Post your tricks for fuel mileage on a V8

Driving like a grandma is probably what improved the mileage. The seat of the pants from the Tornado, that was all in your head. They have been proven to really have no impact. If they actually did, we would see this incorporated into new cars to help meet MPG goals.

That'd be funny if they had a frame, what I believe you meant by ch***is, they're uni-body...

Yep cooling is what increases not heating it. You can buy cool cans for racing but they never seemed like they would be that good of an idea on the street, fill er up with ice everytime you stopped. lol

 

Put these under your carburetor...but actually I think it's the pointy tin foil cap that I wear on the road. It helps attract the positive ions and deflect the negative ones.

 

only drive it down hill

 

A couple I knew in college had a beater Bug. It ****ped out one day and I loaned them my Fiat 128 sedan. When I got my car back, they were amazed at how "easy" it drove and how free it felt. When they put their VW in neutral it didn't "coast" at all. The Fiat hardly slowed down. The difference? The Fiat had a good alignment and radials. Their bug, it turned out, had over tightened front wheel bearings and some dragging brake shoes. I don't think the oil change on the motor hurt, either. When we got the bug's ch***is sorted, they were much happier campers. Gary

 

Tall tires Tall gears Light throttle Light weight Lower speeds

I noticed that your car was an early 70's car.

That was back in the time when they severely retarded the ign timing and made the engines breathe their own exhaust.

One of the very best things you can do is to block off the EGR valve so the engine doesn't have to **** it's own exhaust, and get a lower temp thermostat.
The early smoggers had temps much too high, timing much too retarded, and intake air much too hot.
Most also went from a fairly decent breathing air cleaner to an air cleaner with a super skinny snorkel on it. You don't want to try to breathe thru a straw. I like air cleaners with a larger snorkel even if I have to cut it off back in the section where it has a larger diam, and run a large heater hose to a cooler air intake location.

A cool air source, and a disconnected hot-air pipe help a lot.

Don't go by the books for ignition timing. Time it by ear and by driving. Usually keeping it just short of spark knock works best, but you will get a feel for it as you drive the car and get familiar with it.
Just remember, the factories started using severely retarded timing purely for p***ing EPA regs, and to be safer under the newer higher operating temps and the crummy fuel.

Power AND fuel mileage will go up very noticeably.

And DITTO the post before this one for the wheel alignment advice.
If nothing else, get the toe in set as close as you can to factory specs if you run fairly close to the same ride-height as stock.
And- hard tires roll easier than soft flexing tires.

And, GET RID OF THAT EGR! (disclaimer- do not violate any laws, or advocate breaking any laws)

 

I started with a Merlin III big block, 4.500in bore, added a 427 crank (480ci) and put in a set of 15:1 Venolia pistons. It's topped off with a set of Dart 320 heads fully ported by Sam Giannino, run by a .770 lift custom grind Reed roller cam and inhaling through a 3" Crower stack injector. Running on Methanol, it gets 1 MPG.

****, shoulda read the first post...this was a thread about getting BETTER mileage? Nevermind....

 

Running the right grade of fuel for a particular engine will increase gas mileage......but the bottom line in this case would be miles per dollar calculation. Oh,,,,and always clip a clothes pin on the fuel line close to the carb!

 

I heard Obama say when he was running for pres. If we all put air in our tires we wouldn't have a gas crissis. and people still voted for him???

 

Way to take something out of context. Now maybe go Read This First!
And pay attention to rule #2

 

This is how I managed 18-20mpg out of my '57 all through high school. Then on Saturdays, Id burn about 20 gallons, and never leave town. But then, 91 was less than $2/gal. in those days.

 

I heard ups trucks only make right turns maybe you can try that.

 

according to them about 90% right turns, their routing software maps out the routes, some of it has to do with safety and time management.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=3005890&page=1

 

What is the car?
A nice aluminum intake can improve mileage by a couple MPG, along with freer-flowing exhaust (going from single to duals, etc.). All the other things everyone else said are good, too, but no one mentioned just using a better intake manifold.
But it depends on what you have, too. Big difference between a 1971 Skylark with a 350 vs. a 1976 Mercury Marquis with a 460.

