I was hoping for more of this.
This logic is why my 6.2l full-time AWD Escalade ESV will be in the driveway for the foreseeable future. Mileage be damned.
Yup. I have a daily driver for mileage, but I have a Suburban for when I need to tow a house or haul 8 people.
All of my cars are about 25mpg. Meh.
I saw SUVs and lost interest right away.
If you are like Datsun310Guy, thank me later: https://www.youtube.com/c/RareClassicCars
In reply to ddavidv :
Damn you!
Off to totally waste my day watching this. 
Don't be surprised if that car gets 18 mpg or better. That was before they neutered the compression and dropped timing to comply with EPA regs. Couple that with a (likely) 2.73 rear, and you'll do better than you might expect.
My Caddy 500 got consistent 18+ on the highway.
Mom's 78 LTD with the 351 used to routinely break 20 on the highway. Just like the one below but all Battleship gray. Love me a small car for city work, but there's nothing better on the superslab than a big 70's gas-guzzler.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:Don't be surprised if that car gets 18 mpg or better. That was before they neutered the compression and dropped timing to comply with EPA regs. Couple that with a (likely) 2.73 rear, and you'll do better than you might expect.
The 98? Actually my dads 455 '68 98 got 17mpg once on a trip when the USA was all 55mph on the highways.
Around town 16 year old me liked to hear 4-barrels open a lot so it was 10mpg in my world. Premium gas back in the day.
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
That's the downside... They were also made when 100+ octane was 35 cents a gallon. Keeping it fed a steady diet of 93 should keep it alive, but not cheaply.
ddavidv said:I saw SUVs and lost interest right away.
Same.
Maybe it's the "age cycle" and these are being sought out by older millenials that wanted them in high school?
I'm GenX and I seek them out because they're awesome. They have parts-bin swappability across three decades, they're usually cheap, and actually not as heavy as their size suggests. This was before the extra wiring for all the ABS/lane departure/active traction control stuff, and also before all the specially engineered crash protection stuff.
Many moons ago I had this crazy idea to put an STi driveline in a 73 Maverick. Everyone laughed at me for wanting to put a 4-banger in an old, heavy cast iron classic.... until I pointed out that the Maverick weighed less than a WRX, and shedding the iron 302 for an EJ would shave another 225 lbs.
A load of crap IMHO. Yes we need the silverado even with the 15 mpg around town. But it only goes out when there is crap in the bed or a trailer on the bumper. As a confirmed prius hater for as long as they were around I am eating my words now. Bought one for myself this year and actually enjoying it. The joy of driving as much as I want the way I want and still getting 40+ mpg is my new happy place.
porschenut said:A load of crap IMHO. Yes we need the silverado even with the 15 mpg around town. But it only goes out when there is crap in the bed or a trailer on the bumper. As a confirmed prius hater for as long as they were around I am eating my words now. Bought one for myself this year and actually enjoying it. The joy of driving as much as I want the way I want and still getting 40+ mpg is my new happy place.
I won't judge you.
While the two Toyota/Lexus v8's in my driveway are reliable as gravity- I don't live the 17mpg avg they both get. I'd certainly love another 10mpg. The author is right though- my sequoia is paid off, drives amazingly and is awfully comfy. Hard to take on a payment in that case.
I enjoyed the Fiat 500 for the week I had it. After DDing a full size van for two years, it was fun getting 30+ mpg.
I focus on mpg mostly because I tend to hug trees, but I don't put enough miles on a vehicle in a year to worry about my wallet... much. Back in about 2004-2006 when gas was high, I drove a 73 Impala wagon with a hopped up 454 across the country twice getting 9 mpg and the grin on my face did a good job of numbing the guilt of all the baby seals I was clubbing.
I took a week long trip from PA to AL and back, touristing along the way. My choices were the 93 Lightning (15 mpg) or the 06 Mustang (27 mpg). In this case I took the Mustang, because the fuel savings would be significant. I did over 1,000 miles on that trip. For local use, though, I don't much care. Now, if it was between a 35 mpg car and the truck, yeah, that would be more of a difference. But I won't go out and BUY a vehicle based on the fuel mileage alone, which probably puts me in the minority these days.
I also work from home now, as do a lot of people. $5/gallon gas would be annoying, but wouldn't incite me to get a Prius-like vehicle.
Call me counter trend. I have an 07 Expedition, gets about 16-16.5mpg. It gets driven only about once a week right now. Just makes more sense to drive my wifes Mazda5 for the daily stuff for the gas mileage and the ease of fitting in parking spaces.
I have a new Maverick on order, it will do the towing I need, fit my family, and fit the family cargo for trips while getting into parking spaces more easily. (you might laugh on the parking spaces, but we live near DC, its a thing).
So, hopefully I get good money selling my Expedition in the spring.
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