7.5 MPG

[RallyeMike]

Excellent post Paladin. That is the reality behind the topic. You can have both power and fairly decent mileage if you are willing to invest time tuning to achieve both. Not everyone is willing to run 2.76 gears which help mpg substantially.   

[alenglish]

Hi  guys   my  68 r/t  get  between 5 and 6 mpg  and No I dont get 40,000 miles on the tires either  Big  Al

[Steve P.]

I get 11.6 out of my V-10. crew cab..

[Big Lebowski]

Excellent post Paladin. That is the reality behind the topic. You can have both power and fairly decent mileage if you are willing to invest time tuning to achieve both. Not everyone is willing to run 2.76 gears which help mpg substantially.   

  Ya try that or measure that with 4.10's.

[Todd Wilson]

To All,


The Charger is a bored out 440 with a balanced lower assembly, a measured 9.3 compression ratio, headers, TF 727, 2.76 Sure Grip, custom dual exhausts, Accel 300+ ignition, MP 480/280 camshaft, Rhoads lifters, M1 single plane intake, a Quadrajet carb (don't laugh, those GM spreadbores help with mileage considerably and they are dirt cheap), and some other assorted bells and whistles.  It gets a hair over 15 MPG at 75 MPH with the wife and two teenaged sons in it with the AC blowing.  It will also still go sideways from a rolling start with P25560s on the rear end.

The Thunderbird is a bored out 390 (a "Ford 396"), balanced lower assembly, windage tray, a mild cam, Holley Intake, another Quadrajet, Petronix ignition, and the standard logs with dual exhausts and 3.00:1 gears.  The last trip I took, it got nearly 18 MPG.  Not bad for something that weighs 4600 pounds empty.

Some other old Mopes I had:

1973 'Cuda 340:  cam, aluminum intake, 2.76s  20 MPG highway.
1968 Coronet with a 318: duals, aluminum intake, Quadrajet carb, electronic ignition with 2.76s.  23 MPG @ a steady 75.

This is not bad, since the best my wife has ever gotten out of her Durango is 19 MPG.  I really want to play with the Monaco.  I think there is 20+ MPG hiding there with a properly built 440 with 3.21 gears and a Gear Vendors overdrive.

May God Bless America,

Paladin

Thats all fine and dandy but thats all highway driving.  Engines always do better at highway speeds and V8's do especially well at highway speeds.  In town those engines will drink gas as fast as they can get it.


Todd

[BigBlockSam]

440, are very thirsty beasts. if you build a hi hp motor forget about gas miliage. Rene

[Paladin]

Todd Wilson,

I do not see much relevancy in your statement, at least in my case.  It is 170 miles round trip to the nearest hospital, regional airport, Lowe's, Walmart, etc, etc.  So most of it is highway driving by default.  As a matter of fact, I don't know of anyone who drives a quarter-mile at a time, unless they are (hopefully) involved in a sanctioned event.  I will tell you this, the first tank of gas in my Monaco A38/E86 around town averaged out around 8.5 MPG.  There is a lot more there to play with, because the carburation and ignition are no where near optimal.   My R/T gets around 11 MPG in such circumstances, and that is with that 280/480 Direct Connection camshaft which is a real dinosaur kind of grind.  The bottom line is this, there is decent fuel mileage to be had out of a big block Mopar, if you are willing to spend the time and effort tuning it for efficiency.  The better gas mileage you can get, the more you can drive the car.  Now, who would think that is a bad thing?

May God bless America,
Paladin

[BigBlockSam]

there is decent fuel mileage to be had out of a big block Moper 

keep dreaming. i have 5 cars with 440'S in them, running. some more hp than others. i also have 6 more 440 motors waiting to get rebuilt for future projects. i know 440's there one of the best motors ever built. . if you call 11 or 12 miles decent gas mileage then your rite. try going low compression with a super charger that would help or over drive units or fuel injection but i carb 440 isn't made for gas mileage. as i said before , buy a Hugo or a Honda. i pride myself on how efficient my motors run but gas mileage and 440's don't mix. Rene

[Todd Wilson]

Todd Wilson,

I do not see much relevancy in your statement, at least in my case.  It is 170 miles round trip to the nearest hospital, regional airport, Lowe's, Walmart, etc, etc.  So most of it is highway driving by default.  As a matter of fact, I don't know of anyone who drives a quarter-mile at a time, unless they are (hopefully) involved in a sanctioned event. 

The relevency was  that at highway speeds these old cars get better MPG.  Not as good as new cars but still good enough to drive at these gas prices.   But most people here on this forum dont start their old Mopar up and get on the highway and drive.   They cruise around town. Stop and go. 20mph-30mph  driving about to small shows to the drive in restaurant on the weekends.  This isnt gonna give very good MPG no matter what engine.   

But we must ask ourselves  what is good MPG? 12 MPG with a 440?  Yes  but 12MPG with a little daily driver?  NO?   And at almost 3$ a gallon gas  its getting rather expensive to drive these old cars as stated in the first message of the thread.



Todd

[BigBlockSam]

what about  a 6 cylinder charger. can anybody tell me what kind of gas mil. they get?

[Big Lebowski]

My '70 six-pack Charger with it's 4.10 Dana doesn't do the freeway thing for very long, it's gets too hot, kinda like your in 2nd gear in the slow lane.

[Rolling_Thunder]

I've gotten about 18 mpg on the freeway doing about 80-85 mph    ---  i really like the overdrive  --  yet city driving...   ummmm     i know it is mostly my driving style but i get about 7mpg

[Mike DC]

The better gas mileage you can get, the more you can drive the car.  Now, who would think that is a bad thing?

