who here has a hot rod / kustom that has good to great gas milage ?and how was that achieved ?i heard everthing from 235 (6 bangers)with 5 speed over drives too 455/350 combos with 2:70 gears . i have a slant six in my wagon with g78 tires .the mileage is 18ish mpg .but,my front wheel drive 425/400, toranado gets best 14 mpg . these are all pumped gas scenarios .. not that diesel / veggie bullshit .
235's dont get as good mileage as you would think,,, i would imagine the 5 speed OD would help a lot though..
My heavy assed '35 sedan averaged 26.5 mpg on the 'round trip to Paso.........350---4L60 and 3.25 gears......I cruised at 65. The wife's flatty roadster with a T-5 and 3.00 gears....right at 20 mpg, I think she had more fun though.
All I'm getting with the 292 I six in my convert is 20mpg. Of course the car weighs almost 4500 pounds. BB
The service manual for my 61 falcon says it will get 30 MPG with the 170 six popper and 3 speed, of course the car does weigh 2200 lbs wet. I haven't had it on the road yet but I'm curious to find out. I would think something like the TBI 2.9L V6 and BW 5 speed from an S 10 would give you some good MPG if the car is light
I would really like to try one of those Fish carbs on our flathead. That poor old Holley 94 has been overhauled to death.
25 miles/gallon on the freeway, in my 27 roadster. 302 Ford V8, Overdrive trans, 3.73 gears and 750-16 (31" diameter) tires on the rear. 600 cfm carb.
20 mpg on the freeway doing about 80mph, 512 caddy bigblock, 2.73:1 gears in a 1829 lbs model A RPU. In city traffic about 15 mpg, still not bad for a 512 cid engine, but that just my 2 cents
My 31 Tudor got 27 MPG when I went to Primer Nats in Ventura. I it was all freeway driving and my 302 with an AOD and really high gears let me cruise at 70 MPH going 1500 RPMs. I need to drive this more that my F150 which gets 15MPG at best.
your going to need tbi fuel injection,computors and overhead cams to get great fuel mileage. not a hot rod but my 99 eldo w/ northstar gets 25-26 mpg.
Are you lettin' that L.A. Hollyweird shit get to you Skratch? I personally don't care about mpg in a hot rod, but maybe I'd feel differently if I drove one every day. (God bless little Ford Rangers) That said, I would think it would be mostly about the gearing. An overdrive transmission, some 2.somethin's in the rear, and I hate to say it, but some radial tires might help with that too.
My '38 has a 355 SBC, 350 trans, 2.78 gears. I get 20 mpg at 75 mph. That ain't balsa wood. It's a dog off the line, but a freeway flyer.
i've never had a new car ..so .i know nothing about tbi,tpi or computers .. i should of stated carbs or other pre computer controlled fuel injection . a 57 cad with a 365 cid non overdrive 5500 lbs gets bout 18mpg and newer fuel injected escalade gets about the same mpg .. but,a new Z06 vett ,505 hp,198 mph gets 28 mpg . this is all about what and what is willing of the big 3 and the fuel companies will do .. so,what can we do .to keep up with fuel companys as hot rodders . the gas crunch of the 70's hurt hot rodding .and the crude just went up ..again .
My '40 Chevy convert with ZZ4 crate motor, 700 R4 and 3.55 rear averaged 16.5 for the almost 7000 miles going to Louisville for the Nats, then Bonneville Speed Week, then up into northern Montana before returning to Michigan. Some tanks were 22-23, some were 10-11. Some days saw all mountains, some days were flat corn states. I think that isn't bad for a 3700 pound non-computer rig. A pretty real world result as opposed to only remembering the extremely good days only. I had a 2002 Trailblazer, 4.2 6 cyl that would see 20 on occasion, however when I sold it at 80K its lifetime average was 16.4. My 2007 Trailblazer is doing a bit better - probably averaging close to 18 but it will touch 24 on a long freeway haul. Charlie Charlie
I don't know if this helps with perspective, but I had a 2005 Mustang GT (5spd manual) for about a year, and I got an average of 19.5 mpg. I'm not saying the new z06 isn't capable of 28 mpg (down hill with a tail wind and the engine turned off?), but I bet you there isn't a soul that owns one that's getting anything close to that in the real world.
On one long trip I tried to get the best mileage possible in my 29 RPU (flathead) Probably cause I didn't have alot of money but also just to see. With the 3spd od and 3.78 and 7.50's, I was able to get 28 mpg according to the mapped distance. Unfortunately this was using the most conservative of driving techniques. No mashing down the pedal at starts and just the best driving speed with alot of bigrig/bigcar drafting! Also used a hood top and front fairing which seemed to make it smoother aerodynamically. With normal driving the rpu gets around 20+ with a good street/freeway mix. ##### We have a huge family van and when visiting family go to SD about 200 mmiles away. If we haul ass, the van gets about 15 MPG. If we cruise at 65, it gets over 20. That is a 5.0/AOD. ######## Basically driving style is almost as important as the mechanical choices. TP
My '56 Vette has a 327 with 11:0 / 1 compression and a 350 HP cam, 4 speed , and 3:36 rear. It has gotten 25 mpg on long freeway runs, but around town 13 mpg is much more common.
My '27 roadster gets way over that with a 2000cc Ford overhear cam motor, 3.80 gears. I'm the only one on long runs who doesn't have to fill up at every stop. The flathead in my coupe gets about 20 mpg I'd guess.
my gf's smart car gets 75 mpg, i want to put the drivetran into an all aluminum track roadster, 85mph top speed.
Dude, I know it's late, but you're not skeakin' THAT one by... let's see pix of your wife's so-called meteor
My 63 galaxie wagon gets 20-27 all day long and thats cruising at 75 on the freeway of corse i have a 289 with a 2 barrel and i beleve 1:98 rear gears
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