16 MPG, 461 Olds, 400 trans, 3:08 Gears, runs 12:78, 104.55 in quarter shiting at 4600 rpm...not 30 mpg but fun, Frank Kunkel
I GET 27 MPG. NO BULLSHIT! 305 ci. 5 speed. 3.08 rear. all from an 87 camaro rs. converted from tbi to edelbrock 600 with performer intake. it will set you back in the seat through the gears. it not real fast but its light weight makes it seem that way. i love driving it! its the cheapest most funest hot rod i've ever built!
If that is your only experience with Diesel ownership, you haven't owned a REAL Diesel vehicle, or haven't driven one that's been built in the last 20 years!
52 Chev 250p/g 336 gears got 20 religiously before gasohol...now more like 17-18 on the hwy....built a 50 FORD in 91 with tpi302 OD...removed tpi for Holly 600 cfm and mallory ign...21+ MPG and she loved 85-100MPH and still got better than 20mpg
boy,i wish i was glen. but i'm comig to billetproof as a spectator with some buds. no job! very lucky to be going period!
I understand the no job, me too. We will still have a great time, come look me up at the front gate. We will be all of the guys with the weird Hats On
I can't speak specifically for the Z06, but I had a C5 convertible that was my daily driver for 3 1/2 years and 78,000 miles. Back and forth to work I averaged 28 mpg. That wasn't babying it, but it wasn't burning tires at every stop sign either. If I hopped on the highway for a long trip, I'd see 30 mpg...even saw 31 mpg once. Playing around town with a little light to light action...or some high speed runs...that would drop to 16 mpg or less real quick! I could easily expect that the Z06 could achieve 28 mph - it's more efficient, may have a higher top gear to achieve 198 mph, and is lighter than a standard coupe. EDIT: After I posted this, the page refreshed and showed all 10 pages of the post...I think I was just responding to a comment made on the first page!
Highway I got an incredible 31mpg at 75-85 mph. 51 F1 as aerodynamic as a brick, chopped and sectioned helps some, riding 2 inches above the road helps, but what does it is the turbocharged ls1 and overdrive.
It doesn't cost anymore to drive the hotrod than the daily. Unless you are parking the rod in the spectator lot than I'm cool with that. It seems that entry fees can kill a budget now days but sometimes that is less expensive than paying spectator fees for who ever goes along.
My avatar gets 27MPG with a supercharged GM 3.8 V6, T5 trans, 5th gear is .67OD and a 3.30 Jag IRS single track. Cruise at 70 MPH all day long.
Nice Thread. Hard to beat new LS chev motors to get power and gas mileage. Great to see all the combinations to get 20mpg and above.
I'm building a chopped T sedan-style rod with a Mercedes 240D 4-cylinder diesel and 5-speed. It was good for about 32-34mpg in the big Benz. Shoved in something half its weight, 2/3 its frontage, better gearing, and some fine tuning, I'm looking to hit 50mpg.
hahahahaha! man i have a 1996 gmc full size truck, with a harbor tool bins, and a ladder rack, im lucky if i get 10mpg! and it has a 5.7LT with tpi. its a gas pig!
I have guests in town from the old country and we drive around in their 2010 Ford Flex SUV rental. All freeway, all desert. The thing has a readout and it only gets 17.8 MPG. Digital computer everything, 6-speed OD trans. I expected a lot better given the impressive list of hardware under the hood. 25 years ago I drove a restored 440 Chrysler Town&Country station wagon everyday for about 300000 miles and averaged about the same MPG. Apparently there is no magic formula. A certain amount of weight needs a certain amount of fossil fuel to move it. Weight more than Aerodynamics is the enemy of economy.
Best I've ever got out of my Buick (with a factory 4 Bbl set-up on the Nailhead) was just over 20 mpg cruising at 65-70; almost the same with the twin-fours. This was better than the POS V6 Century Limited I owned in L.A. 30 years ago. Mileage around town for the Nailhead is another story - like 9-11 mpg if I'm lucky. My rice rocket ('94 Skyline) gets around 28-33 mpg with a 192 HP, 2.5 litre six-banger and the 2 litre Pinto-motored Ford (UK) wagon my grandson and I are building gets 30-40 mpg, box stock (these '80s Euro-Ford longroofs are sooo slippery).
My '65 Falcon (170, 3-speed) would average around 30 to 32.5 when I was driving it daily. My '26 T gets about the same even with the engine mods. $10 bucks of gas goes a LONG way in that car for sure!
Wow, my car must be badly out of tune. I thought I was doing well, as it gets 23mpg like clockwork. I thought Ford only touted the 144/3-speed combo as getting 30? -Dave
My 67 F100 has an L300 and C4 tranny , a 3.55 rearend. It usually gets 15,6 mpg at 65-70mph ,but it´s worse around town. My 56 Bel Air with a hopped up 327 with 11.0 cr and TH350/ 3.36 gears gets a cruising mpg of 19,5 at around 65-70 mph, aroung 15 mpg or worse at 90-100 mph. My 34 Plymouth with 355 Chevy, 750 cfm Carb, TH350 an 3.36 rearend with L78-15s is getting around 15 mpg cruising at 65 but i mostly drive it on long Autobahn hauls between 140 and 180 km/h that´s from around 85-115 mph @ a mileage of 12-13 mpg. Right now I´m building a 301 setup for my 34 with munaul tranny... I´ll see what happens.
I own 58 edsel pacer with 3 spd man + overdrive & 3.70 gears. If I put auto trans & maybe 3.00 gears, how that changes mpg ?
Automatic transmissions are significantly (3% to 8%) less effiecient than manuals. Your mileage should drop if your overall gear ratios stay similar. However in a big '58 Edsel, you probably won't notice the change from 14 mpg to 13.5 mpg.
I agree, but only if you are making some really impressive horsepower to go along with the lousy mileage. A blown Hemi? A tunnel rammed BBC? A high winding smallblock with deep gears? All of those are great hot rod combos that get lousy mileage. LS Gen II/IV engines can double that 15mpg, easily, in a lighweight hot rod. Not traditional maybe, but 400+ hp, a manual trans that will hold up to whatever you throw at it, light weight, and 30mpg? You're right, why would a hot rodder want that? You can get most of that with a more traditional V8 and an overdrive, and a little tuning.
Did someone mention a Blown Hemi? 4 1/2 when you drive it like you stole it... 6 1/2 on the freeway...