That's the point. 

Okay, 440s are never gonna be cheap to feed.  Understood. 
But that doesn't justify wasting even more gas just because the carb/ignition's out of tune either. 
Getting 12 mpg will always suck, but getting 4 or 5 mpg unessecarily sucks a lot worse.

---------------------------------------------------------

Besides, try giving the 440 an EFI setup & some overdrive gears.  Suddenly it won't eat gasoline any worse than a modern pickup.

 

[Brock Samson]

for the record:
My '69 R/T with a Six-pack block bored to 446, a weiland stealth intake and holly street avenger 770 carb give me about 7 MPG in the city and the traffic here SUCKS! Plus we have these hills... out on the freeway it's closer to 10-12 but i'm allways on it...  rear end is the same as the '71 Hi-Po SB 340 Road Runner a 3.23, which has a 880 four Bbl. Carb. my inital figures for the Plymouth are approx 10 and 14 MPG city and Hy. respectivly, but my '99 300 M shows approx 15-17 in town and 20-23 highway...
One very important thing 've i noticed on the 300 is that a steady rate 55 MPH on the freeway shows a significant improvment over my "other" driving style. i'd guess as much as 10%.
so while some folks will buy a 15-20 K new car to achieve a significant $ savings they might be better served by sticking to the slow lane.
But,..  I got my foot deep in all of em.. 

[Rolling_Thunder]

Well...     when i finish building the 496 - it should be fuel injected...     my boss and myself are building a fuel injection system as we speak and we will make a couple systems (his two 440's, my 496)  hopefully these systems should be working within 3 months

[Paladin]

      Last time I checked the dealer sticker on one of those 2006 Dodge four door sedans with the 3.5L, I think they said something like 19 in town and 27 on the highway.  You would not have to pay a gas guzzler tax on it, just an "ugly as sin" fee to be seen in public driving it.  But I digress...

     My vehicles are not trailer queens, nor or they a toy that sits in the garage 95% of the time gathering dust.  A car is a mode of transportation and is meant to be driven.  I do not mean that as an insult to those with other philosophies on the subject, but do not insult me if I choose to use an old car for its' intended purpose.  I still do not understand why some would think that getting 15-18 MPG cruising down the highway is not "good enough" for a daily driver.  Granted, my old T-Bird or Charger R/T is never going to win the Mobil Economy Trials, but I don't owe a dime on either one.  I also have an entire lot full of spare parts but if need be I can get most anything I need at the local NAPA.  And by and large, the parts are a lot cheaper than what you pay for some of those import pieces.  They are usually much easier to install, also.

    Something also needs to be said about comparable mileage in new cars of the same weight.  My wife's Durango gets 19 (a personal best) at a steady cruise with the 4.7 V8.  It weighs 4600 pounds.  the T-Bird also wieghs around 4600 and gets around 18.  That is with more than a 100 extra cubes, and without fuel injection, overdrive or more on-board computer capability than it took to put a man on the moon.  This is not an anomaly, I listen to new car owners and read enough new car rags to know of some fairly abysmal gas mileage figures. A new Mustang GT gets 21 on the highway, a new Crown Vic worse than that. The 2006 GTO gets around 20.  Do we even need to talk about full size pickups or SUVs that weigh over two tons?   Please explain just how much better these new cars are mileage-wise when you are talking about full-sized vehicles.  Sure, I could get a Prius.  But with my wife and two teenaged sons on the monthly grocery run, you are defeating your purpose.  Not to mention putting a major hole in your wallet when you start figuring payments and what do I do with this thing when it goes out of warranty and something breaks on it.

     Plus, I still am entertaining some fuel mileage thoughts on the Monaco A38.  With the proper choice of parts, tuning and such, I know it will get over 20 MPG on the highway and still be able to hold its own performance-wise with a lot of new cars that cost better than $30K.  That will be with a budget of about $7500 on my part to get another vehicle that will be rock solid and reliable as an anvil.  I don't know about you guys, but I can buy a lot of gas for the approximately $22,500 difference.  

    Which gets us back to the original post.  The gentleman was getting some fairly lousy gas mileage and made an inquiry into it.  I am simply trying to explain that it is not the norm, and a healthy 440 will do a lot better than that.   Proper selection of parts and some time and effort making them all work together correctly will yield some impressive results in increasing the efficiency of any older V8.  
       
May God bless America,
Paladin  

[dodge freak]

That is why NOS is popular.

Now if only all the gas stations would start selling it, thats why I don't have it, to much of a pain to get.

Hey we might as well keep burning that gas up, seems like it keeps cost more every year. Maybe 5 years from now we all wish it was ONLY $3.00 a gallon.

[Mike DC]

Something also needs to be said about comparable mileage in new cars of the same weight.  My wife's Durango gets 19 (a personal best) at a steady cruise with the 4.7 V8.  It weighs 4600 pounds.  the T-Bird also wieghs around 4600 and gets around 18.  That is with more than a 100 extra cubes, and without fuel injection, overdrive or more on-board computer capability than it took to put a man on the moon.  This is not an anomaly, I listen to new car owners and read enough new car rags to know of some fairly abysmal gas mileage figures . . . Please explain just how much better these new cars are mileage-wise when you are talking about full-sized vehicles.

It's so true.  Half the advancement claims in the last 25 years are bullsh*t.

They make the bodies more aerodynamic, and then compensate by making them bigger & taller.  They make the materials lighter, and then compensate by filling the cars with several times more crap to do the same job.  They make the motor smaller, and then compensate by revving it up twice as high.

No net gain.