Don't believe Corvette owners lies about supposed fuel economy

One post says he don't like the new Corvettes and down just a bit he thinks "I am not too impressed with the technical aspects of a pushrod

7 liter with a supercharger for the new ZR1 (no variable valve timing and only 2 valves per cylinder). Pure crudeness at $100,000 per."

As shown above he thinks the cutoff point was 1971 when half the gasoline went through the engine just to keep the valves from burning. Today's Corvette sips gasoline past some pretty sophisticated metallurgy in the valve train and gets 2 to 3 times the mileage the

1971 was getting. Of course that's not the only thing that is weaning the gas guzzlers of yesteryear, there in better breathing, materials, computers, bearings, less drag, manufacturing technique, and lubricants just to name a few advances.

Of course if you want engineering there is the VW Touareg 2, it salutes you with an impressive light show as the range adjusting dynamic headlights calibrate themselves. Cosmetically, the 2008 Volkswagen Touareg 2 is more of a nose-tipping than a full face-lift. The exterior changes include the new-look grille (chrome for the V6 model and matte chrome for the V8 and the V10 diesel) that clarifies the family resemblance to the rest of the VW line. Engineering at its best.

You'll recognize this 40-valve 4,172cc V8 after its introduction to the Touareg lineup last year, and its rating of 350 horsepower and 324 pound-feet of torque remains the same. But the new application of direct fuel injection makes it possible to achieve peak power at 6,700 rpm, 100 rpm lower than before. The 2008 Volkswagen Touareg V8 costs $55,750, is the Touareg 2 now the sport-utility version of the VW Phaeton, a luxury sedan that never found its audience?

The Touareg 2 reaches 60 mph in 7.7 seconds in Sport mode, and the quarter-mile in 15.7 seconds at 90.2 mph. For an SUV that weighs

5,240 pounds that not to bad, although you pay the price with fuel economy(?) of 13.1 mpg.

I must digress though, it sure is nice to get in the '64 and not have to worry about it taking over the world if all of the computers decide to turn on us. ;-))

Screw the wave, get up on that wheel and hit the gas........................................

Reply to
Dad
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You have a 64 also. Great car. Mine is red with a black interior and a black rag top. 365 HP with the close ratio 4 speed.

I did have a 69 435 horse that I owned from about 1997-2003. Hardly a daily driver.

Vito

Reply to
Uncle_vito

Cool!

Reply to
Uncle_vito

Phooey, age is just a state of mind anyhow. When was the last time you saw anyone drive on a public road system @ 140 in the US?

Just because you or I may have the skill & ability to drive our cars at their maximum capability, that doesn't mean the people we are forced to share the roads with are able to drive theirs at half of its. It isn't me driving my car to its limits, it is the knucklehead (not Motorcycle version) who changes lanes without signaling, or slams on his/her brakes for no apparent reason that is going to end up being the death of me on the road, not my obtainable speed.

Oui but of course. However, some feel compelled to drive car that others like for whatever reason. Perhaps peer pressure makes them drive those fart-pipe-mobiles.

But it isn't a "mass-produced" vehicle like the Corvette. It is more about exploring the limits & challenges of Technology for the mass production vehicles, then producing a vehicle for the masses.

Dollar for dollar & pound for pound the Base Corvettes will still give both the Performance & Styling that vehicles twice its price can only pretend to. To me it is truly a shame they never went ahead with the original concept of the Billy-Bob Corvette trimmed of all the current bells & whistles into just a lean-mean pure driving machine that doesn't need every electronic do-dad known to man.

Reply to
Zomby-Woof

It's been part of engineering degrees in UK since the early '80s. My final year dissertation in '82 was on renewable energy sources.

Trouble is that it's been at a premium cost and very few have been willing to pay for it. Now energy is expensive it's making sense economically.

Reply to
Peter Hill

Yesterday, haven't been out on the road today. Let me qualify that, I have a road about 1 1/2 miles from my home that has no houses, no drive ways, no trees, or blind spots, and you can see both ends as you leave the stop sign. A ready made drag strip with room to spare for shut down, temptation overcomes me many times. A sane 120 is easy, 140 you can begin to smell the brakes when you get out of the C6 in the garage. My skill is tempered a bit by being from the thirties so I do see this pratice as being short lived as are all of us mortal souls who's state of mind is also affected at some point.

Automotive people need humor to......

I fully understood it's position in the real world when I said, "Hopefully it can become a technology to benefit the automotive field." You can't even smell the diesel which is a need for the R8 technology to get resolved, how to make the super refined fuel.

Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants, a 2800 pound car with 638 HP that you had to drive instead of 1,000 pounds of widgets doing it for you?? Darn, me thinks I need the computer to make that engine purr.......................

Back to reality, I need to let the '64, (electronic options, radio), sit out in the sun so the back window will get soft enough to fold to put the top down today....... ;-))

Reply to
Dad

But Weight is the Vee-Dub's big problem. With a curb weight of 5,300 pounds, the Touareg V8 is like packing the mass of a Chevy Suburban into a Volvo XC90-size wrapper. This poundage puts a dent in fuel economy and imparts a somewhat leaden feel to the on-road experience, particularly when the vehicle is driven with any amount of spirit. This is especially true of the 5,825-pound Touareg V10 TDI. Personally I'd rather go with the Heavy Chevy then the Chubby Dubbie, at least you get more space for your el`crapola at a significantly lower price.

