Pinto's that got 34 mpg highway in 1975

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by theclencher

VW: 165.8" long, 2975 lbs.
Buick: 218.1" long, 3710 lbs. (?)

You're not using that crazy breeder math are ya? I want some of what you're on

http://www.vw.com/rabbit/completespecs/en/us/#/show_all says that the VW is 101.5 inches, and I'd say that's about right. The tiny little hatchback is definitely not 165 inches (that's nearly fourteen feet!). Where did you get 165.8" for a Rabbit?

The 1980 LeSabre's manual says that my coupe's curb weight is 3503 pounds and length is 217.6". It also says the sedan weighs 3487, and the wagon weighs 4034. The Electra coupe weighs 3585, and the Electra sedan weighs 3609, but oddly the Electra wagon's weight is exactly the same as the LeSabre wagon.

Anyway, maybe we should share whatever either one of us is on, so we can better enjoy our experience.

[rvanengen]

http://www.vw.com/rabbit/completespecs/en/us/#/show_all

(snip)
Dimensions
Wheelbase 101.5 in (2,578 mm)
Length 165.8 in (4,210 mm)

[theholycow]

LOL, I gotta lay off the crack!

I stand corrected.

[theholycow]

Well, I went out in my 11 foot bass boat on the nearby 41 acre freshwater lake and caught a 24 foot shark. I was fishing with 2 pound test line tied to the end of a 1/4" thick 20 foot long stick. Then I fermented it for a month and distilled the result into 10000 gallons of ethanol and got 60 mpg in my v8 full size pickup.

LOL, I'd like to blame the meds the doc gave me yesterday for my back injury but I doubt they affected my attention span that much. Chalk it up to me just failing to pay attention in a more normal way. I've never driven such a small car before and it feels to me like it's about 4 feet by 4 feet...

[theholycow]

Okay, that fish story was bullcrap. I couldn't have gone out on my 11 foot bass boat, the boat is in dire need of repair!

[theholycow]

I know, I was just taking an opportunity to laugh at myself. If I came across as being offended, well, I wasn't.

[Wyldesoul]

The 34 mpg highway isn't unreasonable considering the methods they used back then. For them, highway MPG was a matter of cruise at 50 for a half hour, and record how much gas was used. Basically as ideal of situations as you could hope for.

Take that same motor and give it EFI, and I was able to get 45MPG in that same sort of situation, which translated into a 30mpg tank.

It's the same motor I had in my T-Bird, and the same one I have in my Mustang. It's about as rock solid a motor as you could ever hope to own... When my t-bird finally died, I remember it drained a quart of oil in a half mile trip to the parts store to pick up more oil. Filled it with 5 quarts, and drove 40 miles to my parents place without a hitch. It was, of course, bone dry when I got there, but it didn't care.