Quote:

Originally Posted by jayro88

If mileage is the #1 concern, then the IDI f250/350 wouldn't be my choice of truck. They do decently for what they are....a heavy duty truck that can tow reasonably well for their price tag. Just have to decide what you are willing to trade off.

A couple of other options with the IDI are:
1. They can run on many different fuels. Waste motor oil, waste vege oil, bio etc. This can make them cheap to operate in the correct situations. Just realize you will probably have to replace your IP/Injectors more often with alternate fuels, so do the math to see if it benefits you.

2. You are talking about making the 250 lighter. This could help, or you could swap the IDI into an f150. Partner it with a manual trans and hwy gears. If I remember correctly there is a person over on oilburners who did this. I think his mpg was pretty impressive.....maybe 30+ IIRC. Don't quote me on the exact mpg figure since I am going from memory on something I read a couple of years ago.

Remember to figure other costs in to your operating cost too. Insurance, registration, maintenance etc.

My '88 e250 gets in the 17-19mpg hwy range under the right conditions. 3.54 gears, c6 w/aux OD, flat ground and CC set at 60-65mph. Winter time I get in the 14-16mpg range, but I don't try to drive conservatively since it doesn't seem to matter. Trucks usually do better than vans due to better areo.

This is Great Advice.
How much will you spend to get lighter components for your IDI ?
If you kept the existing components and instead used the money to buy fuel, how much more fuel could you then afford to buy ?

 

There are also other factors with this:
1. Would it make since to get an injector pressure tester and use patched-together JY injectors?
2. Could you get away with JY IPs, for say $100 vs $600 for a good rebuild?
3. Can you improve the quality of the fuel cheaply, so you don't get as much wear? (Say, use a centrifuge, mix with gasoline to get the viscosity right etc).

Going back to the original topic... I personally will pay the extra money in fuel, because I find it extremely useful having that extra flexibility -- Finding a good deal(or something free) and being able to take advantage of it /now/, if conditions get bad I have good 4X4, the extra protection that comes with having solid steel front and rear(especially in deer country), etc.
I looked at the math on buying a second vehicle, and it didn't pan out. And would have left me high and dry more than once, unable to do something I now can do.

 

No need to do blends if you install a heated fuel system.

 

I would have to get rid of my K20 or F100 project both of which I like. Off site parking is roughly $150, but I could just park on the street where I live. Just have to move it every week. The added insurance cost does not justify the purchase for many many years. All along I have a beater car I would hate, and not want to fix.

I do not have to dd the car so beside bi-weekly trips it serves no function, but to waste money along with added complications.

So if I can get mid 20's ideally or at least 20 mpg hwy my trip fuel mileage is enough to keep annoyance at bay. Which is why I thought a IDI modified may deliver, but getting over 20 would be rough. Where as a 3.7/would do it with ease in a truck I want.

If I was going to get a car I would either buy a new GTI or Focus ST. Financially it doesn't make much sense, but it maybe worth time not messing with trucks. That will be dealt with in a couple years when I get tired of playing with what I got. Plus I wouldn't be stuck at a light waiting for the vtech to kick in.

I thought about crew cabs or maybe a rcsb 2.7 Eco boost, but just not looking for a payment. It probably would help my dating time. sense I do look pretty eccentric to women my age 40.

 

I would grab lighter components from pick a part to keep cost down, but I figured a $1000 for smart upgrades. Along with a bit for maintenance.

But at 30mpg it the cost of diesel would put me behind my f100 at 25mpg. I would need a realistic 10mpg spread to justify the gas vs diesel fuel cost. Plus for the driving I do around town a gas engine would be easier on me.

 

Ah, I didn't know that you're hoarding other project vehicles...like me.

I still recommend a total dollar for dollar breakdown of costs. Personally, I've never found that spending money to make an inherently fuel inefficient vehicle get better mileage to ever be worth it in the least. I tried!
Years and years of wasting money trying to make a jeep sip gas on the highway made me realize that having a dedicated tow rig, trail rig, and grocery-getter is ultimately the most efficient way for me to get anything done without having to neuter my project vehicles or without having to burn 9mpg to pick up a gallon of milk.

