Mileage!

[DarkoNova]

Just looking to see approximately what mileage you all are getting. If you could list what car you're driving, what type of motor (LS1,2,etc), trans, rear gears, tire size, etc. You can go into as much detail as you want, the more info the better.

I'm getting around 15-16 mpg with my 355, TKO-600, 3.42 gears, and 235/60R16's. I know someone from another forum has a 70-ish Nova (can't remember the exact year) with a new 5.3 that he turbo'd and he said he gets 30 mpg.

Now I've heard that those motors are pretty torquey for their size, but I just can't fathom going from a 355 to a 327, so that's basically out of the question. But if I could get an LS1 or LQ4 (yeah I know the LS1 is still smaller than my 355, but it's not as small as a 5.3, lol) to get 24-25 mpg, I'd be pretty satisfied. My mom's Sonata gets 25 mpg, IIRC, so it'd be awesome to have the same mileage but like double the power.



Basically, I'm just trying to see if all the effort would be worth it. It looks like I'd be investing a minimum of $3000, and I want to be sure I get a prettty noticeable increase in mileage.

Matt

[John McIntire]

i'd go for the turbo'd 327 over an NA 355 any day. Turbo's+small displacement+high RPM's=FUN!!!!!!!

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Are you talking strictly Highway mileage? City mileage? Spirited driving?

2001 Camaro SS:

- Stock LS1 (minor bolt-ons)
- T56
- 3:42 rear gears
- 295/35/18 rear tires
- Approx. 3500lbs.

Highway (cruise control on) - 30mpg
Mix of City / Highway - 19mpg
Spirited "City" driving - 14mpg

Hope that helps some.

[Project69]

It is possible to get 30 mpg out of a turbo 5.3 you have to set the gears right for it though.

If i remember correctly i read an article about a guy who twin turbo an LT1 Vette and got 28 mpg, he had 800 horsepower i think

[ProTouring442]

My dad's '56 Chevy 'vert gets 23-24 MPG highway with an LT4 and a 700R4 with 3.31 gears and the A/C on.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

[Kenova]

It's no Hot Rod, but I'll throw it out there for comparison.
I have an '04 standard cab long box Silverado with a 4.8 auto and 3.42s in the rear. I've seen 25 miles per Imperial gallon on the highway at 75 mph.
This thing is no slouch either. It has as much power and performs better than any factory 350 I've ever driven. It loves to rev and has gobs of torque where it counts. Throw a turbo (or two) at it and Bob's your Uncle.
Ken

[68redcamaro]

Just looking to see approximately what mileage you all are getting. If you could list what car you're driving, what type of motor (LS1,2,etc), trans, rear gears, tire size, etc. You can go into as much detail as you want, the more info the better.

I'm getting around 15-16 mpg with my 355, TKO-600, 3.42 gears, and 235/60R16's. I know someone from another forum has a 70-ish Nova (can't remember the exact year) with a new 5.3 that he turbo'd and he said he gets 30 mpg.

Now I've heard that those motors are pretty torquey for their size, but I just can't fathom going from a 355 to a 327, so that's basically out of the question. But if I could get an LS1 or LQ4 (yeah I know the LS1 is still smaller than my 355, but it's not as small as a 5.3, lol) to get 24-25 mpg, I'd be pretty satisfied. My mom's Sonata gets 25 mpg, IIRC, so it'd be awesome to have the same mileage but like double the power.

Basically, I'm just trying to see if all the effort would be worth it. It looks like I'd be investing a minimum of $3000, and I want to be sure I get a prettty noticeable increase in mileage.

Matt

I have a 68 Camaro with the LQ4 and a Futral F13 cam headers and LS6 intake making 399 RWHP.
3.73 gears
4L60E
3500lbs
P275/50-17
Hooker long tube headers
I am getting 12-14mpg in the city (depending on how many full throttle take off's from red lights, it's a blast). Just did the long haul on the Hot Rod Power Tour and best Hwy was 21.8mpg. Not bad for a car that will do a 12.05 in the quarter on a hot day.
Terry

[DarkoNova]

Interesting that you'd say that, Ken. That's another reason I was trying to avoid the 5.3's. They're only rated at around 295 hp I think, and I know my 355 makes more than that. I don't want to lose power just to get better mileage, you know?

For those of you saying highway mileage is xx and city/highway is xx, how are you measuring? I mean I put about 50 miles on my car a day, and I'd say about 10-15 of those miles are in the city. Is that combination of 15 city and 35 highway enough to get the uber high mileage, or is it only on extended highway trips (say 50+ miles)?

Does that question even make sense? I'm kind of getting confused reading it.

Matt

[shanekennedy]

Interesting that you'd say that, Ken. That's another reason I was trying to avoid the 5.3's. They're only rated at around 295 hp I think, and I know my 355 makes more than that. I don't want to lose power just to get better mileage, you know?

For those of you saying highway mileage is xx and city/highway is xx, how are you measuring? I mean I put about 50 miles on my car a day, and I'd say about 10-15 of those miles are in the city. Is that combination of 15 city and 35 highway enough to get the uber high mileage, or is it only on extended highway trips (say 50+ miles)?

Does that question even make sense? I'm kind of getting confused reading it.

