 Dodge Colt GT Turbo AKA Mitsubishi Mirage. If memory serves they got 30-35mpg and would spank the 5.0 Mustang of the day back when new. The tuning available today in comparison to 1989 should be night and day. Don't think they did 13's in the 1/4 though.

 

[beermonkey9417]

a turbo saturn sl2 would do the trick. theres this web site(qksltwo.com) that has a saturn that does just that. not sure about the a/c but i think it fills all the requirements(sp?)

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

My thought for how to do it overall cheapest requires you to find some oddball stuff, like the donor car, in decent enough shape for cheap. I have several variants of this idea, but my current one is a 1st Generation RWD Toyota Corolla, built from 1966-1970. It weighs about 1600lbs and seats 4 adults. For an engine, the 20 valve variant of the Toyota 4A-GE that was used in 91-97 JDM Corollas would be used (run off a Megasquirt ECU and stand alone coil pack ignition system run off a crank trigger), and bolted to the T-50 transmission from a 4A-GE powered AE-86 Corolla. The engine produces 165hp, and in a 1600lb RWD car the math equals around mid 13's with a lightweight driver. The 4A is a 1.6 liter engine that produces around that MPG figure in the city when driven responsibly in a heavier car (AE-92 Corolla), so it should do it just fine in the lighter E-10 chassis. You could also do this idea with other ultra-small RWD cars like the Toyota Publica too.

One of my other plans was to use a Datsun PL510 (RWD, 50/50 weight distribution, 4 wheel independent suspension, etc.) with a SR20DET or an SR20DE with a VE head bolted on. However, the SR is not a very fuel efficient engine and is really too big. It could work, but I tend now to discount this idea.

Yes, the VTEC old Mini is one of my all time favorites. I figure it would be best with the B16B1 engine because the lack of weight means low end torque is just going to fry the tires, so the high strung engine is actually an advantage here. Another variant on this idea was to substitute a Yugo GV for the Mini as the Yugo is much cheaper to buy. Also possible as a substitute would be the Woolseley Hornet as it is a clone of the Mini. Then again, a 1st gen CRX would be an awesome platform to play with as well. If there is no room for the A/C, you could possibly use an electric A/C compressor from a hybrid like a Prius.