For just $30 a day you can feed this starving car

[rookie]

I’ve seen some sites like this that are dedicated to fuel economy, I’ve always preferred Muscle Cars but with fuel cost the way they are seeing guys claiming 45/60 MPG with hybrids I have to ask, How much power is possible from a V-8 and still pull down 20+ MPG? With every one including Nascar talking Ethanol it’s obvious this will be the norm for a while or at least until we can’t afford food anymore, I know the octane of Ethanol is good for power but the loss of BTU sucks for economy, Turbo Diesel is another alternative but way to expensive for a budget challenged individual (CHEEP&POOR) like myself, this has led me to the use of Nitrous, you only use it when you need it and most cars and all public roads don’t allow what most naturally aspirated engines can produce, but the thought of driving a hybrid even at 40 years of age AIN’T HAPNIN. Would compression make up for the BTU loss of ethanol? We have E10 here; I have not seen any E85 yet. I read a statement from an EPA rep. she blamed the lose of economy on the manufactures and said they had the ability to increase economy but would not do so, it seems to me that if power comes from efficiency someone would have explored this inside out, no stone unturned, over and over, again and again you get my point I’ve included the link to the gas savers sites and will try to link them to this site they have some good ideas on aerodynamics intake air temp mods that could be of use for performance as well. GasSavers.org - Helping You Save at the PumpCleanMPG, An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling

[DavidVizard-GFN]

Dear Rookie,
The answer as to how much power can be had from a V8 and still get 20 plus to the gallon is not too far away as it is part of a big (and I mean big) feature I am working on. Your EPA rep lady has only got a little of the story. The fact on the matter is E85 could be the go fast enthusiasts cheap race gas but to get the best out of it making a bi-fuel motoer is almost out of the question. The nearest you can get to bi fuel is to use E85 as an anti detonant while running 87 octane in your 12.5/1 engine. The E85 only goes in when you stand on the loud pedal. I took a look at the site you mentioned and all they seem to do is look at what every one else is doing and go for the best. GFN will be telling you how to engineer your own power with econony engine right in the garage next to your house!
DV

[rookie]

Cool I am building a 25'x25' shop as we speak, not much but it will have a mill & lathe and a little SF-110 flow bench to play with. If you have any tuning info for nitrous on pump gas this would be most helpful. My current project is a 10.5-1 357cid Chevy with RHS 200cc Aluminum Heads, hollow stem- 2.08int & solid- 1.650exh valves with beehive springs. 1.7 ratio comp rockers, 284 Nitrous extreme energy cam. I’m working on a raised runner Bowtie intake cut to fit standard port heads this will allow me to fill in the entry floor of the head port .250 and do my port work on the roof and will give me a 2.00 tall x 1.30 wide port to reduce port volume and increase velocity. The single plane intake also allows me to use a big plate system. Port work on the intake side will be minimum and exhaust will be fully ported. The short block is an early 010-production block with splayed mains, piston oilers, Hank the Crank crankshaft, Scat H-beam small journal rods, Probe pistons with Total Seal rings. I will coat the pistons, combustion chambers and exhaust ports. Any suggestions will be applied. Thanks

[DavidVizard-GFN]

Dear Rookie,

Looks like you have done your homework on this as the spec you are building is sure to make some really health numbers when it hits the dyno. My suggestion is that you let us all know how this turns out after you have those dyno numbers.
DV

[automotivebreath]

Originally Posted by rookie

...I have to ask, How much power is possible from a V-8 and still pull down 20+ MPG?

I'm nowhere near an expert on the subject of fuel efficiency, I'm all ears on
this one. With fuel prices continuing to rise we resort to driving our cars 1/4
mile at a time at about 1/2 to 1 gallon per pass.

I recently prepared a set of heads for a fellow racer that asks the same
question (it's important to realize his idea of fast may be different from
yours). Running a 4000 lb Ford Lightning pickup with a NA FI 351W, the
performance at the drag strip is now in the 13 second range, he's happy for
the time being. The thrill came on the recent hot rod power tour when he
was able to record 20 MPG average on the interstate. Considering
the vehicle weight and lack of aerodynamics, he was thrilled.


Some keys to the achievements:
Good ignition
15:1 A/F ratio on the highway
~12.5:1 A/F ratio on the track
The RPM range of the engine is very low;
this avoids the need for low gears and high stall speed
Camshaft and port design are critical

I suppose you could take a similar engine and fit it into a light weight
aerodynamic chassis and trim time off the ET as well as improve the fuel
efficiency. Personally I would set goals at 25 MPG and 11 second times NA.

[KLR142]

Originally Posted by rookie

My current project is a 10.5-1 357cid Chevy with RHS 200cc Aluminum Heads, hollow stem- 2.08int & solid- 1.650exh valves with beehive springs. 1.7 ratio comp rockers, 284 Nitrous extreme energy cam. I’m working on a raised runner Bowtie intake cut to fit standard port heads this will allow me to fill in the entry floor of the head port .250 and do my port work on the roof and will give me a 2.00 tall x 1.30 wide port to reduce port volume and increase velocity. The single plane intake also allows me to use a big plate system. Port work on the intake side will be minimum and exhaust will be fully ported. The short block is an early 010-production block with splayed mains, piston oilers, Hank the Crank crankshaft, Scat H-beam small journal rods, Probe pistons with Total Seal rings. I will coat the pistons, combustion chambers and exhaust ports. Any suggestions will be applied. Thanks

Sorry if it's not "kosher" to bump posts from the past, but since I was linked here, and there's talk of something getting built... Has this build been finished yet?

There's lots more looking around this site for me to do, sorry if a follow up has already been written.

[rookie]

No it hasn't, I did get the building built and then took on the prodject of helping on the build of the 421 in this car YouTube - NorthStar Dragway 2-1-2008
which used to be my race car now owed by Scott, we are setting it up to run Texas True Ten 5 > Home ,True Street Class, the current leader is running 5.56 on drag radials so we have our work cut out for us.

The video is straight motor no juice yet, the car is doing 1.43 60ft times and 6.54 on the motor now, we will start juicing this coming weekend.

As soon as I finish the Chevelle I am curently working on I am going to get back on my engine prodjects.

[big block fiero]

Cylinder deactivation seems to be a good alternative, this setup is what I custom built for my 500ci fiero.

[rookie]

Does that shut down the same cylinders each time, or do you have it on all cylinders and alternate from cylinder to cylinder to even out engine wear and what do you do to stop fuel to those cylinders?

[big block fiero]

Same cylinders each time. Its multi-port injected so four injectors are turned off while those cylinders valves (total of eight) are deactivated.