This doesn't make sense...

[Nightrage]

Can someone explain this to me? I compared a 95 mustang to a 95 Trans Am and the mustang just isn't making any sense to me. A 5 speed 5.0 mustang averages 16 MPG in the city and 25 MPH on the highway. It weighs approximately 3354 lbs and pushes out 240 horsepower and 285 lb-ft of torque. A 6 speed 95 Trans am gets 17 MPG in the city and 25 MPH on the highway while weighing 3610 lbs. It also produces 275 horsepower and 325 ft-lbs torque. Not only does the Trans Am weigh more, not only does it produce more horsepower AND torque but it gets the same, if not better gas mileage. It also has a bigger motor by 48 cubic inches (Ford's 302 VS. GM's 350). Can someone make sense of this for me? Is it because of different gearing?

[Hobbs95]

it might be the huge blue oval in the front grill

[Jeff_in_Atl]

2 things. Aerodynamics and the 6 speed has a taller overdrive.

[Nightrage]

Does the overdrive even come into play in "city" driving? I know that around here (on Long Island), you can rarely get out of third gear......unless that annoying skip shift thing forces you to.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Originally posted by Nightrage
Does the overdrive even come into play in "city" driving? I know that around here (on Long Island), you can rarely get out of third gear......unless that annoying skip shift thing forces you to.

No. It's a 1:.5 ratio in 6th.

I had an 85 Mustang GT and the only real difference in it and a 95 is the fuel injection. Very little was changed internally in the 5.0 motor from 85 to 95. In 86 they went to the truck head but in 87 they went back to the same 85 head. Anyway the LT1 motor has a LOT more torque in the lower RPM range than the 5.0 motor. I think the OPTI crap even though it has problems with water makes the engine management way better than the 5.0 motor which means it is more efficient. But I have no proof of it so it is just my opinion.

[Mirroredshades]

Smoke and mirrors dude.

Or fuel managment controls.

My friend gets 25 in his Supercharged 5 Slow and I've never gotten better than 20 in my 96.

[alenstein]

17 on the city, i get happy if i get 14

[Nightrage]

You have an automatic though. Allegedly manual tranny's always get better gas mileage, why i don't know.

[Firebird8798]

its because you can control the rpm's your engine is at easier..In a 6 speed you can cruise at like 2000 rpm's which would make even a 350 motor get around 25-30 mpg's

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

There is so much more that comes into play when determining gas mileage than simply what gear you are in, or what RPMs you are at, or how much your care weighs... these factors all come together...

...the biggest thing is the load on the engine. The more load on it, the more fuel it is going to consume. If a car makes more torque down low, it handles low-end acceleration better, and can use less throttle to accomplish the same thing.

Did you know that if you tried to drive at 40 mph in 6th gear, you would very likely see worse gas mileage than if you drove in 5th? More load on the engine trying to turn the drivetrain because there isn't enough torque generated in those low, low, low RPMs...

[N20LT4Bird]

Smoke and mirrors dude.

Or fuel managment controls.

My friend gets 25 in his Supercharged 5 Slow and I've never gotten better than 20 in my 96.

My car has a few mods and Ive gotten 23 mpg at 75 mph with the A/C on......

I think the Ford vs GM thing comes down to engine management.....GM happens to be more efficient. Not by much in this case, but engine management plays a big part in fuel mileage. Thats largely why we dont use carburetors anymore.

[NJSpeed]

HEY i use a carb still! but that would explain why im getting 12-15mpg..... out of my 350

[Nightrage]

There is so much more that comes into play when determining gas mileage than simply what gear you are in, or what RPMs you are at, or how much your care weighs... these factors all come together...

...the biggest thing is the load on the engine. The more load on it, the more fuel it is going to consume. If a car makes more torque down low, it handles low-end acceleration better, and can use less throttle to accomplish the same thing.

Did you know that if you tried to drive at 40 mph in 6th gear, you would very likely see worse gas mileage than if you drove in 5th? More load on the engine trying to turn the drivetrain because there isn't enough torque generated in those low, low, low RPMs...

My dad's got a 96 Viper GTS and if he puts it in 6th at 60MPH, it wants more gas so he always has it in 5th.......unless he's speeding. Is that how if is in 4th gens? I've read that 4th gens actually top out at 150+ in 5th and max out at 130 in 6th ( i think i read that here).

[Mirroredshades]

My car has a few mods and Ive gotten 23 mpg at 75 mph with the A/C on......

I think the Ford vs GM thing comes down to engine management.....GM happens to be more efficient. Not by much in this case, but engine management plays a big part in fuel mileage. Thats largely why we dont use carburetors anymore.

Yep. If I could get my hands on a copy of LT1-Edit, I could probably squeek out 2-3 more mile a gallon with tuning.

A Grand National won Car Craft's Car of the year b/c of programming the fuel mgmt. He put the car in a serious limp mode and got 50mpg!

[Aaron4TAMU]

My dad's got a 96 Viper GTS and if he puts it in 6th at 60MPH, it wants more gas so he always has it in 5th.......unless he's speeding. Is that how if is in 4th gens? I've read that 4th gens actually top out at 150+ in 5th and max out at 130 in 6th ( i think i read that here).

I know I've gotten over 130 in 6th, but yes, you do top out in 5th unless you have a different gear ratio.