Fuel Mileage facts

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ibleedmoparts

ibleedmoparts

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FABO
I am trying to gather a little data. My job is going to dictate that I commute quite a distance daily. I am trying to plan out this excursion. I looked at new cars and they get anywhere from 18-26 MPG ish. That is the Chally, Charger and new Ram trucks. I currently drive a Tundra and gets around 18 hgwy. The Tundra is going to stay at home with my wife and I will be in the market for something to commute in. In lieu of a Prius what can I get from an A body? C body? I obviously love A's but also love C's. Can you all provide real life examples of good MPG? maybe examples of your commuter combo?
 
well i think what you need to ask yourself is do you have the money to build a car vs get financing on a new one. Yea you can build a 23mpg slant pretty easily, but its a whole package not just the engine.
 
How many miles are we talking a week?
I would almost look in to a clean used Honda Civic / Accord with a stick shift.
Commuter cars are just disposable cars anyways, drive them until they start becoming unreliable, sell it and get another, you should get around 300K and 35+ mpg out of one with good maintenance.
 
sireland67 said:
How many miles are we talking a week?
I would almost look in to a clean used Honda Civic / Accord with a stick shift.
Commuter cars are just disposable cars anyways, drive them until they start becoming unreliable, sell it and get another, you should get around 300K and 35+ mpg out of one with good maintenance.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ What he said.
 
Good thread, in the future I hope to use an abody for a daily driver/commuter. One thing I need to take into acct(for myself anyways).....lets say you buy a new disposable car AND it gets 300k before you ditch it. How much is it going to cost you just in service?? I would assume quite a bit unless you are a mechanic. For me, being able to work on a daily driver/commuter without having to haul it into a shop and pay $100/hr labor is a HUGE bonus. Just something else to consider.
 
There was a thread recently on the new Dart and the impressive mileage its owners are getting.
 
my 69 valiant is getting 20 MPG and i drive it hard. its driven 135 miles a day for commuting to work, and ive not done anything to it. ive not even tuned the motor or gone through the carb. if i drove it sanely, and gave it a good tune up, i bet it would get 22 MPG.
 
sireland67 said:
How many miles are we talking a week?
I would almost look in to a clean used Honda Civic / Accord with a stick shift.
Commuter cars are just disposable cars anyways, drive them until they start becoming unreliable, sell it and get another, you should get around 300K and 35+ mpg out of one with good maintenance.
Click to expand...

Chase down a crx HF, they get like 50mpg and will run forever.
 
I've commuted anywhere from 20 to 26 miles one way since 1998. In that time I've had two cars: an 88 Omni, 2.2L 5sp, and a '97 Neon 2.0DOHC 5sp. The 88 was getting 28mpg and it was retired due to rust at 178K miles. That was including around town driving and I cruise at 80-85. The Neon gets 32mpg, has just shy if 300K on it, and is also due to be replaced because of rust. Some tips - tire pressure and alignment are huge for mileage. I run K&N air filters, the Neon's got some internal mods (no aftermarket parts or performance stuff except plug wires). Learn how to drive for mileage - you can drive fast, but you can't be on and off the throttle. In the Neon I'm routinely going 80-90mph. Run high test fuel from a large producer. I run Mobil or Shell exclusively unless I'm on fumes. Cheaper fuel has more ethanol and that means less energy per gallon of fuel and your electronics will compensate by running it richer.
 
Not to be a dick, why are so many people stuck on the big car commuter? If you drive more than 15 miles one way to work, get an import, or compact from the 90's and drive on. Everybody should know this by now.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
Not to be a dick, why are so many people stuck on the big car commuter? If you drive more than 15 miles one way to work, get an import, or compact from the 90's and drive on. Everybody should know this by now.
Click to expand...

No offense taken. Lol. I'd be driving roughly 100,miles a day. The Prius gets 48/51 advertised mpg. Just hate the idea of a car payment. I read somewhere the feather duster pulled 30?
 
I drove a /6, 3-speed on the column '65 Barracuda for 2 years in Alaska 25 years ago. I ended up driving it from there to SC. It got approximately 23-25 mpg. If the body would have been in as good of shape as the floor and frame rails, I would have kept that car.

If you have the spare cash and don't mind working on it every once in a while, I'd recommend a /6, manual trans early Barracuda, Dart, or Valiant. You can still find them reasonably priced, as long your not too picky on condition.
 
