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Two heads better than one?
I have a 97 Mercury Villager minivan that, I'm told, has a power robbing wake. I also have a broke down 95 Ford Escort 5 speed that is lucky to get 30 mpg, but it has way too much torque for its own good. I'm planning a trip that may cover around 5000 miles, but my van is a bit cramped. I was figuring on a very small trailer, or using an open boat tail that is built to hold extra luggage. I also considered hitching the Escort to the rear of the minivan to use as a bit of a trailer/ extra vehicle, and that got me to thinking. I know that Escort can pull a 2 ton vehicle down the road; not quickly, but it is capable of it.
Suppose I were to get behind the wheel of the Escort, and whenever the wife got up to speed, I could put the Escort in gear, and she could put the van in neutral, letting the engine idle while the Escort did the hard bit of keeping the vehicles moving at, say, 60 mph. The Escort has a smaller engine, plus the manual gearbox instead of the auto. Would there be any way to guesstimate the combined fuel economy of such an arrangement? Or maybe even leaving the van in gear, but it doesn't have to work as hard since the Escort is helping to push.
Any ideas?
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 RIP Maxima 1997-2012
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
I think you missed the point I was trying to make, which is that it's not rational to do either speed or fuel economy mods for economic reasons. You do it as a form of recreation, for the fun and for the challenge.
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