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358 Posts
100 mpg Carb
I think the myth of the 100 mpg carb was debunked years ago as urban legend.
I think the myth of the 100 mpg carb was debunked years ago as urban legend.
Can Gasoline Engines Be Helped?
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better fuel economy
This is all good for years from now but if you live in the few states left where emmisions are'nt checked you can do several things.
Lose the smog pump, air, egr, catalytics, and install a larger and possibly shorter exhaust.
I did this to an old mazda rx-7 and went from 20mpg to 27-29 mpg. needless to say I also gained alot of horses.
May sound ridiculous to some but keeping your car washed and waxed can help by reducing drag.
Also dont try to get away with buying cheaper gas, buy whatever your car is tuned for. when you hear lifters knocking your hearing gas guzzling.
Check your tires pressure, this also reduces drag
If your running a sport wing or simular you might want to think abaout adjusting it or removing it for a while.
also if you have air conditioning, keeping the windows up and the roof closed helps. sunroofs create more drag than anything. If your driving a truck, clean out the bed and drop the tail gate.
there are lots more, just cant think of them right now.
This is all good for years from now but if you live in the few states left where emmisions are'nt checked you can do several things.
Lose the smog pump, air, egr, catalytics, and install a larger and possibly shorter exhaust.
I did this to an old mazda rx-7 and went from 20mpg to 27-29 mpg. needless to say I also gained alot of horses.
May sound ridiculous to some but keeping your car washed and waxed can help by reducing drag.
Also dont try to get away with buying cheaper gas, buy whatever your car is tuned for. when you hear lifters knocking your hearing gas guzzling.
Check your tires pressure, this also reduces drag
If your running a sport wing or simular you might want to think abaout adjusting it or removing it for a while.
also if you have air conditioning, keeping the windows up and the roof closed helps. sunroofs create more drag than anything. If your driving a truck, clean out the bed and drop the tail gate.
there are lots more, just cant think of them right now.
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5,564 Posts
Only 1.5 times higher Ole - the other 2.0 is tax to fund the welfare system{SRK}Ole said:must say that in Norway the price for Gasoline is 3.5 times higher then the us :'(
to own a real car here in Norway is painfull
It is 2.0 times here in New Zealand - half is tax for the welfare system.
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141 Posts
Almost none of this works on modern vehicles these days.xxnod96 said:
SUV's are pretty much optimized out of the factory; there are no big gains to be had by disconnecting stuff. I modded my 2003 Mach 1 (intake, exhaust, etc) in an effort to get more HP; I picked up about 1-1/2 MPG in the process.
Besides, whining about gas prices is flat silly. They're still not par with the rest of the world; I've paid over $5.00/gallon elsewhere in the world.
Look - If you drive a 20 MPG SUV (they're out there - pretty common, and drive 20,000 miles/yrs - that's $1500 for gas per year at a buckfitty a gallon. At two bux a gallon - $2000. That's a $500 hit per year - $40 bucks a month.
That's the cable bill.
Get over it.
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479 Posts
I get 34mpg on my GT and 31mpg on the Manta with a 32/36...what mpg numbers are you guys getting on your Opels???
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141 Posts
mid 30's on my GT's73Manta72gt said:I get 34mpg on my GT and 31mpg on the Manta with a 32/36...what mpg numbers are you guys getting on your Opels???
28-30 with the Mantas
mid 20's on the Ascona.
Maggie the Opel returns 24 MPG around town.
My 2003 Mustang Mach 1 gets 19 MPG around town, but has 250 more HP on tap. Lessee...over 300% more HP at a 10% mileage penalty. Engine technology has gone a loong loong way when I can drive a bone-stock 13 second street car that returns nearly 20 MPG in the city.
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479 Posts
I have a 4 spd in the GT and a 5 spd in the Manta
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1,328 Posts
Look Chuckspeed, I started this thread for input on gaining increased gas mileage for the German OPEL 1.9 and higher gasoline engines. Nearly everyone on this site should have a more current gas sucking auto that is making us pay to the bottom of our wallets. Yes, I know that in Europe and other spots on the planet the fuel price is much higher and those countries cope. All that can be done here is wait for the station's per gallon indicators to rise up or hopefully drop down. But what neat technical things can we do to our thirty plus year old wonders? We talk alot about gaining more horses and increasing our starting, mid range, and top end speeds. So lets put these fine OPEL based minds to the test and talk about maybe increasing the MPG. What say????
