Thread: Hot rods and MPG

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I hope this thread doesn't generate the old tired "If you want good mpg, get a Prius" or "hot rods and other fast rides aren't suppose to get good mpg". I have read a lot of posts here before posting this topic, and this forum has members that do understand that good performance, emissions, and mpg are not counter to each other. The folks that are running automatics with overdrive know this, deeper 1st gear, OD top gear. So, I'll start out with a description of the car and its normal MPG.

1.) 1923 Track-T, 1856 lbs, single 650 CFM on a dual plane, 0.64 OD manual trans, Jag IRS 3.54 to 31" tires. Engine sbc 383 stroker 10.27 to 1.
Steady state 70 mph highway cruise 25~30mpg
Stop and go city 16~21 mpg

2.) 2011 CTS-V, 4250 lbs EFI, supercharged and intercooled, 6 speed stick
Steady state 70 mph 23~25 mpg
City 14~18 mpg

3.) 2001 Ford 4X4 Diesel Excursion, 8000lbs, 7.3 L turbo diesel, 4 speed auto with 0.73 OD 70 mpg=2000 rpms
Steady state 70 mph 21~23
City 15~17 mpg

All who care to respond that have taken the time to calculate mpg, if you give enough info on your ride, I believe this thread could be rather informative. If you just don't give a hoot about mpg, just shine it on.

3400 chevy50 chevy coup 3 speed auto 400 with 3800 stall 27 tall tires 390 gear with a blown 548 cid 10to1 CR rework rec port heads solid roller 700/700 @268 /275 110 lsa .B&M mega blower two AFB 750s 10 pounds of boost enough HP and TQ to drag a two story house down the road . better then 12 mpg if you can keep your foot out of it and under 60 mph

76 Chevy full size pickup, 350 TPI, 700r4 OD tranny, 3.40 gears, 31'' tires, AC on and about 600 LBS in the back I got 17 MPG at 70 MPH. I was turning about 2000 RPM's.

For my current build I have been thinking about mileage as well as a ton of torque.

The car I'm working on is a 1941 Chrysler New Yorker.
Engine will be a 496 stroker with 10.5 :1 compression.
Aluminum GMPP heads, Edelbrock Pro Flo XT intake, LS1 ECM running the sequential injection and controlling tranny shifts.
Transmission is a 4L80e with a GearVendors overdrive unit screwed behind it.
3.55 gears with 29'' tall tires.
I'm guessing 4200 LBS for the car when finished.

I'm hoping for 20 MPG on highway cruising.

Any thoughts on this?

86 monte ss 402 10.50:1 th400 3200 stall 3.08 gear. lucky to get 9 on highway and 6 in town
im jealous of your good gas mileage!!! lol

Our Interstate speeds our 75 MPH and secondary roads are generally 65 MPH out here. I have geared all my builds to run comfortably at those speeds. The mileage figures are all taken at 75 MPH with the AC on. All have taken the 3-4000 mile vacation trip from AZ to IL.

57 Plymouth, 354 Hemi (361 with the overbore, 10:1 compression), Tri Power, A833 OD 4 speed, 4.10 Sure-Grip, approximately 3600 Pounds, 20 MPG @75 MPH.

83 El Camino, 507 Cadillac (stock rebuild), TH400, 2.75 Ford 9”, approximately 3600 pounds, 15-16 MPG @ 75 MPH.

77 Mustang II coupe, 351 W, Edelbrock heads, and intake, RUG OD 4 Speed, 3.00 gear, weight approximately 3400 pounds, 24-25 MPG @ 75 MPH.

76 Dodge D100 (2WD short bed step side, 1 of 70 factory built 440 trucks built in 76), 9:1 compression , TCI Torqueflight, 3:21 Sure Grip, approximately 4000 pounds…….no matter what you do it gets 12 MPG.

