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increasing MPG????

chase78

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I'm going to be getting a 72 k5 soon. With gas prices and all I'm think of ways to increase MPG. I had a 78 K5 with a HEI, MSD 6A, ALum intake manifold, and installed a 4X4 front wheel locks go to 4X2. I got really good fuel milage aBOUT 12 mpg WITH THAT SET UP. I thinking headers, alum heads, and 5-speed trany with an overdrive gear on the 5th one for high way cruising. My question is what tranny will fit? OR can I go with diffenernt axle gearing to get the job done. It would be gear to get 15MPG. push comes to shove i can always go fuel injected but that sorta pricey.
 
has anyone heard of this company, gofitch , I have not tried this product nor am I a salesman for this product, saw it in www.can4x4.com , it said it could increase you gas mileage "by improving the combustionbility of hydrocarbon fuels immediately before it enters the combustion chamber." Would be cool if it worked, unlike some of the other farfetched claims made by other companies. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
you could go tbi, watch ebay and you can find complete factory tbi setups for cheaper than tpi.

as for the gofitch, i'm a chemist and i see some truths in their claims, however i don't think that it does it to the extent that they say. one thing that a lot of these "studies" do is use statistics as the voodoo math to manipulate the data to make it look like they want it to or they change the test where they are not truely holding one variable(which should be their product) constant,

for instance and their bacterial growth with and w/o their product is not a fair comparison, different mixtures and types of bateria, all conditions should have been the same except the prescence of the product.

i would like to completly read their fuel economy/emmisions to see the conditions of that test.
 
I just cleaned my TBI, put in new plugs, kicked the timing up 2 degs, put 35psi in the tires and cut the end cover off the cold air intake for ram air and with a 700r tranny I just got...... 11.5MPG /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
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I'm going to be getting a 72 k5 soon. With gas prices and all I'm think of ways to increase MPG. I had a 78 K5 with a HEI, MSD 6A, ALum intake manifold, and installed a 4X4 front wheel locks go to 4X2. I got really good fuel milage aBOUT 12 mpg WITH THAT SET UP. I thinking headers, alum heads, and 5-speed trany with an overdrive gear on the 5th one for high way cruising. My question is what tranny will fit? OR can I go with diffenernt axle gearing to get the job done. It would be gear to get 15MPG. push comes to shove i can always go fuel injected but that sorta pricey.

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This is a joke right? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
Before you start making a ton of upgrades you may want to look into a sort of cost-benefit analysis. For example, I have a 700R4 that I swapped in place of the TH350. To get the right combination it also involved getting deeper gears to get the overdrive rpms in the right range with my tire size. From a purely financial point of view it makes no sense. Here's my point in purely fictional terms:

Lets say you get 10 mpg and your mods will increase your mileage to 12 mpg. That's a 20% increase which is pretty damn good.

Now lets say it took $1000 to do it, which is probably optimistic, but the math is easier.

For every 10,000 miles you drive at 10 mpg you burn 1000 gallons, costing $2000

For every 10,000 miles you drive at 12 mpg you burn 833 gallons, costing $1667 - a savings of $333 - not too shabby, but you still have to drive 30,000 miles just to recoup your initial $1000 investment .. and that's at $2/gallon. At $1.75 a gallon you have to drive close to 35,000 miles and at $1.50 you have to drive 40,000 miles .. and that's for each $1000 spent at a 20% increase in mileage. Let's say you spent $2000 .. you have to think, "Will I have my Blazer in 80,000 miles?"

If you're already got 12 mpg and want 15 ..that's a 25% increase, pretty hard to do.

Obviously I made a swap, but it wasn't for the economy. I got better driveability and enjoyment out of my truck along with it. I wouldn't say don't do it, but work the math. NV4500's are not cheap, but you do get added driveability. Ask Steve Chin about his, he really likes it, but you're going to have to sink some serious pesoes into a stock 72 K5 to get 15 mpg. If we wanted good mileage we'd be driving civics and geos /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
really. before i pulled out my tbi i was getting 13-14 mpg city and a hair over 16 on the highway. and i have a hard time keeping my foot out of the gas, with my lt-1 i'm getting a hair over 15 city, i'm looking forward to seeing highway.....

the reason i sugested tbi is because i've seen complete setups go for a little over $200 on ebay in the last week to me that seems like it might be a good way to improve gas milage even if you have to buy a harness and the few other things you'll need i would think you could still do that at most at $650, and i don't know about you guys but 10,000 miles is not a lot to me....

just a thought.........
 
The problem with TBI is it uses a MAP senser which is unable to properly calibrate and adjust for engine modifications.

Early TPI's use a MAF senser which is able to accomadate some minor modifications but still can't accomidate heavier jets and such.

Both systems can be programed for modifications but this gets into more expense.
 
You could move to a really low eleavtion, i found out that when i go to Phoeinx,AZ my gas improves by 2 MPG, it could be cheaper than trying to fix up your truck ahhahaha /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif
 
NOTE: this is humor, not a flame!
you could swap in a freshly tuned 253 6 banger, mate it up to an OD manual, and throw in 3.08 gears. While you are at it you can pull the case 'cause that is a serious source of friction. Then, you can put on some nice p235R15 skinnies and load up the differentials and the engine with synthetic oil. After all that, you are still propelling a 3+ton vehicle down the highway with a coefficient of drag of some terribly high number, and you might get to 15-16 mpg! Come on, I'm with Greg, you have got to be kidding!
 
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Big block.

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Big Blocks Kick A$$! /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/pimp1.gif
 
I was wondering today if tire tread design had any effect on mileage. For instance, would say a 33-12:50 mud TA vs a 255/85 AT tire. It would seem that a narrower tire and mild tread would not have as much rolling resistance and aero dynamic effects. hmm,
 
yeah the smallest contact patch is best. Those cars that go 2000 miles on a single gallon always have paper thin tires.
 
A well tuned engine with a free flowing exaust and K&N airfilter is probably the best cheap way to improve gas mileage.

Putting a 6 cyc in a full size truck is NOT a good way to get improved gas mileage. And don't forget to lower recipricating weight as much as possible, narrow AT tires and aluminum rims could help with that.

But in my opinion, if you want good mileage and you're buying a truck, you're missing the point. Buy a Celica for $300 that will get 30+ mpg, and drive the K5 for fun.
 
hey, you should try and avoid absolute statements like NOT since they are the easiest logical position to refute. If you put a six in and drive CONSERVATIVELY, you will use less fuel than the v-8. that is just thermodynamics, man. nearly all reciprocating ic engines have the same effective (and low) efficiency at design speed, so try to avoid that trap of arguing efficiency. just my 0.02 cents.
ernest
 

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