True in todays world. But there are full scale projects in Norway I believe where wind and tidal power operate the facilities to my hydrogen. This way they can use a hydrogen system to create a truly pollution free portable energy source.GTJIM said:2)Hydrogen from water requires electrolyis to produce it - using electriciy generated by - wait for it! - oil powered generation
That said, envirometnailists still forget Oil is required to make most the plastics that are used to build these facilities.
Personally I am waiting on Fusion. Until then I will drive my 18 MPG highway / 14 city Bitter gas hog. Funny thing, when the motor was a 3.9L I got about 22/18 gas mileage went down when I put the 3.0L in.
Charles
You can look at alternate fuels on the market today, alot of cars are propane especially state vehicles. I know here they give a big break on tags for them so you save in that area bit carburetor prices are higher. There is also electric but I've seen my electric bill as is, I don't want to think about a nightly plug into that source. I used to have a Dodge powerwagon with a 440 and a 750 Edelbrock on it, I got mileage in the high 20s if I kept my foot out of it or low teens if I drove like normal. I guess if your looking at what can be done cheap and easy try a few of these ideas. Adjust your throttle linkage to just barely open the secondarys. Get a hotter coil and electronic ignition to make the best of what you'll let it have. Bottom line is you will be making a nice little sporty car into a slug, or leave it alone and keep your foot out of it. I recently made the decision to upgrade in power and will be stuck with buying premium and maybe a bit above that. I chose to spend maybe 1500 a year on gas to have a little fire breathing monster. I could have spent my money and time downsizing it but in the end I wouldn't have driven the guttless little wonder and saved all gas costs. Gas prices are a part of the whole picture, I didn't buy or want a fuel economy vehicle when I picked it out. I knew what I was getting and had no idea of it being something it's not. My opinion is that if you are looking for fuel economy go buy a car meant for that, otherwise be glad to have a nice little vintage sports car and get used to paying for the privledge of driving it.
The original query was getting better gas mileage on our Opels. Nobody says it like it is, no problem. You drive or you build then drive like you want, a high performance vehicle, sort of or a slug for economy.
Charles hit one aspect of it on the head. In some circumstances, more engine power equates to better gas mileage. How it does it is easy for someone knowledgeable in the term, "throttle angle". A higher power engine will turn a specific RPM at a lower throttle angle than a lesser powered engine, therefore better gas mileage. There is a tradeoff along those lines where the power requires more fuel to operate at that rpm. So a happy medium must be sought out, but generally and again, up to a point more performance can equal more MPG. It is a hit or miss proposition. A case in point, my Dodge van with a 318 got 15 MPG, same van with a 340 Hi-per engine got 18-21 MPG, while a similar van with a 360 only got 12 MPG. I hope this helps unmuddy the water a little.
Ron
Charles hit one aspect of it on the head. In some circumstances, more engine power equates to better gas mileage. How it does it is easy for someone knowledgeable in the term, "throttle angle". A higher power engine will turn a specific RPM at a lower throttle angle than a lesser powered engine, therefore better gas mileage. There is a tradeoff along those lines where the power requires more fuel to operate at that rpm. So a happy medium must be sought out, but generally and again, up to a point more performance can equal more MPG. It is a hit or miss proposition. A case in point, my Dodge van with a 318 got 15 MPG, same van with a 340 Hi-per engine got 18-21 MPG, while a similar van with a 360 only got 12 MPG. I hope this helps unmuddy the water a little.
Ron
Which would back up Tom Adkins, who claims his 1.1L gets the same.PROPEL said:Ha! My 1.1L GT may be considered a "gutless little wonder", but it's still fun to drive and gets 40+ mpgs.
Hmm... the argument for a 1.1l Opel GT or a 1.2L Opel Manta (Which I have considered importing from Europe where they are as rare as a 1.1L GT) is getting stronger...
That is alot of what I was trying to say. I thought it was funny that the 440 Dodge will be close in MPG to my GT. I wasn't at all saying that the 1.1 was guttless, just that when you start tuning just for mileage you loose most of what you got the sports car for in the first place.
