Quote:
Originally Posted by Titanium
...None of these cars got fantastic gas milage, but the Camaro got the best with it's tall rear end axle gearing.
When you tell me you want to modify your LT1 motor I am going to guess any dealer non stock parts available for that engine are mostly performance mods.
To me to save gas with that car is going to require getting the RPM's of the engine down while you are driving it. You are not wanting super low gearing in the rear end axle if you want better gas milage. Lower gears cause higher engine rpm at any road speed. Your car might be fine as is depending on what gearing is in it already.
You can change rear end axle gearing and rebuild transmissions to achieve whatever you want with a Chevy/Pontiac. Lots of things you can do with a Chevy product because there are tons of parts made for Chevy cars to change whatever you want about the car.
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Well this is where my logic comes in with regards to using a small block chevy TPI intake, optimized for low to mid-range torque production for daily driving performance, from the 1980's, on my 90's LT1 with the TPIS miniram intake copy from GM, which is designed to optimize high end RPM torque, for racing! I can't tell you how many guys suggested I use
lower gear ratio 4.11 to get my motor operating at a higher RPM level. This is great for acceleration and it solves my torque problem but it will
kill my city mileage. Furthermore I don't have the opportunities to
safely drive my car at RPM ranges above 5000 to "enjoy it". So, I have consigned myself to enjoying the cruise at lower RPM and hearing the exhaust tone from the V8 with Magnaflow cat-back exhaust!
For safety, my stock 3.42 gear ratio from GM is optimal for daily driving, bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go acceleration speed. For fuel economy, my 3.42 gear ratio is optimal enough! I could probably go higher with a 3.23 gear ratio but the 3.42 seems good enough. So, instead of trying to make my car operate at higher RPM, I am looking to the L98 and the TPI intake to help me make my LT1 behave like it's predecessor, having lower end and good mid-range torque,
BUT the car starts to starve for air beyond 4500 RPM due to the long runner intake manifold. However, this would work for the sake of fuel economy at higher RPM so this system is perfect for my daily driving needs, which is why GM developed it in 1985, for fuel economy/emissions standards of the time and for optimal daily driving!