Those boys over at Top Gear America are mental brave. Seriously brave. They’ve decided to buy a 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit and swap out its engine for a newer VW TDI powerplant. Then they’re going to revise the gearing, give it low rolling resistance tires, and optimize with the aerodynamics. Why are they doing this? Because they are trying to build a $7,000 car that will get 70 (US) mpg while still getting from 0-60 mph in under 7 seconds. Sounds like a tall order but it probably isn’t much crazier than the stunts James, Jeremy, and Richard try to pull off every second show. So despite a rocky start for Top Gear America, our hats are off to them. The feature describing the ins and outs of the plan is available here.

Stay tuned to CarEnvy.ca because it won’t be long before we’re embarking on barking mad challenges like these.

[Top Gear US]