I drive a Honda Fit as a commuter car. We use them at work for service vehicles. My driving is about 50/50 city highway and average 34mpg. The base model which is what I drive is about $16k new had cruise, power locks and ac. It may not be as cool as an a body but then again it is disposable.
 
My dart used to pull about 20 mpg, right now shes doing 16ish. Get a shitbox honda, thats what I am gonna do.
 
Save the A, by a Mazda3. The 155 HP engine gets 40mpg. The engine and 6 speed auto transmission has been engineered to be efficient. High compression, dual variable valve timing, direct injection, and tuned exhaust.
 
I would prefer to find a used car but a nice one to drive.
I just bought a 2000 Dodge Caravan with all wheel drive & 85,000 miles for $3200 including tax. It is an excellent driving car and I know it'll need tires in a year or so. It gets 20 MPG but I can buy a lot of gas for $10,000! At $4 a gallon & 20 MPG (vs 40 MPG) the break even for driving an econobox is 100,000 and I have a much more comfortable ride plus insurance is much cheaper.

The hard part is finding a used car that was taken care of and with low mileage.
 
The best I had was 170 /6 that got low 30's mpg. Milled and cc'd head, cam, 2.76 gears, 4 speed, 2 inch exhaust with turbo muffler, 64 Barracuda. Same car with a High Performance 273 mid 20's mpg. Had a vacuum gage and relatively level roads. My wife's 2012 5.7 Hemi Auto Charger gets 30 mpg cruising on the highway. My 98 SOHC 5 speed Neon will get 40 mpg Highway.
 
In the 70' my dad had a Furry III pulling s statecraft camper getting 16 MPG he couldn't believe it. I don't know what it got when not pulling a camper I know it had a 318 2bbl
 
ibleedmoparts said:
FABO
I am trying to gather a little data. My job is going to dictate that I commute quite a distance daily. I am trying to plan out this excursion. I looked at new cars and they get anywhere from 18-26 MPG ish. That is the Chally, Charger and new Ram trucks. I currently drive a Tundra and gets around 18 hgwy. The Tundra is going to stay at home with my wife and I will be in the market for something to commute in. In lieu of a Prius what can I get from an A body? C body? I obviously love A's but also love C's. Can you all provide real life examples of good MPG? maybe examples of your commuter combo?
Click to expand...
A lite early A 2.700 lbs 3 speed with a 170/6 66 Sedan has been on the road for me a few years :coffee2:
Some folks don't believe it but I get at least 24 mpg on the hwy in the flat lands, 20 when I drive the mountain area's and this is with the 3.23 gears with taller 14'' 215 tires.
I put my wife in a 2013 2.4 Avenger for our travels and have recorded 33 mpg, I looked and test drove the Dart but for our use it was way to ruff of a ride and small space for our use, heck I fold the back seat down (like a space duster) and sleep in the back in a sleeping bag :glasses7: Love the Avenger myself.
 
I traded off my feather duster the other day to buddy. I had it on her for sale at $2500. no rust , original faded apint, new gas tank, another $400 of new parts. NO lookers. drove it all last year 65 mi round trip, never a hiccup, got around 22-4 driving country roads 55-60.
before that I bought a 95 rager ( the little truck), 4 banger and 8 plug motor, bought it with 200,000 for $1000, it had a problem, turned out to be $14 relay. got 25 mpg, sold it at 335,000 still getting 25, ran terrible, figured it needed a cam. never used a drop of oil, put 2 used tires on it, that's it. ( wrong: I did replace the water pump one day)
daily driver now is another duster, 72 slant, gets bout 20 mpg, semi retired makes 3 trips per week. its for sale, if the feather didn't get an offer at $2500, what would anyone offer for this one!? LOL yea $2500 buys it or it can live here with me. I have several early A's that are my keepers.
I wouldn't want to drive an "old" car 200 mi per day! but I enjpy 65 mi toolin down the back roads, no hurry, don't give a sh-- if someone comes up on me in a hurry, go around!!!
one thing about the old cars, like he says, we CAN work on them. but here's a fact, I can drive this duster 200-300,000 miles, replace the motor, tranny, rear end IF necessary and if it runs and looks decent, it will always be at least what it is worth NOW???????? my opinion.....
 
hard to beat a VW TDI in this case. Power and mileage. You can drive the snot out of them, and still get over 40mpg. You can find reasonably priced used ones too.
 
key to the slant is basically an engine that's still efficient and 4 speed overdrive!!!!!
I enjoy driving theh slant duster to work down the country backroads and somedays it nice to drive the cummins..... the slant gets better mileage..
 
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