I am not a scientist, a chemist, or even an automotive engineer. This gas
mileage question has me thinking again. As some of you know, that can be
dangerous!
What I thought about was that in my old cars I really don't pay much attention
to the gas mileage. If the oil stays clean, the exhaust looks and smells right,
and the car runs good, then to me, it is using the right amount of gas.
I realize that when the cars were new, and tuned to perfection, with no miles
on them, back when gas was 1001 (or was it 101, only kidding!) octane one could
expect a certain MPG if driven conservatively. For Imperials that usually meant
12 to 15 on the highway and 5 to 10 around town (with the air conditioning on).
We all had the odd trip where, with a tail wind, we got 20 MPG and bragged
about it from then on.
These days if I decide to drive one of my Imperials as an everyday car, I just
plan to spend a fortune on gas. I did that last summer, and I am glad that I
did. Now I know that I can get in either one of the cars that I used during
that time and drive anywhere (with in reason). I was driving my '62 LeBaron in
everyday traffic. I got as low as 8 and as high as 12. Today, those are bad
numbers. Heck, today 20 isn't all that great. The point is that the car was
running good, and when I checked them, my spark plugs were clean.
I was surprised to discover that some friends of mine with a 2001 SUV have to
buy Premium Gas, and they average around 11 MPG! They paid over $45,000 for it
and it has under 20,000 original miles. I guess no one ever said that a gas hog
had to be old!
Paul
In a message dated 7/20/2004 6:27:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, "Klebert L.
Hall" <swampyankee@xxxxxxx> writes:
>>From: "Dave Ford" <daveford1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>>Subject: IML: 58' Fuel "Economy"
>>
>>I'm finally driving around in my 58 Southampton. I seems to be running
>>pretty good.
>>My first tank of fuel (18 gal. fill) gave me slightly over 10 MPG..
>>Does anybody else have a MPG number I can compare it to?
>>I drove it very conservatively (only did one WOT).
>
> I regularly generate 12-13mpg from my '69 in mixed driving. I could
>probably beat that a little on a long highway trip
> OTOH, I can almost see the needle move downward if I put my foot to
>it...
> -Kle.
>
>
>
>
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