Gas mileage question

[tom94vette]

Hey guys and gals,

My 94 Automatic with 51K miles on it runs perfectly. No hesitation, starts up in a split second cold. Just runs great. I just changed my air filter about 8k ago so that should be ok. I do ALL city driving in south florida. So it's all stop and go. Rarely do I get on the highway. Only because I use my vette during the week to go back and forth to work, then use the Motorcycle on the weekends. I put all my highway miles on that.

Anyway, according to my computer, my car is averaging 15.2 mpg. Is this accurate. Can I really be getting this bad of gas mileage? Is this normal, no cause for alarm. I really never paid attention to it before so I can't really tell if it's getting worse. What is everybody else averaging in the city?

My manual says that that plugs don't need maintainence until 100K but personally I find that impossible to believe. Should I change them now at 51K and will that improve my gas mileage.

So my questions are..

1. Is my car getting poor gas mileage at 15.2 avg city mpg?
2. should I change my plugs at 51K now or wait til 100k?
3. How can I get better gas mileage in the city, if possible?

p.s. remember, I do no highway driving.

Thanks everyone.

Tom

 

[vent69]

i get around 12-13 in the city if i'm lucky

i also need more mpg

 

[c4ever]

Tom,
On my 85, driving the same roads as you, I get a little over 19 with some mods. Prior to the mods I got 22 or better with this type of driving. Seems 15 would be a little low. I realize we don't run the same engine but that's a heck of a difference in MPG.:confused

 

[Redbob]

15 mpg city traffic is perfectly normal; mileage doesn't really get good until you're above the torque converter lock-up speed, which is 37 MPH in my '89 w/ 3.07 gear.
But 51k miles is plenty on a set of plugs! By that mileage mine needed new wires, too. Made a big difference in performance, not much difference in gas mileage.

 

[jjones]

Tom - I tend to agree with c4ever. Same S. FL roads and I am getting nearly 18 mpg consistently. And I can really slam through the gears.

jj

 

[69MyWay]

Tom,

Check out this previous thread there:

Gas mileage/range

 

[Vdaddy]

Tom,

I've got a '93 with a 6-speed that gets about 17 - 18 in city driving, with only occasional romping. It's affected a lot by how hard you drive it.

 

[resto75]

My 94 averages 15/17 on computer on rural county roads with 3.73 rear driving normal

 

[warren s]

My 95 auto gets 17 to 18 city, the computer in the car always reads high, only way to tell is when you get gas and see how many miles you went and how many gallons you purchased.
I have 16k on the car now.

 

[FX3FX3]

miles

i guess normal, I get 15-17 MPG city with my 92 automatic 2:59

 

[wookiebear]

Milage

I have a 96 LT 1 convertible, I average 16 to 17 in the city and that is with a few jackrabbit starts, I have 3:07 gears, with a few performance mods such as K&N filter and box, modified Granetelli MAF, Air Foil and bypass with HPP programer. Car is also Automatic.

 

[fixvet]

With my '88 coupe, I've never gotten less than 18mpg in normal city driving around San Diego county, but my hiway crusin' mileage at 75-80 mph is always 25-27 mpg on longer steady trips on the interstate roads. This seldom ever changes. Just rolled over 157,000 miles. Automatic w/2.59 gears. I love it!!:cool

 

[evolution]

17-19 City 25-30 Freeway AVG

I dont know why I gat such good milage on the freeway but I do.
Actually I get better milage at 75 than I do at 55-65.

A funny thing. I was reading motor weekly or something like that, the name escapes me, and they had a WRX and a ZO6 on the same page saying they averaged 22mpg on the WRX and 23mpg on the ZO6. Imagine that, a 405 HP beast drinking less than a stock supercharged 4 banger. Food for thought.

Be environmental....buy a ZO6!

 

[jsinga]

I think your milage is about what you can expect doing a lot of stop and go driving.
Leave for work earlier so you don't sit in traffic so much is about you can do.
Plugs might make a slight difference if they have 50k miles on them. Don't be suprised if you can't tell any difference after they are changed.

JS

 

[Edmond]

A tune up will probably increase your mileage just a little bit more. I also use that fuel injector cleaner stuff in my gas tank about once a month. I just leave the digital reading on avg. and I got a high of 16.8 and I don't drive on the expressway much.

 

[Drewser]

17 or so in the city (15 if I pound it...I usually pound it) and 21 or so on the highway...more or less
--Drew

 

[TomsToy]

Milage

I'm getting 17-19 in town & 23-24 on the hiway, and that's running "several" MPH above the limits.
Tom

 

[Paul G]

City driving all the time is the worst thing for mileage. Not much you can do about that.

Also keep in mind as an oxygen sensor wears out mileage will be affected. You could take it in and have it checked. Or just replace it and see what happens. Really I dont think 15 mpg all city is that bad.

 

[Red73BB]

mileage

I get about 10 mpg no matter what, city, highway, heavy foot or just cruising. 454 w/ 425 hp.

 

[Drewser]

Simple Math

Lets see...twice the horse power and half the gas mileage. Yeah, that seems about right to me.