 

Face it,you"re drivng a heavy car so just don"t pick all those fat girls up anymore.those cars didn"t get good mileage when they were built and on todays ****ty gas they never will,add some fuel additive to it, keep it tuned good air filter serviced and ride. people mostly bought the big caddies for Status anyway.

 

Tune it to the max. Free flowing exhaust. Boost compression. The better your tune on a mill the more efficient it will be.

 

Heavy? My car is right at 4000 lbs. a 4 door Honda Accord is 3800 lbs. these days. Those cars are not heavy by todays standards...

 

In the 70's during the gas crisis, I used a spearco water injection set up,advanced the timing and installed an MSD box. Got me 16-18mpg out of a 69 GTO Ram Air III that was previously giving me 12. Ran better too.

 

Like OSG41 said, advance the timing a couple of degrees. If there's room under the hood, stack two air cleaner elements to increase filter area.
Move the accelerator pump linkage to shortest stroke. Adjust the automatic choke to it's minimum setting, the high idle to it's slowest revs. Never pump the gas. Drive 55-60 on the highway. Ignore the idiots that can't tell you are in the right lane, chill, and simply return the one-finger salute, but keep the foot easy on the gas!!
EASY on the gas, like somebody said, pretend there's a raw egg on the pedal. Right lane, NEVER p*** anybody unless they're stopped. Accelerating is the mpg killer, keep it easy. Going downhill on long grades, slip it out of gear. Anticipate reduction in speed when approaching reduced speed limit, slip it out of gear and let it coast down to the posted speed because lifting the foot off the accellerator and letting the motor drag increases the vacuum and ****s more gas through the idle p***age. Keep the weight down, don't fill that 20 gallon tank all the way up. Keep the trunk empty of junk. If you have AAA, depend on emergency road service, go without a spare tire and a jack. Keep pressure in the tires up to the max. If you check the tire pressure frequently, it will be years before you, if ever, have a flat.

OR; ON THE OTHER HAND! First of all, you ain't going to do all of that anyhow! I couldn't care less about gas mileage personally. Put dual straight pipes on it, drive the hell out of it, and the mileage sacrifice will be offset with pure enjoyment.

 

Be careful with the syn gear lubes. I used a new style synthetic in the transaxle of my old VW bus & it destroyed it in less than a year. Some of the new style GL-5 types of gear oils (reg & syn) can damage soft yellow metals (syncros). Most German & some Nissan cars are suppose to only use GL-4, not the GL-4/5 compatible stuff. The good news is that Red line does make a GL-4 only syn lube for older cars. As far as non-syn GL-4, you can still get that at Napa. http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=46&pcid=7

 

I'd forgotten about some of the funky tuning the factories did on these early smog motors. Some engines had vacuum retards on the distributors and it might be worth trying to disable that if you can. Vacuum advances are OK, but some of them had their vacuum routed thru thermal vacuum switches or even transmission switches that only allowed vacuum advance after the trans got into high gear. It should be pretty easy to experiment with byp***ing some of these devices.

Also, Chrysler and I imagine the other makers, liked to spec some of their engines with retarded cam timing to help meet emissions. Sadly, this also reduced low end torque and didn't help the mileage. If your engine's a high miler it might also have a stretched timing chain and worn gears further retarding cam timing by another couple degrees. A new timing set will likely bring the cam timing back to specs. And if you're feeling really ambitious you might look into advancing the cam another couple degrees with an offset key or bushing for the cam sprocket. A stock engine and cam should tolerate this with no worry about valve clearances, but you really haven't said exactly what kind of car or engine you're working with. And remember that if you change the cam timing, you're changing the ignition timing as well.

Advancing cam timing also increases manifold vacuum, which is a plus. The higher you can keep the vacuum, the less time you spend with the power valve open or the power pistons raising the metering rods and richening things up.

 

its a interesting way of driving.....did it on my model a a few years back....best i could get was 17" at about 70mph

 

perfect..

leonard

 

Find the pedal on the right, then stay away from it, Here's a hard to belive but true example.

