Which gets better mileage? 305, or 350?

[werewolfx13]

IMO, there has been far too much concern about squeezing minuscule mileage improvements out of a squarebody lately..by the time you do everything to get that theoretical 5 mpg increase (it'd be more like 2 mpg), unless you drive 100k miles per year, you're going to spend 5 years recouping the cost..If you really want to see a difference, swap in a 93-95 6.5 turbo diesel, and rid the country of some of its excess waste vegetable oil and make your own bio diesel..or  do a cummins swap..or find the post awhile back that regarded a CAT swap..a combonation of the increased MPG and the low fuel cost would take less time to recoup an even higher cost..then when some environmentalist nazi starts screaming at you, you can verbally smack them down because you run on a mostly environmentally friendly fuel.

[Captkaos]

I agree, the max you can realistically expect from a pickup of our vintage in 2WD form is about 17mpg City and 22mpg Highway.  Anything else is going to dreaming.  If you need better mileage than this, you can do like werewoldx13 said and convert to a Diesel and make your own biofuel which may get you closer to 25-27mpg highway, or sell it and get a Prius.

[eventhorizon66]

People are behaving ridiculously when it comes to gas mileage.  They are trading their full size SUVs for mid-size SUVs (because they still need something large enough to bully cars around) and loosing thousands on trade-in, or investing hundreds in fuel saving modifications.  But the one thing Americans abolutely refuse to do is SLOW DOWN!!!  Try cruising at 55 instead of 65, forget speeds between 70 and 80 if you care at all about fuel economy.  And don't take off like John Force every time the light turns green.  Also avoid driving at times or in areas of heavy traffic.  My fuel economy has been as bad as 11 mpg and as good as 18 mpg (and I know I can improve on this one) based soley on my driving style.  And if you are dong all of these things and you are still not satisfied, look for something else, preferably a used compact car if you want to see any ROI any time soon.  Rant over.

[Lt.Del]

Let me get rid of my 30 year old truck that is paid  for that gets 14 mpg and spend $30k on a new truck that gets 20mpg....yeah, that will save me money.

[eventhorizon66]

Let me get rid of my 30 year old truck that is paid  for that gets 14 mpg and spend $30k on a new truck that gets 20mpg....yeah, that will save me money.

My point exactly.  People are doing exactly this with the idea that it's a good investment for the fuel savings, when all along they only need to remove that lead weight strapped to their right foot.

[Captkaos]

90% of the time It is more cost worthy to keep a vehicle that is paid for and getting 12mpg than to sell it at a loss and buy a new $25K car that gets say 25mpg.

[ccz145a]

Let me get rid of my 30 year old truck that is paid  for that gets 14 mpg and spend $30k on a new truck that gets 20mpg....yeah, that will save me money.

My point exactly.  People are doing exactly this with the idea that it's a good investment for the fuel savings, when all along they only need to remove that lead weight strapped to their right foot.

A+ Y'all get the prize.

Payments + Insurance + License Tags for New Vehicle = A Bunch of Gas.

[eventhorizon66]

A+ Y'all get the prize.

Well, someone was bound to crack the great fuel economy mystery sooner or later.  I'm just glad it was me.

[Skunksmash]

Well, there are still some cheap minor things that can be done. It is not all "too expensive" as yall say. Synthetic oil. A tune up. Take off the tailgate when not needed. Make sure you have good tire pressure. Drive like a responsible adult instead of a teenager. I am talking about things like that. All those are things that need to be done anyway, and there are a lot of little tricks like that. And even if i spend some money on a more fuel efficient exhaust upgrade, or other gas saving engine mod or parts, i still intend to keep the truck for many years, possibly the rest of my life. So yeah, eventually i will get a return on my investment in the form of savings. Sure it will take a long time. But how many of us are running bone stock exhaust anyway? Not to mention other parts that can help out. I dont think it is as futile as yall seem to think it is.

[Captkaos]

Synthetic oil doesn't change gas mileage, I run it exclusively in all my vehicles.  It gets no better or worse mileage than when it was dino oil.
Removing the tailgate yeilds no benefit either.  Tried and tested that myself.  I have purchased a bed cover, but I don't expect huge amounts of savings though.
Tune-up; I think it goes without saying that any vehicle needs to be in tune.
Improper tire pressure will kill gas mileage, so yeah that will help.
driving responsible will help, I gained almost 2mpg when I slowed down in normal commuting.
I have a stock exhaust on my Crew Cab, there isn't going to be any huge benefits from me changing it just to gain 1mpg or less.

As I said 17/22 is about the max any pickup of our bodystyle will ever see.  With TBI it will be fairly easy, with a Carb, you are looking at about 13/20 and 4x4 just doesn't = mpg no matter how you slice it.

[VileZambonie]

Swap in a Stirling engine and a set of bicycle pedals and you'll get 300 mpg

[eventhorizon66]

Swap in a Stirling engine and a set of bicycle pedals and you'll get 300 mpg

Or cut a hole in the floorboard and cruise Flintstones-style.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Swap in a Stirling engine and a set of bicycle pedals and you'll get 300 mpg

1) Please elaborate.


2) i'm probably going to go whole-hog with the aerodynamics thing in a few weeks.  And here is where, i think, the 73-87 and for that matter any fullsize truck will shine:

a) blocking off the grill.  If you look carefully at the front end, you will notice that the radiator area is actually smaller than the grill area, so these places, at least, can be blocked off with no cooling penaltly.  i further believe that some of the radiator area can also be blocked off with little to no cooling penaltly.
We must remember the 3rd/4th gen trans/camaros and corvettes from 84 on------really no grill to speak off and yet they have every bit of 350 cubes with no cooling issues.

b) the area between the framerails and the body on the underside.  i plan to use thin gauge sheet metal.  More details to follow.  Big gains here, i feel.

c) the tonneau cover.  We've discussed this before and i feel that there are significant gains to be made here.  A decent cover does not cost much, for all practical purposes does not add weight.  So the "return on investment" will be fast.

d) there is a special air dam offered on a few special edition trucks.  i don't have time to look for it now, but i feel this could siginificantly help out mpg.

P.S., the 305 wins hands down in mpg.  Will elaborate later.

[lowriderbowtie]

In times like this, where we have extreme gas prices.....

anytime im close to the border, i swing down to the states to fill up....you guys have it good down there still, trust me. 

fuel prices here are about $1.41 per liter.  converted into gallons, thats $5.32.  and thats for 87 octane.  its another 10 cents per liter for 92

[Lt.Del]

anytime im close to the border, i swing down to the states to fill up....you guys have it good down there still, trust me. 

That's funny.  Anytime drivers in Ariz, Calif, New Mexicao and Texas near the Mexico border, they dive down to get gas in Mexico. They have it good down there.