Car and Driver magazine ecomods a Pinto: MPG up +25%

[cfg83]

MetroMPG -

Thanks for the pictures. Very clean mods. A thousand words and all that ...

CarloSW2

[MetroMPG]

It looks like they covered up the front turn signals though. They forgot to mention they were saving energy by deleting blinkers.

[s2man]

Ah, I had a Pinto during that Energy Crisis (queue the reminisce music). IIRC, I took it from the same 15mpg baseline up to a PB of 25mpg on a long highway trip (non-stop between fills). Then I let my sister drive it, and she got the worst mileage ever. Something like 14 on the highway! LOL.

My list of mods was much longer than theirs. All drive train related. I wish I had known about aero back then. And yes, one of my mod's was a set of them new-fangled LRR radial tires.

[H4MM3R]

Nice!

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03...ement-not-bad/

[oldschool]

OK, I told you about a pinto project in the June 1975 Popular Mechanics magazine. I finally found it

It was a 1973 Pinto runabout , 2 liter engine and 4 speed with factory air. Starting point was 24.5 mpg All tests were done at 50 mph. Said he found a front brake caliper draging that netted him 2.5 mpg after it was fixed.

1 bought a Cal custom open air cleaner new milage 29 mpg

2 flex fan new mileage 30.5mpg

3 Geraghty Dynotune kit , included weaker springs for the distributor and bigger jets for the carb , he had the ignition curve done on a machine new mileage 33.5mpg

4 Judson electronic magneto( sounds like a hotter coil) 50k volts new mileage 36.5mpg

5 APO of america vapor injector new mileage 40.2 mpg

6 Spearco Header new mileage 44.5 mpg

total cost in the day $259.00

[fud2468]

Wow, was I wrong. No 50mpg here--I must have seen it in a different article., and on a manual transmission Pinto.
When I introduced myself today I thought the Pinto article had not been mentioned on this site because I did not see it on the Aero forum. I see now that the C&D test was on a car with auto transmission. The manuals did much better.
Same with the Vegas, AT's very inefficient, 18 vs. 30+ mpg with manual.
In re-reading the Pinto article now, the 55mph speed limit was being considered, or was in effect, at the time. The mag was resisting that, saying people could continue to drive at 70 but still get good mpg with mods.
Ray Mac

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Oh? I'd love to see that too.

---

FYI - I added pics of the Pinto to the first post in this thread, so you can go back up to see the massive air dam, grille block and rear spoiler they made.

Also made it an EM blog post, so if anyone here is a D I G G E R, check here: Digg - Car and Driver increases MPG 25 percent for $11

I listed the Z-car mods with the installments on noses and spoilers.They did not get results like those for the Pinto.Nissan had done a pretty good job.The G-nose helped(it's a work of art),rear spoiler didn't help as much,as the backlite angle (about 18-degrees ) was much more gentle than Pinto's.I've got the article where I can get to it easy if you want.

[pugmanic]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I've got the article where I can get to it easy if you want.

Yes please

[MetroMPG]

Phil - I'd love to see the full hard copy Z car story (or a scan of it).

If you don't have access to that stuff, you could mail it to me - and I'll promise to return it!

[budomove]

Originally Posted by LostCause

driving a car is like urinating in your water supply. We humans so smart.
- LostCause

Well put.