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141 Posts
I'm sorry if I misunderstood your post. The SUV comment at the end made it seem like you were interested in getting your SUV to run better; that's a lumpy brick and it simply ain't gonna happen.MICAH1 said:Look Chuckspeed, I started this thread for input on gaining increased gas mileage for the German OPEL 1.9 and higher gasoline engines. Nearly everyone on this site should have a more current gas sucking auto that is making us pay to the bottom of our wallets. Yes, I know that in Europe and other spots on the planet the fuel price is much higher and those countries cope. All that can be done here is wait for the station's per gallon indicators to rise up or hopefully drop down. But what neat technical things can we do to our thirty plus year old wonders? We talk alot about gaining more horses and increasing our starting, mid range, and top end speeds. So lets put these fine OPEL based minds to the test and talk about maybe increasing the MPG. What say????
That being said; a GT has a great Cd (drag coefficient) so big MPG figures are indeed possible. First trick is to reduce the engine RPM at highway speeds, this is possible with an O/D trans - one of the 5 speeds sold by many Opel suppliers. This will add 2-3 MPG no prob.
Next trick is to optimize the exhaust system. A good 4:1 header (or 4-2-1 header) will add HP and increase fuel economy at the same time. The Motorcraft/Weber progressive 2-bbl car used on late 70's Pintos is a good place to start for carbureted economy; the big Weber and the Solex are not good economy choices.
REAL fuel economy would come from a 1.1 liter motor tuned for performance; the combination of an overdrive trans and the 1.1 liter would push 50 MPG in the GT. Killer app, mang.
I had a 1993 Ford Festiva with a 1.3 liter and 5-speed. Fuel injected; 1700 lbs. Damned thing would return 43-44 MPG on the highway and after performance tuning, hang with a Bonnville SST or Grand Am GT in a street race. Only real prob was the speedo needle left a divot in the dash after many miles of 92 MPH + crusing. After 92 MPH- the speedo needle was buried. Make it go fast and drive it with a feather foot; yeah. You can get good MPG.
Okay - soapbox. Watch me get worried after gas hits five bux a gallon. Until then - I'm layin' rubber with large-displacement detroit iron.
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Chuckspeed,
No sweat about the thread. After my family most of my time is spent on this site and my GT. I still have the 1973 stock 1.9 with 32/36 weber but have not installed the six jets and e tube suggested by the experts of this site yet. I do have a four in one Cragar header, with a two inch pipe down to a flow thru Magnaflow muffler and out thru a custom twin two inch monza pacesetter w/res. Oh yeah almost forgot, I followed Opelenvy with the cold intake adapter on the weber and a pertronix ignition with the flame thrower coil and slightly ported intake (did not look as good as pictured on this site). With all that said and the everyday headlines on gas prices, my thoughts turned more and more towards MPG.
No sweat about the thread. After my family most of my time is spent on this site and my GT.
I still have the 1973 stock 1.9 with 32/36 weber but have not installed the six jets and e tube suggested by the experts of this site yet. I do have a four in one Cragar header, with a two inch pipe down to a flow thru Magnaflow muffler and out thru a custom twin two inch monza pacesetter w/res. Oh yeah almost forgot, I followed Opelenvy with the cold intake adapter on the weber and a pertronix ignition with the flame thrower coil and slightly ported intake (did not look as good as pictured on this site). With all that said and the everyday headlines on gas prices, my thoughts turned more and more towards MPG.I don't know how available this is in USA, but here you can't find a 30+ y. old car that runs on regular gas. (unless its for racing) Everyone installs propane/butane tanks and the cars run great with that. Costs about 400$ for installing, tank, converter and all. I don't know GT's but Manta has a perfect spot for the tank in the trunk above the rear axle/ between the arches, fits like its made for it.
Only problem is that this stupid country puts extra taxes on you for using it. Imagine that, pay more for saving the enviroment, how stupid do you have to be? And the fillup places are quite rare.
Only problem is that this stupid country puts extra taxes on you for using it. Imagine that, pay more for saving the enviroment, how stupid do you have to be? And the fillup places are quite rare.
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