Night Wolf
07-12-05, 06:30 AM
My 425 will get about 12mpg city and 17 highway
it has 90k on it, all stock, full tune up but the carburator needs to be rebuilt as I have some issues with it.
Compared to my '89 Oldsmobile with the 3800 V6 and even the '93 DeVille, the mileage of the '79 is pretty bad, sometimes i don't drive it just because of that.
But for the last 2 weeks, I have been in Hawaii, staying with my friend. He has a 2000 Toyota Tundra pickup truck.
The comparison of the 2 vehicles ends at about the gas mileage, but I was pretty shocked to find out the mileage he gets with his truck.... the same as my '79 DeVille!
Ok, so my '79 DeVille has a 7.0L V8, pushrod, carburator, 3 speed auto trans (no over drive) a curb weight of 4,212lbs and the aerodynamics of 2 bricks on top of each other.
the 2000 Tundra Access Cab SR5 4x4 TRD has a 4.7L DOHC 32V fuel injected V8, a 4 speed automatic (over drive), a curb weight of 4,518lbs and aerodynamics similar to my '79, except it is more rounded.
the Caddy holds 25 gallons of gas, the Tundra holds 26..... all of a sudden they seem very much alike...
Now obvisouly the Tundra has the 4x4 and big tires, so it can go off road (which we did alot of) and places where the Caddy can't, but the Caddy can seat 6 more then comfortably, cruise in quietness like you are in your living room on a La-Z-Boy alone, and have a trunk load of baggage, hell, towing is not that big of a difference with the Tundra able to tow 7,000lbs and the Caddy 5,000lbs.... oh yeah, its a car :)
What all this means is that, he is getting 12mpg around town, and on the highway with the cruise set at 60mph.... he gets 16mpg....
at first I coudln't understand it... a 5 year old 4.7L DOHC fuel injected V8 with over drive getting the same fuel mileage as a 26 year old 7.0L pushrod carburated V8 with no overdrive, when weight and aerodynamics are nearly the same?
my redline is 4,200RPM, his is 5,250RPM (also the same as the Caddy 4.9) and when crusing at 60mph, the revs are right around 2,000RPM (on the '79 I hit 2,000RPM doing 70-75mph) so the gearing is almost the same....
It was weird, because it is like, for what he pays in gas on the truck, I could drive the '79 around and get the same, if not better mileage.
425 - 180hp/330 ft.lbs. torque
4.7 - 245hp/325ft.lbs. torque
Who would win in a drag race? I dunno... probably be close, although I think the Tundra would have it as it is gear lower... the gearing in the Caddy dosn't leave much for drag races :)
So with DOHC, fuel injection and over drive.... not to mention 21 years of newer technology and updates..... these vehicles are still getting the same mileage, when I saw that, it made me think the 425 is fine on gas and that I have no excuse to not drive it more often.... I mean, driving a modern pickup truck with a small V8 is like driving a boat from the 70's with a big block V8.... shocking...
Gas here in Hawaii... regular is between $2.78-.$2.80 and premium is between $2.98-$3.01 here, my friend is a member of Costco, so he gets the gas cheaper at their pump, it is $2.44 for regular and $2.65 for premium.... which brings another point... both these engines will run fine on regular gas.
pointless thread... I know, but it is just making me think, kinda brings a smile to my face, I mean, people always make jokes about my car and it's use of gas, but when you compare it to all the pickup trucks and SUV's out there (hell, 50% of the vehicles) then it is smack dab in the middle of the group, just some pretty interesting stuff to me atleast.
it has 90k on it, all stock, full tune up but the carburator needs to be rebuilt as I have some issues with it.
Compared to my '89 Oldsmobile with the 3800 V6 and even the '93 DeVille, the mileage of the '79 is pretty bad, sometimes i don't drive it just because of that.
But for the last 2 weeks, I have been in Hawaii, staying with my friend. He has a 2000 Toyota Tundra pickup truck.
The comparison of the 2 vehicles ends at about the gas mileage, but I was pretty shocked to find out the mileage he gets with his truck.... the same as my '79 DeVille!
Ok, so my '79 DeVille has a 7.0L V8, pushrod, carburator, 3 speed auto trans (no over drive) a curb weight of 4,212lbs and the aerodynamics of 2 bricks on top of each other.
the 2000 Tundra Access Cab SR5 4x4 TRD has a 4.7L DOHC 32V fuel injected V8, a 4 speed automatic (over drive), a curb weight of 4,518lbs and aerodynamics similar to my '79, except it is more rounded.
the Caddy holds 25 gallons of gas, the Tundra holds 26..... all of a sudden they seem very much alike...
Now obvisouly the Tundra has the 4x4 and big tires, so it can go off road (which we did alot of) and places where the Caddy can't, but the Caddy can seat 6 more then comfortably, cruise in quietness like you are in your living room on a La-Z-Boy alone, and have a trunk load of baggage, hell, towing is not that big of a difference with the Tundra able to tow 7,000lbs and the Caddy 5,000lbs.... oh yeah, its a car :)
What all this means is that, he is getting 12mpg around town, and on the highway with the cruise set at 60mph.... he gets 16mpg....
at first I coudln't understand it... a 5 year old 4.7L DOHC fuel injected V8 with over drive getting the same fuel mileage as a 26 year old 7.0L pushrod carburated V8 with no overdrive, when weight and aerodynamics are nearly the same?
my redline is 4,200RPM, his is 5,250RPM (also the same as the Caddy 4.9) and when crusing at 60mph, the revs are right around 2,000RPM (on the '79 I hit 2,000RPM doing 70-75mph) so the gearing is almost the same....
It was weird, because it is like, for what he pays in gas on the truck, I could drive the '79 around and get the same, if not better mileage.
425 - 180hp/330 ft.lbs. torque
4.7 - 245hp/325ft.lbs. torque
Who would win in a drag race? I dunno... probably be close, although I think the Tundra would have it as it is gear lower... the gearing in the Caddy dosn't leave much for drag races :)
So with DOHC, fuel injection and over drive.... not to mention 21 years of newer technology and updates..... these vehicles are still getting the same mileage, when I saw that, it made me think the 425 is fine on gas and that I have no excuse to not drive it more often.... I mean, driving a modern pickup truck with a small V8 is like driving a boat from the 70's with a big block V8.... shocking...
Gas here in Hawaii... regular is between $2.78-.$2.80 and premium is between $2.98-$3.01 here, my friend is a member of Costco, so he gets the gas cheaper at their pump, it is $2.44 for regular and $2.65 for premium.... which brings another point... both these engines will run fine on regular gas.
pointless thread... I know, but it is just making me think, kinda brings a smile to my face, I mean, people always make jokes about my car and it's use of gas, but when you compare it to all the pickup trucks and SUV's out there (hell, 50% of the vehicles) then it is smack dab in the middle of the group, just some pretty interesting stuff to me atleast.