Quote:
Originally Posted by shovel
Indeed! I was 22 when I owned it, and that was more than a decade ago - I was interested in fuel efficiency for purely monetary reasons at the time - not as much for curiosity or hobby reasons - so I wasn't paying the strictest attention to what made it efficient. Thinking back, I know it had a 2.xx:1 rear axle ratio, and in general the engine operated at very low speeds all the time, even under heavy throttle kick-downs from 3rd gear into 2nd gear, I don't think it saw the high side of 3000rpm. There was no tachometer, I can only guess at speeds. Idle was very low, and as close to silent as a machine with a carburetor and a nearly open induction system can be - just had that offset "snorkus" thing on a round air filter like most cars of that era.
The car was also quiet on the highway, windows up or down. I haven't been able to find data online for that era's drag coefficient unfortunately but it wouldn't surprise me if it was somewhere in the low 30's despite being rwd and having no attention paid to the underside aero.
Thinking of that era's fuel sippers, dad had an I6-powered 74 Maverick 4door when I was young, and I remember we always took that vehicle on road trips because he said it got much better fuel mileage than the other 3 vehicles we owned (super beetle, pinto, chevy scottsdale pickup I6) - also the most comfortable of the cars.
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I do miss my old '74 Dart I had in high school. It was factory gold paint but we spray painted it navy blue in my dads old garage along with my buddy who had a same year Duster. I had many memories in that car even took my first date out in it
That car was so simple to work on mechanically speaking compared to almost everything else I've ever owned. I could also fit 5 of my buddies in it. I think mine didn't get really good mileage as it had really high miles, wasn't taken care of very well by its previous owners, and the carb was very finnicky and needed a good rebuild which at the time I didn't have the money for.