mehhh. i have people tell me there is no way my "gas hog" crown vic gets 30+ mpg either.
but it does out on the highway with cruise control set at 60mph.
and that same car will only get 9-10 mpg if my daughter drives it because she has a lead foot.

 

I can believe that. I owned an 89 grand marquis w/ a 302 that would get 31 on the interstate cruisin at 70 with 4 people and a/c going. And get 18 around town.

 

Check your odometers, you could be driving only 10 miles, and recording 15... HO Ho Ho.. humor eh?

Baja

 

all my speedometers and odometers are accurate.
first thing i do when getting a vehicle is check to make sure they are correct. back in th eold days we had to go by the mile markers on the side of the road and hope they were accurate. but with hand held GPS units these days it is very easy to calibrate speedometers.
and the crown vic is a P71, with certified calibration 140MPH speedometer

 

Sounds perfect amigo, and I hope you read the humor part in my previous comment.. Did I leave out the funny part?? Darn, I do that sometimes... Anyway, you have to be happy with a Crown Vic with that kind of mileage..

Baja

 

yea, i missed the funny.
i love that car, except for when a new yawk dipstick decides to "cut off the cop"
i can drive it for a month without filling the tank. my daughter hates it and calls it a gas guzzler.
but she also says i drive like an old fart because i am not doing 70mph 100ft from the traffic light turning green.

 

A really heavy car will better maintain its momentum, which explains your good highway mileage. One of my buddies has a '65 Caddy, which we can all assume to be on the heavy side, and he gets great highway MPG. City, however... that's another story. Same thing with my 4x4 pickup. Highway MPG really wasn't bad at all. Also, my three speed F100 gets 25mpg at 65mph. A fourth gear would really help add to it.

 

84 Buick Electra... 350 got 28 mpg... at 70mph it was turning 1,100 rpms.

my 2012 F 250 .. mb, sc to North Carolina and return.. mostly 60ish got 19mpg.. empty.



Bad engines...
Oldsmobile 350 Diesel
Cadillac 8-6-4
Oldsmobile 350 gas with aluminum rocker towers.
Yugo..
La-Car.
Chrysler lean-burn.


Best, Never built.
maybe ..
Ford I6,300
Chrysler slant-6.. 170 and 225.
Chevy 250 I6.

 

Let's talk HEMI 426!

 

It wasnt so much the engine, as a lack of correct fuel system on the cars. They did not have a fuel water separator in the feed line, and with the quality control of gas stations in the 80s water was constantly getting in the diesel. Then well you know how it goes, either it shuts the damn thing down or bam cylinder pressure spike and a wasted engine. My grandfather had one of the later year ones that had the water sep unit and it had 300k on it when he sold it. And it would rock like 29 mpg

 

We had several of the GM 350 diesels, the first one was a 1978 Delta 88, the dealer really had no one who knew anything about them. Car got 10 mpg in town and 16 highway. I timed it using Roosamaster's internal marks. Jumped to 22 in town and 30 highway. When I acquired a 1983 engine, I replaced the original with the updated engine. We also had a 1980 Bonneville Brougham and a 1981 LeSabre. The Pontiac got 31 mpg highway.

GM came out with a water in fuel detector recall on the 78, the 80 and 81 had it from the factory.

 

Worst, 1971 Plymouth 383 only because it was impossible to get to those back plugs. Loved my 300 I-6 in my long gone 1990 Supercab.

 

long ago...
i had a 1999 pos gmc with 145 hp the worst
the best hmmm im gonna say the 3.5 in my truck or mabey the 289 v8