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A May 1973 test by CR's of the Chev Impala, Ford Country Sedan Plymouth Custom Suburban and Olds Vista Cruiser wagons showed the following gas mileage results. Results were the mpg range to be expected in normal driving and average mpg on a 300 mile trip:
Chev Impala(400): 7-15; 11
Ford Country Sedan (400): 7-14; 12
Plymouth Custom Suburban(360): 7-16; 13
Olds Vista Cruiser (350): 7-15; 12
the fun questions are assuming you used the cars on a daily basis according to the above mpg range in normal driving, in how many days would it be before the car needed a full tank, assuming you drove it till it was almost empty? if you drove the Ford, for example, the difference between 7 and 14 would be 10.5 so would that mean you would be getting 10.5 on a daily basis if you drove in city traffic and then got on the highway?
another fun question if these cars towed trailers which if im not mistaken could be up to 7000 lbs, by what % would the mpg drop by?
if the Plymouth had a larger engine like a 400 or 440, would it's mpg decline down to it's competition? do you consider it's slightly larger numbers to be 'better" than it's competition or is it hardly any major difference?
My answer is: If you drive a 1970s Chevy wagon with a 350 or 400 (forget which - a big v-8 anyway) at 70 mph and hit the railroad track hump on Marshall road while still accelerating, the wagon will fly into the air 3 to four feet off the ground and anyone not wearing a seat belt when you land will be hurt and maybe bleeding, but the Chevy will in fact remain drivable even if your hand knocked the transmission into reverse while you were in the air. You will have to fill the gas tank more frequently because it will be leaking from all the fuel lines, but less frequently after they are repaired. Your dad will wonder why every hose and line started leaking all at once and how did all that gravel get all over the engine compartment, but the Chevy will last another four years after being repaired.
That is my answer to your story problem, and also probably the explanation for why I never did well in math class.
By the way, we had an assortment of cars with 350s and 400s form that time period and the 350s were generally faster. Of course it depended on the weight of the car, the carburetor, and the transmission.
Not sure what this thread is about, but what I know of yester-year's behemoth station wagons, is that they were the SUVs of that era - more or less the Suburbans and Explorers.
They had the frame & drive-train of 2WD trucks, wiht a wagon body. They were designed to haul the family, and pull the 28 foot camper. Economy was not an issue, because gas was only 50 cents per gallon.
Economy was not an issue, because gas was only 50 cents per gallon.
You must not have been around in 1973. Gas lines were long and a lot of the stations would only let you buy 5 gallons at a time. Gas shortages were effecting travel and transportation. I know I had an appointment in Houston for a very large deal and I didn't have the gas to get back home and couldn't buy it. I found a station on the way home that would sell you 5 gallons but the pump quit tracking the gas after 5 gallons. I filled the car up. The lady wouldn't take the money for the estimated amount of gas that I bought which would have been about 18 gallons because the pump only gave me 5 gallons. You learned that when you could buy gas, buy all you can carry or expect to do without. I kept an additional 20 gallons at home, like most folks were doing at the time.
I just about bought a 73 Chevy Impala wagon. Good thing I didn't, they were gas hogs. Pulling a trailer would get you about 5 MPGs or about the same as an 18 wheeler. I drove an older Dodge Polara SS and got far better fuel mileage. Then I bought a 74 F100 which still used regular gas instead of the bug spray unleaded. What a lot of folks don't remember is that in 74, there were 2 half ton Ford trucks. The F-100 was a regular gas truck and the F-150 was an unlead gas truck. The gas fill ports were different and a lot of folks were knocking the restrictor out of the gas fill in the unleaded trucks so they could buy the leaded gas instead- it was cheaper by the gallon. Most thought the engine ran better on leaded- it didn't really. I always thought it was stupid that an engine can consume twice the amount of fuel but was supposed to be cleaner. Still doesn't make sense.
You must not have been around in 1973. Gas lines were long and a lot of the stations would only let you buy 5 gallons at a time. Gas shortages were effecting travel and transportation. I know I had an appointment in Houston for a very large deal and I didn't have the gas to get back home and couldn't buy it. I found a station on the way home that would sell you 5 gallons but the pump quit tracking the gas after 5 gallons. I filled the car up. The lady wouldn't take the money for the estimated amount of gas that I bought which would have been about 18 gallons because the pump only gave me 5 gallons. You learned that when you could buy gas, buy all you can carry or expect to do without. I kept an additional 20 gallons at home, like most folks were doing at the time.
I just about bought a 73 Chevy Impala wagon. Good thing I didn't, they were gas hogs. Pulling a trailer would get you about 5 MPGs or about the same as an 18 wheeler. I drove an older Dodge Polara SS and got far better fuel mileage. Then I bought a 74 F100 which still used regular gas instead of the bug spray unleaded. What a lot of folks don't remember is that in 74, there were 2 half ton Ford trucks. The F-100 was a regular gas truck and the F-150 was an unlead gas truck. The gas fill ports were different and a lot of folks were knocking the restrictor out of the gas fill in the unleaded trucks so they could buy the leaded gas instead- it was cheaper by the gallon. Most thought the engine ran better on leaded- it didn't really. I always thought it was stupid that an engine can consume twice the amount of fuel but was supposed to be cleaner. Still doesn't make sense.
Catalytic converters were installed on 1975 model year vehicles.
You must not have been around in 1973. Gas lines were long and a lot of the stations would only let you buy 5 gallons at a time. Gas shortages were effecting travel and transportation. I know I had an appointment in Houston for a very large deal and I didn't have the gas to get back home and couldn't buy it. I found a station on the way home that would sell you 5 gallons but the pump quit tracking the gas after 5 gallons. I filled the car up. The lady wouldn't take the money for the estimated amount of gas that I bought which would have been about 18 gallons because the pump only gave me 5 gallons. You learned that when you could buy gas, buy all you can carry or expect to do without. I kept an additional 20 gallons at home, like most folks were doing at the time.
Yeah, actually I was around for that. And though horrible, that was actually a short-lived glitch. Gas was cheap before that, and quickly dropped afterward.
Nobody cared about mileage in the 60s, but in the 70s - when they had to throw all that smog crap on the cars - everybody started noticing HUGE drops in economy, and THAT is when everybody started yelling.
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