'31 Ford Deluxe Roadster - 2300#/ 302/GT40P/ SVT 'E' cam/MSD/C4/3.25/Gas Mileage - who cares (not bad as long as I keep my foot off the floor)

'06 F350 Super Crew - 8400#/V10/TorqueShift/4.10/9.6 to 14.4mpg empty, 7-8 with the 5th wheel hooked on

03 Escape XLS 3300# /V6/C4DE/3.77 / 16-23 mpg

'86 ISEKI Diesel tractor/6spd/ 1gph

Originally Posted by bel_mor

86 monte ss 402 10.50:1 th400 3200 stall 3.08 gear. lucky to get 9 on highway and 6 in town
im jealous of your good gas mileage!!! lol

well if your talking about me? mine did seem that it was pulling down mild teens some may call B.S at the time it was lean but ran very good engine was just past idle so there was no load and going into intake PSI from VAC the blower engine like timing so i put as just as it would take then pulled timing out under a load with a boost master. i added more jet to the carbs and pulled a wee bit of timing out still is better then 6mpg or somone drives it and fill the gas tank that i do not know about ? i will have to talk to my mother :0 going down the hi way i can not do that very long i carring to much gear fine for a short blast the sweet spot is under 50 mph but like IC2 said who caresi use to drive it on week ends were i wanted to go i kept the tank filled all the time .most of the time i neve burnt more then 10gallons .i been known to drive abit on the hard side they still may be looking for a very loud low flying black in color UFO around these parts

Modern, computer laden cars make tracking mpg easy, and fun at times. My '09 Avalanche has the 5.3 LS engine, 6 speed auto, and what they call Active Fuel Management (cuts half the cylinders at certain cruise situations). About a year ago when it had just over 20k miles the readout for overall mileage hit 18, not bad for a 6000# brick. Then I put a couple thousand miles hauling a trailer full of Model A parts that equalled a car, about half of it mountains, and the overall dropped to 17. In the last 3-4k miles it's been creeping back up, but has only gotten back to 17.4, still not too bad for the utility derived. When cruising down the hiway, on the flat, at 75 or so, it'll drop down to 4 cylinder mode, and the instant fuel economy reading will jump up into the 30s Now.....my brides Mini, on the other hand, shows 38 mpg on the overall calculation at 20k miles.

The fun cars, different story. No comuputers, both 59ab, '39 three speeds, and 3.78 rears..................10 mpg about.

Well, my '95 K1500 gets right at 17 MPG. The '74 Super beetle w/ autostick gets right at 27 MPG, but it runs best on high test

My 23 got fantastic milage. 350 Vortec, marine cam, TH350, 3.00 gears, 30 inch tire in back. Normally got 20-23 around town and one time on a trip it got 30 mpg at one point. At 60-65 I was just slightly off idle. It was also very light and had no wind resistance because of being so low.

My 27 has a 331 Ford and 4.30 gears with no overdrive. I don't even want to know what the milage is on this one.

Don

The wife goes about 75 miles before she has to pee....maybe 100 if I feed her a bunch of dry crackers before we leave. Let's see....gas tank holds 20 gallons so I need to get 5 mpg to balance out her stop schedule......

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

My 23 got fantastic milage. 350 Vortec, marine cam, TH350, 3.00 gears, 30 inch tire in back. Normally got 20-23 around town and one time on a trip it got 30 mpg at one point. At 60-65 I was just slightly off idle. It was also very light and had no wind resistance because of being so low.

My 27 has a 331 Ford and 4.30 gears with no overdrive. I don't even want to know what the milage is on this one.

Don

Your '23 probably has really nice street manners and excellant off-idle performance. I'm guessing your '27 has that high rpm "zing" that I admit I'm missing with my '23. But I am curious what the '27 gets in the mpg department.

1953 Studebaker Coupe, 3450 pounds, LS1 with 4L60E, 3.80 gears, 28 inch tire. Qtr mile 13.68 @103, 65 MPH @2200 RPM, 27-28 mpg highway, 18-20 mpg in town. Gotta love EFI and overdrive.

Pat

Originally Posted by Stu Cool

1953 Studebaker Coupe, 3450 pounds, LS1 with 4L60E, 3.80 gears, 28 inch tire. Qtr mile 13.68 @103, 65 MPH @2200 RPM, 27-28 mpg highway, 18-20 mpg in town. Gotta love EFI and overdrive.

Pat

Now that folks is what I'm talking about. You got to love this ride too. Thanks for sharing Pat