Matt

not trying to talk you out of a 5.7, but you should be able to pull ~350hp w/ headers, k&n, & a tune. & if mpg's is what you want, the 5.3's can be had w/ DOD. not sure if the larger engines are running that yet.

[DarkoNova]

not trying to talk you out of a 5.7, but you should be able to pull ~350hp w/ headers, k&n, & a tune. & if mpg's is what you want, the 5.3's can be had w/ DOD. not sure if the larger engines are running that yet.

But if I had to reprogram the ecu for it to work in my car, would I be able to use that? I actually wanted an engine with DOD because I thought it would be awesome to have in a 40 year old car. Which year 5.3's have that feature? I might have to "settle" for a 5.3 because they seem to be a lot cheaper.

Matt

[shanekennedy]

you can use a dod engine in a transplant & reprogram it. not sure you can program the dod features, other that disabling it, but you can program everything else.

i believe the 05's & up have dod. some of the 5.3's are aluminum block

got mine from schram on ebay http://stores.ebay.com/Schram-Auto-Parts

[JMarsa]

I don't think DOD is worth the trouble. It's a band-aid for GM. It only gains 2 MPG at most. Weight and HP are what's killing mileage for GM trucks. Even with DOD the new trucks are getting the same 19 MPG as before. It might offer more gains in a lighter vehichle, but GM doesn't offer it in thier cars. Dodge does though. I'd disable DOD or buy an engine without it. That way if you want to cam it it'll be cheaper.

--JMarsa

[Chad-1stGen]

ZZ4 350 with Holley Stealth Ram EFI, T56, 3.73 posi, 255/50/16 tire.

Strictly highway tops out at 18 mpg.

Babied around town tops out at 15 mpg.

Normal around town is 13-14 mpg.

Lots of spirited around town 11-13 mpg.

[DarkoNova]

ZZ4 350 with Holley Stealth Ram EFI, T56, 3.73 posi, 255/50/16 tire.

Strictly highway tops out at 18 mpg.

Babied around town tops out at 15 mpg.

Normal around town is 13-14 mpg.

Lots of spirited around town 11-13 mpg.

Yeah, I think that's about what I get around town. Highway, probably 16-17 tops.

One more question (I know, nonstop!), are the LSx engines so efficient that a carbureted version could still get good mileage (comparable to the stock EFI setup)? Reason I ask is, I want the EFI for sure, the superior tunability and the fact that you can drive them everywhere (my friend lives up in the mountains, around 5600 ft above sea level, and my car drives like complete crap up there), but I was just looking at the Car Craft LQ4 build last night and they got something like 480 hp with a stock LQ4, a hot cam "kit", and a carb conversion.

I'm interested in the pretty high power, but also, it'd be a lot easier and quicker for me to just convert it to a carburetor. The only thing is, if it won't get much better mileage than my 350, I don't want to go through the trouble of swapping all the parts.

Thoughts/opinions? I'll probably be picking up a 6.0 in the next week or two if it can get good mileage carbureted. Hell, I'll probably still get it even if it can't, but the carb would get the switch completed faster.

Matt

[DarkoNova]

Anyone?

Matt

[DarkoNova]

Anyone?

Matt

Anyone? The LSx engines are clearly more efficient, so I'm just wondering if I slap a carb on if I can get better mileage than a typical SBC? Kind of a vague question since there's an infinite number of ways to build an SBC, but I can save a good chunk of change if I went carbureted with the 6.0. I just don't want to do it if I'll get the same mpg as I get now. :(

Matt

[Ralph LoGrasso]

so I'm just wondering if I slap a carb on if I can get better mileage than a typical SBC? Matt

My uneducated guess would be--yes.

However, it is just that--an uneducated guess. Hopefully someone in the know will chime in and answer your question.

[DarkoNova]

Yeah, I hope so, too. I mean it doesn't matter really, as I'm probably going to do that anyway since it'd be cheaper and my car would be driveable faster. Besides, I think it's safe to say that it can get better than 10-15 mpg in the city and 15-17 on the highway.

I'd just like some reassurance, ya know?

Matt

[Ralph LoGrasso]

I'd just like some reassurance, ya know?

Matt

Matt,

I hear ya on that. Here's a TTT for your question.

Back to the original topic--using the cars DIC computer, I averaged 28.4mpg on a 100-115 mile trip in my Z06 today. About 90% of total driving was highway driving at ~65-70mph, but there was at least one WOT run through 1st, 2nd and part of 3rd, a few revs here and there, and we spent about 10 miles or so in traffic, as well as 6 miles or so in city type driving conditions. I think on a dedicated highway run, with the windows up, I'd see approx 31-32mpg.

[DarkoNova]

Matt,

I hear ya on that. Here's a TTT for your question.

Back to the original topic--using the cars DIC computer, I averaged 28.4mpg on a 100-115 mile trip in my Z06 today. About 90% of total driving was highway driving at ~65-70mph, but there was at least one WOT run through 1st, 2nd and part of 3rd, a few revs here and there, and we spent about 10 miles or so in traffic, as well as 6 miles or so in city type driving conditions. I think on a dedicated highway run, with the windows up, I'd see approx 31-32mpg.

That is AWESOME.

Matt