1966 Hybrid Mustang - 65% increase in MPG's!

[user removed]

I got 27 highway in my 63 Valiant on POS $10 recap bias ply tires. 170 CI slant 6 with a 3 speed column shift. Those Mustangs, Falcons, and Valiants were very light cars. The 64 Mustang was advertised at $1 a pound, 2395 pounds, $2395 new. That's not much more than the lightest new cars you can buy, and very close to the first 70 240Z.

regards
Mech

[66sprint6]

Awesome stuff. Im a stang junky so this thread caught my attention quick. Sounds like with some tweakin, tuning and driving you will see ALOT better. My 66 with 200ci motor, 272 cam, 70's big log head, QuickFuel 2 barrel carb and TE44 turbo thru a WC T5 5 speed just knocked down 30mpg on the way to Gatlinburg for the Shades of the Past show. Unfortunately, around town cruisin in bumper to bumper traffic and spoolin it up for everyone netted a measly 7mpg while we were there LOL. She's still got a ton left in the tune as well so I bet I could bump those numbers up easy. Good luck with it, keep it up and please keep us posted. OH...pics would be nice as well!

Matt

[mcrews]

My (very)limited understanding was that the headers caused it to run lean......
Also, the re-built head was stock, but really made a huge improvement. I was able to actully squeal the tires a bit!!!
I credit the 28 mpg to 1. rebuilt head 2. header/exhaust setup 3. larger tire 4. monitor

My dream is to pick up a restored mustang and do a straight 6 with 3 carbs and a newer trany (4 speed/od). ohhenhouser made a 3 carb addapter that used 2 smaller ibbl carb as "secondarys" that only kick in at 3/4 throttle.
I would probqbly run a 250 head on the 200 block.

THe problem w/ the 6 cylindar models was the front spendels were so small, compared to the v8.

Oh, and I had lowered my front A-arm 1 inch and ran shelby spec alignment. Also ran a rear sway bay. (made all the difference in the world!)

[66sprint6]

Swap in the Granada front spindle or a V8 spindle and some disc brakes and your set. Discbrakeswap.com is a GREAT place for a swap package and incredible customer service. I LOVE my T5 swap, its from a 91GT and made the car so much more fun to drive. Im still runnin the stock rearend (miracle it hasnt grenaded) with 2.73 rear gear, would like to swap an 8.8 with 3.55s but the MPG on the highway is SOOOOO nice with this setup lol.
Matt

[Ladogaboy]

I have to imagine that the greatest gains would be in having a complete engine shutoff during stops and slow speeds. Some of the hypermilers who use the engine shutoff during stops/idles could probably give the best estimate for gas savings for that aspect. I'm not sure how much more could be gained by a full hybrid system.

Personally, I'd much rather convert an old 'stang to full electric. As I remember, the aerodynamics aren't great, so it would make a much better weekend/neighborhood cruiser than a highway runner anyway.

[darcane]

At my local Good Guys show, there's a guy that brings his '66 Mustang that he calls a "GT140T".

It caught my eye, but it's pretty unassuming on the outside, just a nice restomod:


The kicker is a 300hp 2.3 Turbo (SVO motor) under the hood:

He claims 30+ mpg with it.

Lots o' pics here:
Pictures by angliagasser - Photobucket

[brucey]

Sup Frank? I'm kind of in the same boat as you.

And I also built a hybrid for shats and gaggles.

I felt it was an excellent power increase method, but the mileage just wasn't worth it. Seriously, the car was QUICK off the line with an extra 85 ft lb of torque. Even with the added weight of the batteries. But..

On a good day, if traffic was nice, and I controlled both throttles with surgical skill.. I would see 35~38 mpg. But this was with heavy electric subsidization which I never got around to even metering since my Kill-A-Watt was stolen. 35~38 mpg is roughly what I get on the highway on a good day as well. So that seems to be my upper limit on the car (still shooting for 40 one of these days, too stupid to give up)

But the batteries were very heavy, I had a range of only a few miles before I saw degradation of power, and the system got very hot under the hood and would govern itself to less power.

Plus, with all the idling and fiddling and adjusting and idling and tinkering and idling my tank average actually reported slightly less than average mileage. It was a fun project, but I've since removed the components from the car and am rebuilding it into something else (can't decide yet, too busy with grad school.) I'm also open to selling it, but have had no acceptable offers on it.

So I'll just be sitting on some really expensive parts for the time being. And grumbling about my lame averages as I use the car only for short, cold, snowy, city trips now.

I'd still love to see more about this project though, but the website is hard to navigate and I see no actual pictures of work being done. Which to me, is the most interesting aspect of such a project.

[Frank Lee]

Thanks for chiming in.

I saw pics of an old Mustang, and pics of electric motors, and a pic of a battery, but I never saw any pics of an old Mustang with electric motor or battery IN IT.

[Ladogaboy]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Thanks for chiming in.

I saw pics of an old Mustang, and pics of electric motors, and a pic of a battery, but I never saw any pics of an old Mustang with electric motor or battery IN IT.

Probably because that would be considered ecoporn...

[johnunit]

I think some in here are mistaking highway and city fuel mileage.

Yeah high 20s on the highway is doable in a mustang (even a heavier v8 foxbody mustang). mid 20s in the city though? That's unheard of and highly impressive.