Yes, Im a hypocritical liberal

2005 5.3L Vortec Silverado Crew Cab...
Just in time for $3+/gal

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/scarfa...53as,1%253af,0

 

 

Welcome to the club! The truck club that is.

 

Yea, I was leaning towards an econobox because I already have the maro.
But someone my size coming out of a tiny car is a little comical

 

My 5.3L Vortec, 3:73 gear, 4x4 gets a little better gas mileage than my GTA does. So, your 2WD truck should do pretty good compared to your 3rd gen.

I drive 22 miles one way to work thru windy uphill/downhill canyon roads and Pacific Coast Highway. The best the GTA could do with it's 15.9 gallon tank is 3.5 round-trips to work. At that point I needed to fill up.

My truck, with a 25.5 gallon tank, will easily do 8 round-trips to work and still have some fuel left for local errands.

Of course, I tend to drive the truck a littlle more conservativley.

 

I have a 100 mile round trip to work.

I've been looking for commuter car and everytime I imagine myself in one my ***** shrink.

What's a cool commuter car that gets at least 35 MPG?

 

Its a car thats made out of the material unobtainium...

 

Most anything with a 4 cyl and no lead foot.

Take one of your old Camaros and drop a diesel in it.


Edit by Kevin: Its camAro, Tom.

 

It's called a m-o-t-o-r-c-y-c-l-e.

 

Or a vintage Mini Cooper with a modern Vtec motor producing 200hp for an 11 sec 1/4 and 45mpg

 

My wife mentioned a motorcycle but I'm not sure if it was to save gas or if she wants to get rid of me.

Ok I'll lower my goals and say 30 MPG.

The Z24 Cavaliers are rated at 26-36MPG. At least it has a Z in the title. Does that make it cool?

 

Dwayne, I don't know how new your looking for. The Ecotech 4 cylinder from G.M. is an outstanding engine that is just about canon proof. That is the engine that has been the base 4 cylinder G.M. motor for the last three or four years. If you are looking for something older, the early Saturn dohc engines are strong, reliable, and powerful. This would cover all Saturn sc2, sl2, or sw2 from 1991 - 2002. All Saturn 4 cylinder engines run chain driven ohc which I think is an important consideration. I personally don't like timing belts. I should mention that the Ecotech also has a chain drive on the ohc.

 

I have two sisters that had a 1993 and 1994 Saturn SL2s. Both went down due to engine failures. The 1992 DOHC SL2 got a cracked aluminum engine block at 125K miles. The 1994 DOHC SL2 with 90K miles has major engine issues and currently resides in my driveway.

 

A new mini cooper. everything else is so hmmmmm Asian

 

And yet us people in our 5 MPG 350+ HP crate motors still laugh upon imports and call them **** and we're lucky if we were to break 12's.

Sounds like "muscle" isn't always the best thing, eh?

*prepares for beating*

 

How about a tall rear end + t5 and a IRON duke in 64 or so Nova.


What would be good drivetrain combo and car that could be built to get good MPG?

 

There are combinations that are in the 12 second bracket and are well into the 20mpg range. Dyno Don for example.

 

I don't think you would want both a tall gear and a t-5 in the Nova. If you can find one, it would be a good combo. An Iron Duke in a Vega or Monza with a t-5 would also be good. If you can find a 4 cyl. Citation with tbi, you might be able to fit the tbi with the ecm to one of these other cars for better fuel economy. I think with a t-5 in one of those light bodies something around 3.23 would be about fine. I had a 4 cylinder Citation with a 4 speed, and it had a 2.90 if I remember correctly, and it was almost impossible to get off the line. I had a Dodge Dakota pick up with a 4 cylinder with a 5 speed o.d. trans running 4.11 gears. It was maybe just a little bit low. I used to get 25-28 mpg with the Dakota.

 

Something else to consider would be a small 4 cylinder mini pickup like the early S10 or a Dakota. The stick shift Dakotas were 5 speeds, the S10 had a 4 speed with tall gears like my old Citation.

 

Muscle is a great thing- its just how you ratio it.

You have 350 hp on a 3500 lb car

This car wil be 200 hp on a 1300lb car (actuallly factory stock is 1200), but I stripped it majorly everywhere already and putting a cage into it+ the Vtec will be heavier than the Cooper a-series 1275cc (75hp stock)

Its all about power to weight ratio and a lighter small car has less mass to coirner stop and accelerate.

ps- the Vtec motor and FWDtrain is designed for a car twice the weight that gave very decent performance stock. It will scream in a car half the weight AND last forever still in the stock form

 

Crate motors?? I dont know anyone on here who has a crate motor.

 

Yea Car and Driver had a classic Mini with a Vtec motor in it that they tested. Here is the link Vtec Cooper

Pretty neat. Really had to shoehorn that engine in there

 

i do!! i do!!! but its nowhere near 300+ hp... lol....