- Joined
- May 29, 2006
- Messages
- 2,773
Bottom line , get a Volkswagen TDI.
I tend to believe , from all that I have read here and from plenty of other sources over the years , our current motors are about peaked as far as making them efficent.
So ... build the motor to deliver a smooth torque curve and be as efficent as possible ( properly sized and designed headers, heads , intakes , cam , gears , short & skinny tires , no lift ...etc ) put your Mustang EFI on top , and you are pretty much at the top of what a gas motor will do for economy ... and you will probably still be under or just at 20 MPG in most cases.
Switch to a diesel and things start looking better , especially when you start running numbers like TLay and I do , 40 miles each way daily. But still a far cry from the 30 - 40 - 45 mpg numbers modern diesels encased in slippery silohettes are getting.
No matter what , fuel efficency is going to be tied to aerodynamics in a big way with these broncos.
If you REALLY want to get technical , there is an incredible post here , written by (iirc) an aerospace engineer or something like that. Tons of math and other solid info. that pretty lays it out that the number one thing we can do to increase fuel efficency is decrease the Broncos coefficent of friction.
In which case , you no longer have a boxy old truck , so you might as well pony up for the used VW TDI.
Found a short version : http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111757&highlight=coefficent+drag&page=2
I tend to believe , from all that I have read here and from plenty of other sources over the years , our current motors are about peaked as far as making them efficent.
So ... build the motor to deliver a smooth torque curve and be as efficent as possible ( properly sized and designed headers, heads , intakes , cam , gears , short & skinny tires , no lift ...etc ) put your Mustang EFI on top , and you are pretty much at the top of what a gas motor will do for economy ... and you will probably still be under or just at 20 MPG in most cases.
Switch to a diesel and things start looking better , especially when you start running numbers like TLay and I do , 40 miles each way daily. But still a far cry from the 30 - 40 - 45 mpg numbers modern diesels encased in slippery silohettes are getting.
No matter what , fuel efficency is going to be tied to aerodynamics in a big way with these broncos.
If you REALLY want to get technical , there is an incredible post here , written by (iirc) an aerospace engineer or something like that. Tons of math and other solid info. that pretty lays it out that the number one thing we can do to increase fuel efficency is decrease the Broncos coefficent of friction.
In which case , you no longer have a boxy old truck , so you might as well pony up for the used VW TDI.
Found a short version : http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111757&highlight=coefficent+drag&page=2
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