Fuel mileage poll

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420 ci supercharger w/well over 500hp on a SBC, 5sp and 3:23 gear.....gets 22mpg hwy :eek:.

A junk yard LS/4l60e combo is probably the best and easiest HP/milage bang for the buck you can do.....a 5.3 is 300hp right out the door stock and right now a 5.3 pullout around here is $600ish.
 
I think discussing gas milage is very important these days, especially to those of us who use our rods a lot, and on long trips.

My 23 got 25 mpg normally on a trip, and one time I even got 30 mpg coming back from Billetproof. It had a mild Vortec 350 Chevy and TH 350 trans, with 3:00 gears and tall slicks out back. At 60 mph I was just off of idle.

My 27 likes gas, especially around town. But I just averaged 20 mpg going to Daytona, which surprised me. It is a 331 Ford stroker, aluminum heads, Ford Racing X303 cam, Ford 3 speed stick, and 4:30 gears in the 9 inch rear. I was expecting much less, especially cranking 3000 rpms at 60 mph.

The secret to pulling good milage seems to be having a mild cam, one properly sized four barrel, an overdrive transmission, and some tall gears in back. Wind resistance and weight factor in too. My 23 was light and so low it had no wind resistance at all, which is why it sipped gas. Fuel injection and a computer would even give better numbers.

Don
 
For some of us they aren't just toys but also daily transportation. The difference between 5-6 mpg and 15-16 is enough money to buy a lot of parts if you are driving 1000 miles a month (about average for me)

Absolutely! The 16 mpg out of my 65 F100 is breaking the bank. My old 77 F100 with a nearly identical drivetrain would get low 20s. I suspect the fan, low gears, and the oil bath oil filter probably have a lot to do with the difference in mileage.
 
I'm just wondering why we are talking about gas mileage with are toys. To me its about horse power.

this is true but when I want to drive my chevelle to work (90 miles one way) and it runs 93 octane (11.6:1 compression) and gets only 8 mpg, then it costs me $36.56 just to go to work for one day. God forbid if I get a hair across my a** and decide to hammer it a little and it goes down to 3-4 mpg!

I have had an idea of building a fiberglass bodied rod with stainless components and a stock 5.3 4L60E drive train for an all season daily driver (even through the winter. hence the fiberglass body). mileage would have to be over 20mpg to make it worth the effort. just my $.02[P
 
Ok I see were everyone is coming from. My daily is a 92 ranger, 4.0 V6, 5 speed with 3:73 gears. That truck I get between 16-18 MPG. The only reason I know that is because the gas gauges does not work and I need to know when to get fuel. But my Shop truck is a 2003 Harley Ed. F150 and my best guess is it get 10-12 MPG normal driving and if I play I get 6-8 MPG. The truck was tuned to have 435 HP. I just love the power it has and I do not wary about the mileage.

I did build one car for Gas mileage and after driving it for one year I decided to Change the motor and gears so it had some guts.
 
my DD is an S10 Blazer with the 4.3 V6, and get 17 on my 60 mile round trip commute. If I want to keep getting chitty MPG I may as well stuff a V8 in it. At least it would sound good, and get going a lil quicker.
Not sure what my panel truck will get. Putting a mild 350 Buick in it. Hope it gets at least 20.
 
my 33 has a 3tc Yota/5 speed, Weber, Header...... truck weighs 1700 pounds and gets 40mpg... my 67 chevy pu has 325+hp 327/th400, 3.08 gears and gets 14.94mpg @ 70-75mph and if ya stay at 60 it gets around 18mpg...... the 65 ford pu has a 305/th350, 2.73 open 10 bolt and gets 24 ALL day long on the freeway. my others dont get very good.. In this day and age its nice to have some hotrods that run well and get milage. I am building my 66 Krewl Kab w/ 250 chevy 6. 4 speed and 3.08s and hope it doesnt do bad.
 

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Another thing to take into consideration is fuel delivery. You are going to get better mileage on fuel injection.

You should do what Dan Boy over there in South Dakota did and put a mid-90's 4.6L or 5.0L fuel injected V8 in there. Dan told me he was in the mid 20's for MPG in his 50 Ford Business Coupe.

He is running the 4.6L v* out of a late 90's Lincoln, and the 5-speed out of a 96 Mustang. The rear end was stock Ford Ranger, not sure on the gearing there.
 
I put the Toyota 22RE in my Mercury PU for this reason. If I was just driving highway a stock 305 chev would be fine. My Dad's old 88 caprice would 30 mpg highway all day. Around town was a different story. Since I figured I was going to do a bunch of in town or short drives I went with something more economical. My 22RE will get 27 to 30 mpg in town or highway. Sure I would like to have a big 500 Caddy or something but I simply can't afford to put gas in something like that and drive it often. On the other hand I am trying to figure out the best way to put a turbo on it for a little more power and still keep my mileage intact.

Lightspeed Mike
 

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