I have a 60 Caddy with a 390 in it. I'm sure you can imagine how it can go through gas. A few years ago when I wanted to take a few cars to the pileup I got an older friend of mine to drive it there and back. This is about an hour down I-57, and another hour back. Now I found myself joking about how "Marty" Drove "like a grandmother" all the way there and back, but I was shocked a few days later when I went to fill it back up and it was topped off with only 6 Gallons of Gasoline!!!!!!!!

2+ hours of Highway driving on only 6 Gallons???
I still wouldn't belive it if I didn't see it myself...

 

no tricks! 305, 5 speed, 600 edelbrock and 3:08 gears from an 87 camaro. it gets 27 mpg. and hauls *** real good.

 

Believe it or not it did make a difference in this particular truck. I tried it with it and without it and myself and others could tell the difference. Don't know if it was because the carb was **** or what. I tried it on other vehicles with mixed results. The Tornado thing worked the best on the Dodge hands down. I have heard of newer motors with heads and intake designed to swirl air (intake) or mix air/fuel better (as in the case of heads) to mix better. I guess in a way the idea behind the Tornado is all ready in newer cars, they just don't need a clunky looking thing in the air filter to accomplish the same effect. I've seen a few dumb fuel saving devices and this one was the first one I have had first hand experience with that actually did anything.

 

Anyone ever try putting small amounts of acetone in the tank? I heard it actually improves gas mileage. Might try in my Caprice to see if it actually works.

 

I tried it, doesn't work. Tried it in two different vehicles, a carbed one and a FI one.

 

I just try to cruise man. Hit the highway at 55-60 mph, and that's it for me.

 

So he went two hours on the highway, that's about 120 miles. On six gallons that's 20 MPG. I'm not that surprised - the dual coupling Hydro acts like a 700R4 when the converter locks, in high gear, so you lose a lot of the slippage in the trans; combine that with the big torquey 390 and a rear gear that's probably like a 3.08 and it should pull around 20. By comparison my '60 Pontiac would get 18 on the highway without my even trying very hard. 389, Hydro, 3.08 rear, just a 2bbl instead of a 4bbl is probably what was saving me. The Hydro is also a 4-speed, so you don't have to run it up as high of RPMs to shift the gears. Unless you want to, you can go clear up to 70 in third.


Someone mentioned a Ramncharger; I had one of those for about two months and it didn't matter how I drove it - with a 360 and Chrysler's equivalent of TBI it got 12 on a good day. 2WD, too. Just switching to a Chevy Suburban gave me 4-5 more MPG - and the damn thing weighs 1000 lbs more. It may be just the spacer effect of the tornado helped you, I see they still sell a spacer for the TBI with all the same claims, although everyone I've talked to who's tried one says the only thing they improve is your wallet is lighter to carry afterwards.


Most of your big 70s cars are the same deal as the 60s - tune them right, and you should get reasonable milage on the highway cruising at the speed limit, or close to it. Gear it to cruise at an RPM where the torque output is high. City milage will probably be in the dumper, it's hard to help that. Even my current beater, a 1-ton van with a TBI on it, gets **** milage in town. But it gets 15-16 highway, same as the Suburban it replaced. 3.23 gear and a careful foot does it -

 

my '65 lesabre got 18mpg with an 11:1 300 v8 and th400, now it has a 10:1 350 (buick) and the same th400. gets about the same mileage.

trick is to have it well maintained and running in tune. quality spark plugs ( i recommend NGK v-power) electronic ignition (pertronix or HEI), make sure your oil is changed regularly. inflate your tires properly. keep your foot out of it. pay attention when you drive, sometimes a backing off the pedal just a bit can be the difference in using secondaries and not. also helps to know your brakes arent dirty and misadjusted, also helps to know your wheel bearings are greased up and that your front end isnt out of alignment. set your timing proper (i prefer a little advance) make sure you have no vacuum leaks, etc.

a car is a machine. well oiled and properly looked after, it will be a great machine. flogged to death and abused and it will be nothing but head aches

also, match your grade of fuel to your compression and operating temperature. the lesabre prefers high grade but mid will do in a pinch. runs like dog **** on low