the all time battle

[boosted_eclpse]

Metro with a 4XF1 engine swap= pretty fast. Festivas rule in the compact car world though. DSM will always be my favorite though when it comes to stock horse power.

[JumboShrimp]

not all metros are 1.0 or 3cyl. Mines a 1.3 4cyl

[JumboShrimp]

Although id still rater have a festiva

[nxp]

I think both are great cars - in my 121 I've got loads of storage space - I even crammed a motorbike once (got in horizontal and the turned it back to vertical, with the front passenger seat unbolted and crammed against the windscreen), but if you're into power, speed and still get good economy the Metro/Swift with the 1.3 engine wins by far - both with the SOHC and DOHC engines.

[ejp2fast]

i am waiting to drop the 1.0 block in my geo..... will be interesting to compare when its running.

BTW-nice thread resurrection!

[festyxfi]

Just about anything that can be said has been said here IMHO.

I've always followed the rule: Metros are for selling, Festivas are for driving.

For some reason, people think "metro" before "festiva" when it comes to buying an econo-box. Last season I threw a nice black rust free festy on eBay and it barely sold for a grand. I threw rust-free metros up all summer for 4K, 5K and 6K sales. (I hope this summer is the same)

The base 3/5 gets about 49MPG all day long. The G10 motor is the easiest motor ever created to work on (and cheap) I rebuilt two heads in one night for the tune of $50 bucks (including head gaskets) If you keep the EGR valve clean they will run for 300K (if you don't, 90K before valve job)

The metro has some annoying little things like weak door handles (inside and out) window regs. that never seem to work right, dash bezels that break in your hands (a dare someone to install a stereo in a metro without breaking one)

but...the XFi version will get over 60MPG. I've done it several times in a varity of cars. My record is 67MPG in a 93 XFi. This is bone stock, without lightening up or aero mods. Others have done better than that.

The festiva to me is a bullet-proof little car with a stout motor, plenty of power (especially the EFI) the trannys won't wear out all the time. They can stand the rust issue longer (metros have weak lower control arms)

My future tactic is have at least one festy around at all times (winter driving) and one XFi around for summer, when gas shoots through the roof. My Honda XR650L dual sport only gets 50MPG on a good day.

I have three running XFi motors for sale if anyone is interested. Pair it up with an XFi trans, through it in a 3/5 and off you go.

FX