What drivetrain would you put in for 30 mpg?

[L67ss]

An OD transmission and super tall gears. That's the easy formula. Are 2.41s the tallest that GM ever produced?

I day dream that if I I ever wreck my Silverado that I'd rip the 4.3 out and twin turbo it in my regal.

I'm not even sure if it's doable out of the hybrids from the factory. But a hybrid gbody would definitely be unique.

My olds came with 2.14s. No typo

 

[Wageslave]

Honda civic B16, but seriously i dont see why you daily that thing if you are going to want MPGs

Simple, I live in Illinois and our nice roads look like a goat trail. A little honda would get high centered in the middle of the road around here. My El Camino still drags in a few places but has enough suspension travel to clear most of the crap without riding like a truck.

 

[Wageslave]

My olds came with 2.14s. No typo

Now that you mention it, a co-worker of mine had an old Oldsmobile Omega that had a V8 swapped in it. That thing had had something like 2.14's in the rear end and even with the V8, could not spin the tires. But on the other hand he never found out what top end was as he did not have the fortitude to push that thing past 130 mph.

 

[L67ss]

Oh I could burn rubber. It laid some nice tracks. Its getting a 3.73 posi now tho

 

[L67ss]

Also i destroyed trans on a reg basis with those gears lol

 

[Matthew Goeke]

Simple, I live in Illinois and our nice roads look like a goat trail. A little honda would get high centered in the middle of the road around here. My El Camino still drags in a few places but has enough suspension travel to clear most of the crap without riding like a truck.

I'm not saying buy a civic I'm saying swap the b18 civic motor into your car

 

[Wageslave]

I'm not saying buy a civic I'm saying swap the b18 civic motor into your car

That would be pretty good option. Is there a RWD trans that bolts to that engine?

 

[L67ss]

Only thing a b18 swap would do is make the ride a slug, be overpriced swap, and destroy mpg.

 

[oxide80]

my 2.29 gears were common in the 78-79 cars. service manual lists a 2.19 or something like that. never seen one of those.
i once had a 400 sbc in a 79 cutlass, turbo 700 and 2.29 gears. drove to california and back. got 21mpg. but my girlfriend got better, 21.5-22mpg, and she drove faster too. god that pissed me off. lol.

if you want to stick with a v8, i would look at a 4.8l LS motor with an overdrive trans, (manual or auto) and some freeway gears. plenty of power and the latest in head technology.

but if you really want to turn heads, grab a late 80s, early 90s ford 5.0l with od trans, good for 27-29mpg. i worked for ford, heard many first hand testimonials from coworkers, customers and friends of their fuel economy. didn't matter if it was a mustang owner, crown vic, or lincoln town car.

Last year i sold my 92 LX 5.0 stick Mustang 77k to buy my current 87 442.... it had a ford racing mild cam, flow master mufflers.... rest stock with 3.08s and it got 25mpg all day.

Wifes current 86 Mustang 5.0 GT automatic w/ 91k gets 26-28 if you go easy. All stock but the SLP mufflers.

Hate to see a mixed breed but it does get decent milage.

 

[Wageslave]

There is nothing wrong with a mixed breed. God only knows how many SBC and LS's are stuffed in Mustangs now.