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Wow what a forum!!!!

I was influenced hugely by a fellow Kiwi Doug McMillan, who with the help of a road closure initated by a friendly official, drove a Honda VTEC CRX at 7 Mile Road, Oamaru, establishing 148.68 mph on 19 October 1997 with only 97 cubic inches, a class record. This was pivitol in me starting with a real world road load database.His figures in a magazine inspired me to investigate how much you can do with just a bare minumum of horsepower and capacity. Him, and the late Flying Kiwi Burt Monroe..


I am a private funded engineering technician who does State Highway audit and road testing in New Zealand. I have an I6 81 3.3 Mustang Hatch, a 92 hp low efficency car with a Revised EPA US Highway/City rating in California spec C3 auto form of
City:18 MPG (U.S.)
Highway:26 MPG (U.S.)
Combine:22 MPG (U.S.).

I got it because its Left Hand drive and its low build compared to emerging tall SUV/MPV vehicles is very handy in right hand drive New Zealand when doing road asset monitoring.

I presently do 12 000 miles of state highway work, and about 4000 miles of urban/city running per annum, but I'm ramping up the road roughness side which takes me all over the South Islands 3900 miles of sealed roads. I have two test loops, a 781 mile and 524 mile journey which have the same conditions every time, except for weather. That's about 20% of the south islands sealed road network right there.

The Stang has been used for 8 months now as a lead audit vehicle after two 95 RAV4.1's and a 98 XLT 4.0 sohc Explorer.

The average cold running city figure of 10.3 US mpg in San Francisco like hills of Dunedin, open road warm running best of 17mpg at 62 mph average open road speed, but normally 53 to 73 mph due to traffic flows and grades of up to +/-12%. My overall average is therefore 13.7 mpg vs. the 22 US mpg ideal for the LA basin test.

New Zealand is a totally different kettle of fish, with coarse high friction chip seal with a soft structural number (flexible with high deflections under load), very sharp relief with overall average climbs of +4% common to audits, then -4% downgrades on return. It's rare to get dead flat conditions. Automatic transmissions, and road conditions and traffic densities on two lane undivided centre line roads make it very, very hard to practice moderation in driving.

The only engine mod at present is a 1961 170 closed chamber head with compression up only half a point to 8.9 and small runner 1.3" log head and carb base. EGR is non functional at present, secondary catalyst is no longer on the car, p.o took it off. It has a dual outlet exhaust, runs AIR and stock ignition profile, our 91 RON fuel (your US 87 AKI)

It carries my test equipment, a 16 bit Campbell Scientific data logger hooked to a Brantz distance meter and it logs road roughness and side thrust for new and existing road construction.

US mpg Figures for the G spec 170 hp 4 speed auto RAV4.1's were 16.2/28.2/22.2, and the 5 speed 205 hp Explorer was 15.2/22.6/18.9.

I need to reduce drag of the Mustang from the 0.45 it is now to about 0.22 by using Renault Vera/Ecomodder style mods, and am working on a 12.7:1 compression hike, water injection and ignition advance drop to 16 static and 28 degrees total. I have access to a stock multi point Ford EEC4 EFI system which I hope to put in soon. I have had an AOD four speed set aside for it, and I may be looking at a set of different axle gears to the 2.73 I have now.

I'm guessing with the planned compression ratio hike and 256 degree cam, the EFI unit which is okay for 140 to 185 hp, I might find other choices better. Other options are 3.08, and the Ranger 2.0 3.45, but also the Pinto/Mustang II 3.18/3.40 gears. My aim is to get those 10.3/17.0/13.7 figures up to 2.5 times what I have. If I could better the following city/highway/combine figures, I'd be laughing. With the 150hp I think I'll get, and a drag factor of 0.22. I'd do 155 mph and a 16.8 second quarter mile in third at 83 mph, so set of 3.18 gears might be optimum.

City25.8/ Hwy42.5/Combine34.2 is the goal.

Regards

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