Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - S-10 trying to have it both ways!

pashiner · 03-29-2022, 04:12 PM

howdy folks, I've got a few questions for the hive-mind, and I believe ecomodders is the place to get answers.

I drive a 99 s-10 2.2 5spd, std. cab short bed as my daily driver, getting 26mpg avg., depending on fuel quality.
my daily driving is rather minimal, 4 miles to work, and then back again. light traffic, minimal hills, the usual. around 150k miles on the clock.

on weekends, I make a 150 mile round trip to visit my girlfriend. The drive is 70% interstate highway, and 20% steep, twisty, but paved mountain roads, and about 10% dirt and gravel mountain roads.

I've got plenty of top-end power at 70+mph, keeps up with traffic just fine...but is sorely lacking bottom end torque. I'm often loaded down with a canoe, or mountain bikes, camping gear etc. and the poor little thing struggles when the going gets steep, and is generally slow around town.

I see 3 ways around this without totally trashing my fuel economy

I could do the usual N/A mods...intake, exhaust, underdrive pulleys, e-fan etc. and probably gain a small amount of economy, pick up a small amount of power, but spend relatively little money. the motor could probably use a rebuild sooner or later, so this would be an ok stop-gap.

I could rebuild the 2.2 and add a small turbo...they make a manifold with a t-3 flange...maybe run 5-8lbs of boost, and pick up more power than the above option, spend a lot more money, and possibly gain some amount of economy. In this situation, I'd likely go all out...forged pistons, camshaft, gapless rings, injectors, megasquirt PCM, increased compression, and water/methanol injection, as well as the supporting mods in option#1.

my third option is to pull the 5.7 vortec L31 motor out of my rusted out '99 express 2500, detune it a bit...or a lot, considering it makes 3x the torque of my 2.2, mate it to a t-56, and have all the power I need, minimal expense (full swap kit is under $600), and again, probably lose a bit of economy...or not? I've never done a v-8 economy build, just mo'power builds in the past.
I'd be able to pull some pretty tall gears, but I'd be adding 200+ lbs to the front of the truck.
For perspective, a fullsize station wagon like a Buick Roadmaster pulls down the same highway mileage as my s-10 with a 5.7 v8 and a 4-speed auto.

what does everyone think?
I'm no stranger to engine swaps and rebuilds, and I've got a budget of a few thousand dollars.

I'd like to keep fuel economy as good or better, and will explore aero-mods at a later date.

03-29-2022, 04:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
pashiner EcoModding Lurker Join Date: Mar 2022 Location: Gettysburg PA Posts: 9 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	S-10 trying to have it both ways! howdy folks, I've got a few questions for the hive-mind, and I believe ecomodders is the place to get answers. I drive a 99 s-10 2.2 5spd, std. cab short bed as my daily driver, getting 26mpg avg., depending on fuel quality. my daily driving is rather minimal, 4 miles to work, and then back again. light traffic, minimal hills, the usual. around 150k miles on the clock. on weekends, I make a 150 mile round trip to visit my girlfriend. The drive is 70% interstate highway, and 20% steep, twisty, but paved mountain roads, and about 10% dirt and gravel mountain roads. I've got plenty of top-end power at 70+mph, keeps up with traffic just fine...but is sorely lacking bottom end torque. I'm often loaded down with a canoe, or mountain bikes, camping gear etc. and the poor little thing struggles when the going gets steep, and is generally slow around town. I see 3 ways around this without totally trashing my fuel economy I could do the usual N/A mods...intake, exhaust, underdrive pulleys, e-fan etc. and probably gain a small amount of economy, pick up a small amount of power, but spend relatively little money. the motor could probably use a rebuild sooner or later, so this would be an ok stop-gap. I could rebuild the 2.2 and add a small turbo...they make a manifold with a t-3 flange...maybe run 5-8lbs of boost, and pick up more power than the above option, spend a lot more money, and possibly gain some amount of economy. In this situation, I'd likely go all out...forged pistons, camshaft, gapless rings, injectors, megasquirt PCM, increased compression, and water/methanol injection, as well as the supporting mods in option#1. my third option is to pull the 5.7 vortec L31 motor out of my rusted out '99 express 2500, detune it a bit...or a lot, considering it makes 3x the torque of my 2.2, mate it to a t-56, and have all the power I need, minimal expense (full swap kit is under $600), and again, probably lose a bit of economy...or not? I've never done a v-8 economy build, just mo'power builds in the past. I'd be able to pull some pretty tall gears, but I'd be adding 200+ lbs to the front of the truck. For perspective, a fullsize station wagon like a Buick Roadmaster pulls down the same highway mileage as my s-10 with a 5.7 v8 and a 4-speed auto. what does everyone think? I'm no stranger to engine swaps and rebuilds, and I've got a budget of a few thousand dollars. I'd like to keep fuel economy as good or better, and will explore aero-mods at a later date.