The "computer" has been reporting mid-22's for mileage for the last tank full. I figured that was probably optimistic, and I was right.

Dammit.

Actual math makes it a shade under 16. I was hoping for at least 20. I've been putting off doing a tune-up (plugs/wires/rotor/cap) because it's going to be a significant pain in the ass, but I'm a tad more motivated now.

May just be the cost of having fun and I can live with that.

If I have to.

Now submit the quarter mile times please.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
The "computer" has been reporting mid-22's for mileage for the last tank full. I figured that was probably optimistic, and I was right.

Dammit.

Actual math makes it a shade under 16. I was hoping for at least 20. I've been putting off doing a tune-up (plugs/wires/rotor/cap) because it's going to be a significant pain in the ass, but I'm a tad more motivated now.

May just be the cost of having fun and I can live with that.

If I have to.

I think you'll see low 20s when you're easy on the pedal on cruising at highway speeds and low RPM.

I have a flat six boxer engine that I was hoping for mid 20s. On the freeway in 6th gear, about 24mph and 16-18mpg in the city. And premium fuel at California prices.

But the smiles per mile are off the freakin' chart.

Other than a couple of um...exhilarating...passes, I've kept RPM under 2000 when cruising, usually closer to 1500.

Back in the mid-90's, while running my son around to look at colleges, I saw 30+ mpg. Most of that was highway driving and my 90 is a 6-spd ZF trans where 6th is a 2 to 1 overdrive.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

You didn't buy it for the mpg's did you?
Drive it to enjoy, 20 mpg's is possible under the right conditions.
My 6.0 truck says 18 mpg once in a while too, but the "lifetime" average never moves off 13.8

Not bad...

Start with an 8.3L V-10. Let air in a little faster plus some high flow injectors. Add long tube headers with cutouts to get it out faster.

Yeah, 16 MPG ain't happening for me.

... but as the man said:

quote:

Originally posted by MoosehornMan:
You didn't buy it for the mpg's did you?

In the days of carburetor land, seems that the plugs, wires, cap and rotor were the fix to fuel mileage. Could always try smaller jets and mixture screw adjustments, check idle vacuum, tweak the timing some, stuff like that.
Now with fuel injection, on that model, you have a PROM (programmable read only memory) style ECM. It has base line fuel control settings which allow for corrections for adding fuel or subtracting if there is a problem with fuel delivery or combustion (ignition).
That being said, it is so easy on the fuel injection systems to determine if fuel mileage can be improved. The block learn on that should be at 128, plus or minus 6, if it is, its consuming fuel as designed. !996 and up, it's no longer block learn. It is called long term fuel trim, which should be around zero.

I have a 1988 coupe. It's an automatic but has the 3.07 rear end. I get 24-26mpg highway and around 17 in the city if I'm being a little spirited off the line. If I take it real easy I can get 17-20mpg. If I'm really into it it will drop to 14-15 so I try to avoid that.

If you bought the corvette for fuel mileage, I think you're doing it wrong.

I remember working with a group of engineers. One of them was on the short small side. He bought a new corvette. All the other engineers would rag on him and call it a penis mobile. Man, it always got him real hot.

I think the ribbing would have died down if he wasn't so reactive.

When I bought my C5 Corvette a few women asked my if I was compensating for something. I said yes, fat chicks don't fit in the passenger seat.

quote:

Originally posted by Lunasee:
When I bought my C5 Corvette a few women asked my if I was compensating for something. I said yes, fat chicks don't fit in the passenger seat.

I've been tempted from time to time for a Corvette. The problem is there is no room for my shotgun cases. So I have a Shooting Brake. In my case it's a Ford Fiesta ST. BTW, with Premium in the tank these will do 0-60 in 6.6 seconds and they are so nimble it's almost telepathic. Been on a mileage bug lately and currently the tattletail is showing 36.8 MPG with an average speed of 26 mph. Yeah, if you stay out of the Turbo you can get over 35 MPG in the city. On the Highway if I keep it at 70 it will do over 40 mpg.

You have a Corvette and are worried about fuel prices?

quote:

Originally posted by Imabmwnut:
You have a Corvette and are worried about fuel prices?

Well, "worried" is maybe too strong a word, but yes, fuel cost/consumption is a factor when considering how much and how hard to drive it.

Retired, fixed income (<$50K) and just happened to trip over a Vette I could afford. Much as I'd love to drive it everywhere and every day, $70/tank is a limiting factor.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:
I've been tempted from time to time for a Corvette. The problem is there is no room for my shotgun cases. <snip>

I've had to modify my carry routine. My usual go-to is an OWB Kydex carried cross-draw on my right side (I'm a lefty) and a mid-size 9mm.

Between my fat ass, seat bolsters and the center console, that's a no-go, so I carry a PPK IWB when I'm in the Vette.

I owned a couple of corvettes as my primary vehicle for a span of 22 years. A 74 was first, sold it after 234,000 miles (and 11 years) and bought an 85. The first one was great but the 85 was extremely expensive. Also kept it for 11 years and sold it at 240,000 when the transmission started going out. As I was prepping my sales pitch for the 85 I reviewed all the maintenance records and found I was averaging $2000/year in maintenance costs. Decided not to include those figures, just to state "complete maintenance records available". I figured that a prospective buyer would not be thrilled to know that the vehicle had cost $22,000 in maintenance over 11 years. Fuel and tires were not included in those figures.

Good heavens man stop figuring your fuel mileage and smile more. After 30 years of owning trucks I bought an Accord that has a little under 300 HP and after 3 years that thing still makes me smile every day. When my friend let me drive his Hellcat I was giggling like a schoolgirl for days!

Corvette Truth

It's not miles per gallon, its SMILES per gallon!

Well, I'm an idiot.

Yeah, I know, big surprise...

Turns out that disappointing mileage was because I mis-read the data. That was GALLONS, not MPG.

Second fill up today, checked the mileage (because that's what I do on ALL my vehicles) and it was 22.2 or pretty much right at what the car was telling me.

WooHoo!