Stop talking about gears
You wrote "Actually, if you compare just the engines", well, if you were comparing just the engines (to me this means out of the car and in a testing lab), then you would have an engine performance map that showed fuel consumption as a funtion of load and engine speed. If you've somehow got this information from the manufacturers please show me, I didn't see it on howstuffworks. I would put a paycheck that for a given load the vette engine fuel consumption will not be that much worse than the sk2 consumption.

 

I get less than 20 in the city, and I really could care less.

Also, try looking at the real world numbers on a Vette. The way I drive my cars, I'm sure the Vette would see more like 10 to 12 MPG.

 

 

here try this...

give the vette the same gearing as the S2k and then see what kind of mileage it gets. i gaurantee you it sure as hell won't be anywhere NEAR what the S2k gets. so please, continue your silly debate that the engine is somehow some modern marvel that gets fantastic gas mileage, and pretend the gearing is negligible.

If you don't get it by now, then you never will.

 

The whole point is that the S2000 provides a lot of performance in a pretty small package. A 4 cylinder is still going to use a ton of gas when you've got a high compression ratio, combined with very aggresive gearing.

Not to mention its about as aerodynamic as a brick (especially with the top down), so the highway mileage isn't as good as it might be if it were designed to be a coupe.

 

S2000 needs a 7th gear...i think that will net another 3 mpg on the freeway.

 

It would only "net 3 mpg" if they geared it appropriately. It would also be extremely expensive to do, and then you would lose all the benefit of better fuel economy by spending more for an exotic 7 speed transmission.

 

HAHA! I missed this
First let me say that I see alot of your posts in the forums and you seem pretty knowlegeable about everything you comment on, but I can't believe you actually posted this. The engine means everything. You're basically saying you can put any engine into operation and as long as you cleverly gear it you will get great fuel economy? (don't respond, I know the answer) I don't understand why you don't think it's possible for the vette engine to effectively convert fuel into energy, or close to what the s2k does for that matter...hold on now, I'm not talking about mpg, I mean power at the crank.Do whatever you want with gears but if an engine can't convert fuel into energy effectively (as both the modern vette engine and s2k engine do) then gears won't do a damn thing for your mpg. I don't know how much more clearer I can put it.
If you don't get it by now, then you never will.

 

Who cares about gas mileage.

I for one didn't buy my S for it's MPG.

 

Firstly, when i said "something" i was referring to the car not specifically the engine but obiviously I wasn't too clear about that...

Obviously gearing helps, but thats part of the package. If an E55 AMG is faster than a Quattroporte because it has a supercharger, it doesn't mean that Mercedes "cheated". At the end of the day, the Corvette rips to 60 in the low 4's, performs respectably, and then its super tall sixth gear allows for relaxed cruising on the interstate while getting decent gas mileage. No one's saying the a vette has a son-of-god engine or anything, but the total package is somewhat effective.

As a sidenote, I still think it handles like a stuck pig (I think I've been influenced by Clarkson's comments on "leaf-springs" and its not terribly well rounded. For me S2000>Vette which is why I'm getting an S2k and not a vette very soon. But you gotta give credit (to the vette) where credit's due.

This thread has gone off topic. Bottom line: an S2k gets way better real world MPG, specially with hard driving, than a vette.