My new (family) car - Page 3 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Tango Charlie · 08-17-2008, 03:08 PM

Thanks, cfg83!
That's pretty cool. I've thought about trying to fit a temporary kammback if we end up taking a family vacation this December. If I do, I'll be sure to let you know about it.
Don't think it'd be worth it for around town.

Concrete · 08-17-2008, 05:15 PM

now the critical question

Will your wife let you aero-mod her family truckster?

lovemysan · 08-20-2008, 04:33 PM

oohh! I looked a long time for one of those. $2500 is cheap. Don't be scared of the LT1 it'll do 27mpg easy. And this will seat 8 won't it?

Tango Charlie · 08-21-2008, 09:09 PM

It'll haul more'n that if you're hauling a bunch of skinny-butt kids!

I need to get a vacuum gauge in it soon. You say 27mpg? Mullet said his dad pulled 30 out of his. Oof. We sure ain't see'n that driving it around town.

dentprone · 08-21-2008, 11:45 PM

Very nice ride....looks to be real clean. I have always thought that wagons made a lot of sense, and I dig the roof on those Buicks.

whokilledthejams · 08-22-2008, 07:04 PM

Very nice car. I love those GM boats. The Roadmaster Wagon is the best of them all-- it's an Impala SS in disguise.

You could probably put a really tall-geared rear end in it, and get halfway decent MPG for an aircraft carrier, and still have a reasonably quick car that can haul a baseball team.

TheDon · 08-23-2008, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tango Charlie

It'll haul more'n that if you're hauling a bunch of skinny-butt kids!

I need to get a vacuum gauge in it soon. You say 27mpg? Mullet said his dad pulled 30 out of his. Oof. We sure ain't see'n that driving it around town.

highest my friend got in his was 17 mpg.. But thats due to all of the mods and the awesome 6 speed.

Tango Charlie · 08-23-2008, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whokilledthejams

Very nice car. I love those GM boats. The Roadmaster Wagon is the best of them all-- it's an Impala SS in disguise.

You could probably put a really tall-geared rear end in it, and get halfway decent MPG for an aircraft carrier, and still have a reasonably quick car that can haul a baseball team.

Thanks, jams.
I was thinking along the same lines about putting taller gears in the rear end. Where would a guy get taller gears? I've never done such a thing.

whokilledthejams · 08-23-2008, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tango Charlie

Thanks, jams.
I was thinking along the same lines about putting taller gears in the rear end. Where would a guy get taller gears? I've never done such a thing.

The easiest way is to get another axle from a junkyard.

If you really want to sound like you know what you're talking about, you want a low-ratio axle from a '77-96 GM B-Body. Numerically lower ratios are taller gears, and there's no shortage of information on those cars on the web. A quick googling seems to indicate that they went as low as 2.14:1.
Edit: You're looking for an axle with an 8.5" ring gear. G-bodies (RWD Monte Carlos, etc) sometimes used 8.5" rears, but their axles were narrower, so you would have to switch out the gears between axles, rather than just swapping whole axles, but at least it opens up different possibilities.

Then, I found this:
B-Body World Wiki - B-Body World Wiki

aerohead · 08-23-2008, 04:11 PM

The Caprice Sedan my friend had,would return 24-mpg on round trips between Denton,TX and Fayetteville,Arkansas.Smooth,quiet,roomy.With 5-passengers,thats 120 passenger miles per gallon,same as a HONDA Insight!