What's your mpg?

I held off doing this for a while: computing the wagon's mpg numbers. Know what? They weren't as bad as expected.

http://classicmotorsports.net/project-cars/1975-pontiac-catalina-safari/feeling-fuelish/

To celebrate, I'll probably drive the car to work all week.

In reply to David S. Wallens:

Wow. I am simultaneously impressed and disappointed by that number.

The GT6 gets in the mid 20's. This has been pretty consistent since I bought the car in 2011 and over the past 4000 miles.

The Mini will get anywhere from 25 to 40 mpg, depending on its mood. This inconsistency along with a non-functioning gas gauge and a woefully inaccurate odometer (although the speedo is pretty accurate, which makes no sense) makes long drives interesting. I'll usually fill it up every 100 miles or so.

For comparison, my '84 Porsche 911 Carrera gets 19.something. Pretty sure that matches the original R&T road test. (And if anyone really cares, I can double-check my figures tonight.)

The '71 Catalina two door hardtop I used to own would get around 16mpg, maybe a little better on highway trips. It was a little more streamlined than your wagon, plus it didn't have quite as many emissions controls on it either. 1975 was the first year for catalytic converters, does yours still have one and if so is it in good shape?

back in 1994... when we drove my 1970 Cobra Jet Mach 1 down to Charlotte (for the 30th anniversary) from the Poconos... we averaged 13.3 mpg down(average speed 60mph), and 12.8 back(avg speed 65mph).

2 years ago I went to a car show with Surreptitious, my heavily modified AE71 Corolla, it got 31.3 mpg @ speeds averaging between 70 and 80.

Oh... it is interesting to note the original EPA figures for my 83 Corolla were 35mpg (I have the EPA catalog for 1983) I wonder if I drove @ 55-60mph if I could pull 35 mpg now??????

Wide range.

Old MGs get 25-30 highway except the GM V6 engine Jamaican which is injected and has a long 5th gear and gets well into the 30s.

Jensens not so good, although the 383 with sixpack can break 20 if you drive at a steady 55 mph (but it's so boring!)

Solstice GXP is amazingly good at least 30.

The worst is the Lamborghini which gets down to low teens if driven con brio.

I monitor my 79 Fiat as a representative of its health. I trip the odometer every fill up and do a quick mental calculation. Last weekend, traveling to the vintage car races in Hallett, OK, I got the usual 28 MPG over 230 miles and the low fuel light is just beginning to flicker. City use is less consistent at 16 or 19 mpg. My 93 Miata gets the same treatment and is surprisingly similar at 17/32 mpg.

Probably as good as its going to get. Might try another five pounds in the tires and a good tune-up, although I suspect you're at the point of diminishing returns.

All of the emissions equipment is there. We haven't checked it all, but the car runs and drives nicely. Stuart, which engine did your Catalina have? And yeah, the coupe is more aero. I just checked the weights: It's also about half a ton lighter than mine.

I average 34 mpg consistently......02 Civic Ex

1976 Porsche 911 targa with a 85 3.2, headers, no cats, Steve Wong chip, most sound deadening removed, a/c and all components removed, blah, blah, blah, more junk nobody cars about, but as a DD with it I get right at 20-21 MPG with a 50/50 mix of city/highway driving. I got 24 MPG once on a long road trip.

Still beats my DD 02 Jeep Wrangler, I get 17-18 MPG everytime in that thing. Drive slow, drive fast, haul a trailer full of gear, long interstate drive, or around town. Pretty consistent at 17-18 MPG no matter what I do. At least its predictable.

My '66 Catalina 2+2 with tri-power got in the 10-15mpg range. Depending on how many times I let it sing on that tank of gas.

My '69 Roadrunner 440 6 pack never seemed to make it to 10mpg.

My DD Honda Fit Sport often approaches 40mpg, even on trips.

They were/are all fun. So it's all relative.

92 F700 gets a solid 5 mpg

11 Elantra gets 40 mpg

The rest are in between, including Mongo at 8.5

'71 Lotus Elan +2S with Stromberg's and a 4 speed averaged ~39 mpg @ 75mph on a road trip from Texas to Arizona a couple of years back.

'66 XKE with a 3.07:1 rear end gets about 13 around town, but it's hard to not be a total hooligan in that car Never taken a road trip in this one, so I don't have a good idea of freeway mileage.

'91 CRX SI gets 32mph no matter what. I drive it like I stole it around town, and all the freeways in TX are 75-80mph, so long distance miles per gallon suffers because of gearing.

In reply to wetpossum:

Nice Garage!

1988 BMW 528e gets around 20 mpg in-town.

Margie

1991 Miata. I get 32-33 mpg per tank driving 60-62 mph down the country roads to and from work (26 miles one way). A couple of stop signs and about 10 minutes driving through town. I drive it like it is my bitch, lots of up near the redline.

Hotted up TR8. Who cares about mileage. I just put high test in, pay the price at the pump and enjoy the ride. When I worry about mileage then I drive my Mazda 3.

The Impala gets about 18mpg combined (250 inline-6). With the three speed her consumption seems to favor the city over the highway.

I'm hoping that after I rebuild the carb I can break into the 20's. Right now it seems to be seeping gas out of every orifice possible, and there's just a slight on throttle hesitation.

Good times.

My Interceptor mileage varies between 8MPG to about 14 on the highway. I think if I really drive it like a maniac I can get it to go below 6. Love that Chrysler 440.

I've never really tried to get an accurate MPG on the Mini, but based on rough math, it gets close to 40 mpg.

My other cars all do worse. The WRX and MSM both get low 20's and require premium. My E-150 gets less than that and costs an arm and a leg to fill up. I think I put something north of $70 in it earlier this week.

The Mini with no pollution control or computers, I'm sure produces way more pollution than any of the others despite the better mileage.

The Elise gets about 29 mixed, mostly on the highway. Occasionally 30, sometimes 28. Less autocrossing. Keeping it off the BIG lobes helps a lot.

My 370 averages somewhere between 22 and 26.

The Cooper S averages around 26 to 28.

My worst ever was a 390, 4-speed '67 Cougar. It was mostly all single digits. I once got around 12 on trip. It would cost about $10 a day to go to work and back. I traded it for a MG.

I was pleasantly shocked with one of mine... of course it has totally changed configurations now, but:

I have a 66 Bonneville. I drove it for a few years with the stock 389 that was on its last legs. It pretty consistently got 12 mpg if I babied it and filled it with 93 octane to prevent detonation.

I did a comprehensive low-compression head swap. 6X heads, milled for 8.8:1 compression, Edelbrock P4B intake, Qjet carb with careful tuning, "RV" cam, careful timing curve.

One week after the swap I did a road trip from PA to FL and back and averaged 17.8 mpg.

Of course that car is now awaiting a 6.7L Powerstroke swap so I'm expecting 30 mpg or more