Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Might buy a 1987 Chevy S10 2.5L 4cyl 4spd manual

aerohead · 10-24-2009, 02:06 PM

A neighbor had one.He never saw over 24-mpg at the old double-nickel speed limit.
Gale Banks took the GMC variant to Bonneville and set a LSR,with one of the downwind passes at 210-mph.
They were able to get the drag coefficient down from Cd 0.47,to Cd 0.315 ( lower than the Corvette of the day ).With that 33% drag reduction they would have picked up about 16.5% better mpg at 55-mph.
If the baseline was 24 miles per gallon as was my neighbor,then the aero mods would push it to just under 28-mpg.
Gale Banks ran the California Custom kit nose/airdam,rocker panel extensions,the truck was stretched a foot(extended cab),MOON covers all around,and GM's patented 1/2-tonneau,which on that truck,works better than a full tonneau.
An aero-shell would have got the drag even lower(although you wouldn't want to drive that fast with it),as well as wheel skirts and bellypan.
Tailshaft overdrives are available today from two suppliers.With a shortened driveshaft they install in 45-minutes and allow gear splits in any gear.One of these units would give you an 8-speed transmission and allow the engine to operate close to it's maximum BSFC at all times.
HOT ROD Magazine just installed one from Gear Vendors on their Ford Ranchero and picked up a clean 2.5-mpg.
There's no reason why a truck like the S-10 couldn't get into mid to upper thirty mpg territory.It just depends how much money,time and energy you want to put into it.

10-24-2009, 02:06 PM	#17 (permalink)
aerohead Master EcoModder Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sanger,Texas,U.S.A. Posts: 15,895 Thanks: 23,972 Thanked 7,223 Times in 4,650 Posts	S-10 A neighbor had one.He never saw over 24-mpg at the old double-nickel speed limit. Gale Banks took the GMC variant to Bonneville and set a LSR,with one of the downwind passes at 210-mph. They were able to get the drag coefficient down from Cd 0.47,to Cd 0.315 ( lower than the Corvette of the day ).With that 33% drag reduction they would have picked up about 16.5% better mpg at 55-mph. If the baseline was 24 miles per gallon as was my neighbor,then the aero mods would push it to just under 28-mpg. Gale Banks ran the California Custom kit nose/airdam,rocker panel extensions,the truck was stretched a foot(extended cab),MOON covers all around,and GM's patented 1/2-tonneau,which on that truck,works better than a full tonneau. An aero-shell would have got the drag even lower(although you wouldn't want to drive that fast with it),as well as wheel skirts and bellypan. Tailshaft overdrives are available today from two suppliers.With a shortened driveshaft they install in 45-minutes and allow gear splits in any gear.One of these units would give you an 8-speed transmission and allow the engine to operate close to it's maximum BSFC at all times. HOT ROD Magazine just installed one from Gear Vendors on their Ford Ranchero and picked up a clean 2.5-mpg. There's no reason why a truck like the S-10 couldn't get into mid to upper thirty mpg territory.It just depends how much money,time and energy you want to put into it.