<VV> MPG Hystery

[Tony Underwood]

At 09:02 hours 08/23/2005, Ron wrote:
>So how come a professional driver in the Mobil Gas Economy Run got 
>27 mpg and our modern amateurs with a 140 get almost 40 mpg?  Is it 
>because they kept the Mobil Gas Run honest?
>Just wondering,
>RonH



"Honest"?


I don't think so.   My mom's old '61 700 4-door (3.27 gears, PG) 
would get close to 30 mpg, highway, easy, and it wasn't all that 
fresh with somewhere around 90k on it back then.   If it was 
granny'ed, it did better than that.   A couple decades ago I drove it 
out of state and kept tabs on the fuel used and it averaged 28 on the 
way to, and 30+ on the way from.   (I was in a hurry to get there and 
leadfooted it to Carolina, mosied my way back)

I think most any "non-hotrodded" Vair in a decent state of tune and 
in good  mechanical condition would get at least 25 highway and those 
with more moderate configurations like low-perf engines and better 
gearing may  well do considerably better than that.

My '63 Spyder would get 25 if I was careful, and it had an RL engine 
that was tweaked.    The Corsa with the 140 would do 25 highway with 
no trouble.   However, mom was consistently getting 30+ mpg in that 
'61 4-door each time she went out of town to see relatives.    My '60 
with 3.55 gears and Powerglide gets pretty decent mileage, somewhere 
around 26.   I could go count up the gas receipts for a few months 
and check the odometer and provide an exact figure if anybody really 
cares.


That 27 mpg figure quoted above doesn't sound like all that much to 
crow about, especially for what was likely an 80hp 140ci.


tony..