My Locost is at 228HP per ton and I get 20mpg no matter how I drive it. Local roads or highway doesn't make much difference. Of course I have a fuel sucking rotary and I don't generally drive it nicely. My DD is a 148HP Elantra (~105HP/ton) that gets a highway EPA rating of 40 MPG. But that is a 6-speed auto with today's technology etc. If I actually drive the Elantra at 70mph vs 55-60, the mileage drops to ~35mpg. And that mileage drops significantly more if there is a headwind. Aero is king for highway driving.
Weekend trips and long drives in a Locost is your intended use? Aero,aero, aero! To get anything close to 40 MPG you will be looking at either Jack's traditional Locost bodied MAX with a turbo diesel (he was getting 50+MPG in that configuration), or a car looking very different from a Seven like Jack's rebodied MAX (>100MPG under controlled conditions). You will have to decide if you want the look of a Locost or the 200HP/ton thrill. I don't think you will be able to have both. I can imagine maybe a 80HP/ton and 30+ MPG gas powered sevenseque vehicle. But I have no real basis for thinking that. Anybody else with a sevenesque meet those 200HP/ton and 40 MPG highway numbers at the same time?
Your $7K goal is doable if you work from a single donor, don't farm out a lot if work and don't rebuild mechanicals too much. Not counting my engine rebuilding costs and replacing new brake stuff where the existing would have done just fine, I was in about 4K. That can easily creep out of control with buying stuff that is "nice" to have rather than "necessary" to have, like classic gauges or wheels & tires or FuelSafe gas tanks or Wilwood pedal assemblies with dual-master brake cylinder , or...... You get the point?
It is good to have goals. That helps keep us on the intended path. How hard and fast are these 3 goals? Or are they "stretch-goals"?
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Chuck.
“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman
Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log:
over HEREOr my Wankel powered Locost log :
over HEREAnd don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766