If you already have a F100 that's ahead of the IDI in terms of $ per mile, I'd just run that for a while until the fuel costs annoyed me enough to start shopping for something smaller. I don't know for how many years you'll be making that drive to pick up your son, but if it's long enough that the fuel savings would justify the the cost, I'd already be cruising craigslist ads for the GTI. Really, the clincher would be the dating thing. I'm not saying that you have to roll in a Bugatti to find a nice lady, but there's no need put yourself at a disadvantage while playing the game. Good luck!

I'm extremely lucky in that my partner is into old-*** subarus. She couldn't tell a Bugatti from a Bread Truck, but an old BRAT driving down the interstate will give her whiplash.

 

i don't think you understand.

honda VTEC
(bare with me,im old school and haven't even heard of these things until i started looking for an economical car a few days ago,and i would have bought the non VTEC engine,if the car didn't happen to be an "EX" model.all i wanted was 2 door/auto/cheap to run.i just stumbled into a single over head cam version of a vtec is all.however she really can scream lmao.)

is basically a cam with 2 profiles.you have your normal everyday city/stop and go cam for nice bottom end.
however once you romp on the little bugger and make it talk,it's second profile is used (pretty much seamlessly)
but this is up in the upper rpm band.
bascially you can have your cake and eat it too.you've got a "big cam" if you will,but under most normal driving conditions,you have a "normal/off the line hard pulling grunt cam."
here's a crazy silly turbocharged one,but you can see how it works;


they can be built up to beat old school muscle cars if you have the coin.it's crazy silly what i see them racing on youtube.id never put my $ into one of these myself.im into the old school v8 with lopey idling big cams.......but hey,it's still pretty impressive.i mean my god,we're talking about a 4 banger lol! unreal where technology is now.iv never read up on any of these little modern engines before.all new to me.

 

Where I live there are so many ricers. I once had a 496BBB, and the stupid ricers would always want to race. Then claim vs on why they lost. Mention how much more HP per liter they got, and how the Vtech didn't kick in.

Personally if you ever see me buy a honda get ready the rapture is about to happen.

Plus it doesn't make financial sense when the car would sit because I wouldn't drive it. The F100 is a project that was going to get a big FE motor, but I can tweak the formula while it is apart still.

 

VWs are troublesome cars due to sensors, and I would need a recent model year to roll. I do not want 15 years old electric issues.

My K20 looks pretty rough, and we all see better trucks at pick a part. As far as the body and interior a good coat of fire wouldn't hurt. So until I doll it up more it does hurt my possibilities. Not kill just hurt.

Everybody always forgets I do not need a daily driver. I have a work van. So the purpose is to get good fuel economy for what I have. I drive my K20 20 miles a week. So there is no side benefit to a car beside the trips I would be into. Which makes no sense financially or emotionally. When I still have to pay for it, and the truck.

Are cars bad no. I used to be a car guy, and could easily get the mpg out of anything I wanted. With out having go crazy. As of the last few years I am a truck guy. Why who cares I am here now. 20-25 mpg hwy is enough to be happy with ultimate costs, and expenditures. The original project engine would of been capable of low teens normal, and 15 in a pinch. Yes I am giving up 150lbft torque, and 100 or so HP. I can live with that.

 

I missed the part way back when you said you also had a van as a DD. Really, it seems like most of your projects are going to be within a few mpg of each other regardless of the amount of mods and $$ you put into them. I'm not knocking the truck collection- I've done some pipe-dream engine swaps into project cars, but I've never recouped a single penny in terms of MPG.

I wasn't trying to harp on the car option to change your mind about trucks or cars.
I'm not a "Truck guy" or a "Car guy", I'm more of a "purpose guy"- When I need to haul a horse trailer I'm into my trucks, when I need to crawl rocks I'm into jeeps, and when I have to drive anywhere past 15 miles I'm into getting 50+mpg in my TDI. FWIW, there are probably more dead sensors in the jeep than the jetta!