EFI vs Carb MPG while towing
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Post Fiend
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From: Lost
EFI vs Carb MPG while towing
Some of you guys may find this of interest.
About 3-4 years ago a buddy and I both were towing fairly heavy trailers with a car on them. We compared fuel mileage between the 2 trucks, and were amazed at the results.
His truck: 95 Flairside 4.9L/300 I6 EFI, M5OD, 2.73 gears and 235/75-15 tires.
My truck: 80 F150 LWB 4.9L/300 I6 carb, C6, 2.75 gears and 235/75-15 tires.
While towing, he knows 5th (OD) is totally useless, and doesn't even attempt to use it.
Both trailers were loaded with a car at the same place, and we filled both tanks at the same time, essentially. My truck is single tank, while his is dual. So he switched to the front tank when I filled my tank, and we basicly run along together, never more than about 1/2 mile apart.
While the trailer behind my truck had a heavier, and less aerodynamic load on it, he had quite a bit more weight in the bed of his truck, so the loaded weight was very close between the 2.
The trip was about 150 miles, mostly highway. When we stopped to fuel up at the end of the trip, he only filled the front tank on his. The difference between the 2, was less than .2 gallons. His held 9.98 gal, while mine managed to take 10.11. I cannot remember the exact gallon readings, but that was what we rounded to, in order to compare total MPG, and both came out so close to a solid 15.0 MPG that we called it a tie.
Considering there were 15 years difference between these 2 trucks, and the only things that were really close betwen them was the engine and final drive ratio, we were impressed by the fact that my old carbed auto made virtually the same MPG as his newer EFI manual.
This really surprised us, since my truck has a solid mount fan, a C6, and a 9" rearend, all known to rob a little power and MPG compared to a clutch fan, manual trans, and 8.8" rearend.
Also, he had 10W-40 motor oil, and mine was running 20W-50 at the time. I had let someone borrow it for a couple weeks, and they put in the 20W-50 due to my engine having an occasional lifter tap at idle. Been doing that for more than 12 years now, spose I oughta figure out what rocker is a hair loose, and give it a 1/4 turn or so.......
Of course, running empty down the hiway, his truck will pull way better MPG than mine, thanks to that super high final drive in OD. Well, it did, till he scrambled the engine by not changing the oil in more than 4 years......
About 3-4 years ago a buddy and I both were towing fairly heavy trailers with a car on them. We compared fuel mileage between the 2 trucks, and were amazed at the results.
His truck: 95 Flairside 4.9L/300 I6 EFI, M5OD, 2.73 gears and 235/75-15 tires.
My truck: 80 F150 LWB 4.9L/300 I6 carb, C6, 2.75 gears and 235/75-15 tires.
While towing, he knows 5th (OD) is totally useless, and doesn't even attempt to use it.
Both trailers were loaded with a car at the same place, and we filled both tanks at the same time, essentially. My truck is single tank, while his is dual. So he switched to the front tank when I filled my tank, and we basicly run along together, never more than about 1/2 mile apart.
While the trailer behind my truck had a heavier, and less aerodynamic load on it, he had quite a bit more weight in the bed of his truck, so the loaded weight was very close between the 2.
The trip was about 150 miles, mostly highway. When we stopped to fuel up at the end of the trip, he only filled the front tank on his. The difference between the 2, was less than .2 gallons. His held 9.98 gal, while mine managed to take 10.11. I cannot remember the exact gallon readings, but that was what we rounded to, in order to compare total MPG, and both came out so close to a solid 15.0 MPG that we called it a tie.
Considering there were 15 years difference between these 2 trucks, and the only things that were really close betwen them was the engine and final drive ratio, we were impressed by the fact that my old carbed auto made virtually the same MPG as his newer EFI manual.
This really surprised us, since my truck has a solid mount fan, a C6, and a 9" rearend, all known to rob a little power and MPG compared to a clutch fan, manual trans, and 8.8" rearend.
Also, he had 10W-40 motor oil, and mine was running 20W-50 at the time. I had let someone borrow it for a couple weeks, and they put in the 20W-50 due to my engine having an occasional lifter tap at idle. Been doing that for more than 12 years now, spose I oughta figure out what rocker is a hair loose, and give it a 1/4 turn or so.......
Of course, running empty down the hiway, his truck will pull way better MPG than mine, thanks to that super high final drive in OD. Well, it did, till he scrambled the engine by not changing the oil in more than 4 years......
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