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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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That's really not right, tuned or not you could have something wrong to get that low 15 highway. I had a 72 El Camino 350 with some high performance upgrades that got 11 city but 20 highway. I sold it back when gas hit $4, which it's approaching again.
That's really not right, tuned or not you could have something wrong to get that low 15 highway. I had a 72 El Camino 350 with some high performance upgrades that got 11 city but 20 highway. I sold it back when gas hit $4, which it's approaching again.
Eecept for the front right tire wearing on the end & a hole in the muffler the car runs nice & smooth. I passed smog in 9/09 with no problem & have put on around 1800 miles since then. I only drive when i have to but that will soon change cause i will be using my car alot more now for work & possible jury duty some miles away.
A 1972 el camino is a very nice car.
Im stressing big time over the high gas prices & whats to come.
One unusual fact about my stable is that the vehicle with the largest engine and with the most rated horsepower is not the worst gas guzzler. It is actually the most economical. My 505-hp 7-liter Corvette Z06 can get 28 mpg on highway according to EPA. I can squeeze 1-2 more with very careful driving. During racing, it can get really gnarly number; low single digit is my guess.
The worst gas mileage is probably my 400-hp Cadillac CTS-V; I have seen below 14 mpg with my lead right foot. The half-ton Silverado that weighs some 5000 lbs can manage better fuel mileage. Funny, since the CTS-V weighs some 1,200 lbs less than the Silverado and it also has much better aerodynamics. The E36 M3 is stuck somewhere in the middle; I believe it comes second to the Z06.
I'm actually looking forward to the spike in gas prices. I'm hoping/planning to pick up a monstrous gas guzzler for cheap this time around. Among my targets are 8.1-liter 3/4-ton Chevy Suburban/GMC Yukon XL, 6.8l V10 Ford Excursion, and Hummer H2. I may skip the H2 since it doesn't come with a third-row seating.
I'm surprised that CTSV gets that low of mileage. That Olds should probably get a little bit closer to 20, but I know even the gbodies with 305s still get low 20s.
I think we went over this in another thread - OP, you tend to take rather short trips mostly in town with your car, so your MPG is bad - having fixed your thermostat should have helped some. Synthetic lubes, particularly in the trans and rear-end, would help.
Being in CA and having to pass SMOG, you are limited in what you can do tuning wise.
If you get some low rolling resistance tires when you need tires, like the General Grabber HTR which IIRC comes in a size that will fit your rig, that can help some.
Meantime put 35 PSI in the front tires and 32 in the rear, and make sure the toe-in is set to minimum spec, and (most importantly) that the front brakes are not dragging. If they are dragging, try "exercising" the caliper, and/or pull the big pin bolts it rides on and apply the correct grease (enough, not too much).
I had a '70 Buick GS 455 convertable that got pretty low gas milage way backe when but at the time I didn't care.
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But it was built for performance.
