Coupe may need replacement cuz of big engine

[95WhiteCamry]

EDIT: couldn't post in general discussion; would appreciate if this was moved there.

As stated in the title, I want to compare how various engine displacements can tackle long distance treks.

In the last 7 months, I have put 7k miles on my coupe. My main driving is basically a 350 mile comute one way from Berkeley (oakland area) to Los Angeles and back about once a month. There's also trips of about 200 miles one way to central Cali as well. Esentially, 70% of my total driving is being stuck on a 2 lane highway for a good 4-7 hours. On those commutes, I can average in between 24-28 mpg (actually less than calculated because my odometer is a bit faster going then actual miles - slightly wrong wheel diameter). With that mpg, i generaly have either 2 or 3 people in the car and a lot of luggage/crap. The added weight is unavoidable.

In the city (san fernando valley and oakland) i can average a pathetic 16-18 mpg. That's generally with either 1 person or crap from work/school. So here's my overall question:

For long distance driving, if i were to get a lesser displacement engine (either 4 or 6 cylinder), would my efficiency increase or descrease? The reason why I think it may decrease is because with less power, I would need more RPM's to go at the same speed granted the total weight is about the same. However, It is not the highway miles that kill me. My main thing is to improve city milage.

Although I had the coupe for a smidge less than a year, the car still needs some expensive maintenance. It barely passed cali emmisions and has a nice little oil leak from the rear main seal. In addition, the whole suspension needs a good redoing and i think my tranny may be going soon. I feel the previous owner didn't like it as much as i did. So here i am looking for advice.

What kind of engine will still be reliable enough to do long distance drives with fuel economy comparable to the coupe while still not killing me in the city driving? A few requirements are that this car has to be either sedan or wagon (no suv/van or coupe) with preferrably a manual transmission (not a nessecity). Country of origin or make not too important. Year is not a big factor either.

Another reason for me wanting to sell the coupe is that recently i had the chance to drive a friends 3rd gen v6 with about half my milage and realized how weak my coupe is compared to his sedan. My engine is not what it used to be i guess. The coupe has not been listed for sale. If i do find out that it is still the best relative option compared to other models for this kind of driving, i will keep it. But yeah, that is all and sorry for the long post. Thanks.

-alex

[Toysrme]

The minimum amount of engine required without lugging the engine is the most economical.
Buy another car Not really gunna be much you can do. City mpg seems very low to me, tho you may spend the majority of your time in such a place idling, where we do not here.

You got a M/T on that v6?

[95WhiteCamry]

Yeah, city mpg is suffering because LA is a lot of stop and go with speeds maxing out at about 35 and up north the speed limits are about 25-30 with still a lot of stop and go.

the v6 is also mated to the stock auto tranny.. that's not helping either.

[Toysrme]

Once you're at operating temp. Try shutting it off when you idle.