Reply to
Zomby-Woof

'Cept in BMWs.

Vito

Reply to
Uncle_vito

Corvette's gas mileage is impressive - when compared with it's performance stats, and it's competitor's

Oh please, that's nothing to brag about. The 2006 Honda Insight is rated @ 45 City and 48 Highway, but with proper driving it gets 121.7 MPG.

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With a few inexpensive mods, it gets 180+ MPG. Corvettes require $3.75 premium gas while other cars can use $3.53 gas so FUEL CENTS PER MILE is a far better way to judge economy. My car weighs almost exactly the same as a Corvette and has a Turbo but it only gets 35 MPG @ 60 MPG, 40 MPG @ 42 MPH, and 45 MPG @ 38 MPH on perfectly flat highways, and I think those numbers are PATHETIC with today's gas prices. Anything that gets less tha 40 MPG @ 85 MPH is a dinosaur as far as I'm concerned. You're OUT OF YOUR MIND if you think Corvettes get good fuel economy by any stretch of the imagination. Even a GAS GUZZLER like the 2008 Porsche GT2 gets 25 MPG highway, while the Corvette ZO6 gets 24 MPG according to the EPA.
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Reply to
Lawrence

:>Oh please, that's nothing to brag about.

Again, no one is bragging. We are comparing what our Corvettes are getting for mileage.

:>The 2006 Honda Insight

Has nothing to do with our Corvettes.

:>Corvettes require $3.75 premium gas while other cars can use $3.53 gas

Corvettes do not REQUIRE premium gas, Lawrence. Don't you get tired of always being wrong and always trolling the wrong newsgroup, ie: aac?

:>so FUEL CENTS PER MILE is a far better way to judge economy. My car

What car is that Lawrence? You've been asked at least a dozen times and you'll never tell anyone what car you actually have.

I'm betting it's a cute little VW Beetle complete with bud vase.

< Snip whiny Lawrence Luger crap.....>

Go away Lawrence. You're like a case of herpes. No one wants you but once you've shown up you're impossible to ever get rid of....

Reply to
Sarah Czepiel

My '95 LT1, automatic trans gets 13-15 in the city, 20-22 mpg on the interstate running a steady 80 mph with the cruise control engaged. (20 mpg with the AC on, 22 mpg with the AC off.)

Pretty damned good for a 14 year old car with a stock 350 - it has almost

80,000 legit miles on the odometer. I'm not complaining.
Reply to
Sledge Hammer

Well folks, this *IS* the truth. '98 roadster. On the highway w cruse set somewhere between 65 & 70 to FL and back to OH the 2,200 mile average was 30.21.

Sledge Hammer wrote:

Reply to
John Smith

I believe you. Most mid to large sized cars get about that on the highway if they have the correct gearing. It's in urban driving with stop lights where they fall far behind smaller engined vehicles.

Reply to
Josh S

Yup. It takes a lot of fuel to wear out brake pads.

-- pj

Reply to
pj

The Vette really surprises me in urban driving as well. Not 100% sure as I've never really followed it but I think I'm getting something like

21 to 23 MPG. But when the wife uses it the MPG's turn > >
Reply to
John Smith

Actually it the mass required to be accelerated and how quickly it's done that determines urban mileage. Since the piss-ant engines in the smaller engined vehicles aren't capable of accelerating anything quickly it's simply more difficult to get poor mileage, but the people who buy them typically haven't a clue about what goes on under the hood anyway.

Reply to
Bob I

I was under the impression a significant amount of gas is simply wasted while idling at traffic lights or in traffic jams. I forget where I read it, but something between 15 and 20% of fuel is used while sitting still. At four bucks for a gallon, that means 70 cents or so doesn't move you anywhere.

AJM '93 Ruby coupe, 6 sp (both tops)

Reply to
CardsFan

My 98 6 sp ragtop is about to turn 25,000 total miles and I just checked what my gas mileage has averaged... TOTAL MPG from the very first Tank of Gas until today... is 24.6 mpg ...

I admit that the wife and I use this car mostly for trips but it sure gets plenty of around town usage...NO STOP AND GO CITY DRIVING for the most part...

This figure comes from my computerized maintenance log that I keep on all my cars...

Bob G.

64 72 & 98 Convertibles 76 & 79 Coupes 01 Dodge Dakota 03 Dodge Caravan
Reply to
Bob G.

Accurate impression!

One measure...reset the average mileage on the DIC while in traffic and note the numbers plummet while sitting at a light.

During a March trip I rented a Prius. Impressive at a light--the only energy goes to power the stereo and the displays.

It was a cool week so I've no clue as to what they do with the a/c at a light.

-- pj

Reply to
pj

'04 and later run off the battery, before that if it was set to Max the engine would run.

Reply to
Bob I

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