cquisuila Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 Hello for the happy owners like me what's your average fuel consumption ?😁 in the city it is ....38 l/100km....max ! buick technical : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 9 hours ago, cquisuila said: in the city it is ....38 l/100km....max ! If my math is correct, that is about 6 miles per gallon! Where did that come from? I would expect city mileage to be about 10 miles per gallon (approximately 4.2 km per liter). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XframeFX Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 13 hours ago, cquisuila said: in the city it is ....38 l/100km....max ! That's pretty bad! Cipher to US Gallon: 38/3.7854=10 KMs to Miles: 100/1.61= 62.11 Yes, that's 6.2 MPG! 25.3L/100 KM is about 9.4 MPG, still poor. Are our Nailheads pigs? In Canada, we do much better numbers because of Imperial Gallons😝 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65VerdeGS Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 My '65 GS with 425 engine (dual quad) got me 14.1 mpg mostly highway driving at 70-75mph last weekend, on a 820 mile drive to and from Spokane, WA. Contemporary road tests cited fuel consumption between 8 and 16 mpg. In city traffic the average would be 10-12, all depending on how gentle the driver is and if you can keep from opening all 4 or 8 barrels at once! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cquisuila Posted July 25, 2023 Author Share Posted July 25, 2023 (edited) here https://www.automobile-catalog.com/make/buick/riviera_2gen/riviera_2gen/1966.html#gsc.tab=0 LIke you it is 24 l/100 average 🙂and 17-20 l/100 extra urban and going below 20 l/100 is unlikely😁 🚗vroommmmmmm Edited July 25, 2023 by cquisuila (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 The 9.3 mpg sounds close to what others see in city driving. @65VerdeGS's highway mileage is about what I would expect (~15 miles per gallon). A non-GS car might do slightly better on the highway with the 3.08 rear axle and single carburetor. I would expect a '66 with the Quadrajet to fractionally better than the AFB. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cannon Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 (edited) "Stop and go" driving really uses a lot of fuel because of the massive weight of the vehicle. It takes a lot of energy to accelerate the large mass. With my '63 Riviera with the 401, out on the highway, running a constant speed around 60 MPH (100 KPH), I have gotten as good as 17 MPG (13.8L/100km) with the A/C off. The A/C reduces it by about 1 MPG to 16 MPG (14.7L/100km). In the city, with a lot of stop and go, lots of cold starts, etc., it is common for me to see 10 MPG or less (23.5L/100km or more). To improve fuel consumption: inflate tires to ~32 psi make sure your gas cap is sealing well (otherwise fuel leaks out when you accelerate) keep carb jets clean (run a fuel system cleaner regularly, take the carb apart now and then and spray all jets and passages clean with carb cleaner followed by air) make sure float needle valves are shutting off properly make sure vacuum advance is working properly make sure the exhaust manifold "heat riser flapper" is opening when hot make sure the choke is opening properly as engine starts and warms up (they stick) try to not step on the gas pedal too hard too often (really hard to do with such a powerful engine 😃) The higher cost of the high octane fuel also makes the poor fuel economy a bit more painful. But, oh the JOY when you step down on that gas pedal! This car never fails to bring a smile to my face! It's worth it! Edited July 25, 2023 by Jim Cannon (see edit history) 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 I strongly concur about the price of fuel these days. NOT to forget the seeminly wild price fluctuations (which are not reflected in the "average price per gallon" in your particular area. Used to be that the floor for price, locally, had been about $2.89/gallon. Usually when it hit that level, it was very possible it might be $3.29/gallon next time you drove by the same station, that same day. Then it would start decreasing by 1-2cents day until it got close to $3.00/gallon again. Cycle repeat. Cycle repeat. Cycle repeat. As the big oil companies make huge profits at our expense. BTAIM Hence, bragging about poor fuel economy on a vehicle which can get better fuel economy seems a bit out of whack to me. Means the driver is either using "jack rabbbit starts" and "short stops" to get from point A to point C. Might look neat and get peoples' attention, but at what personal cost? In any event, to leave the best impression of our vintage vehicles when we drive them, having then running as good as they can is important. Not letting them warm-up in the driveway can help improve fuel economy, too. If you want to see how driving style can impact fuel economy, get a newer vehicle which has an "Instant Fuel Economy" readout in the Driver's Info Center. That can be very revealing!!! Of course, with fuel injection, the nanosecond you depress the accel pedal while driving, the computer is adding extra fuel to the engine. Carburetors need for the intake manifold vacuum to drop a certain amount for the enrichment to happen. Which is why people used to drive with a vacuum gauge, seeking to learn to drive normally with the highest intake manifold vac levels at the same time. In some vehicles which only do "Average Fuel Economy", if you want a high number, get that on the highway FIRST thing after the reset. Trying to nurse it higher from initial city driving is a lost cause, from my experiences. You can also see the average mpg number slowly decrease while in the drive-thru lanes, too. Or sitting through a long stop light cycle. KEY thing is to expand on the old "get into the traffic flow to hit green lights consistently rather than having to stop at red ones, consistently. With modern radial tires, the cars can COAST a long way without loosing much speed, as you approach stop signs. So coast up to them rather than drive up to them and nail the brakes. When in hilly territory, as you maintain speed up the hill, as soon as you get to the top, back out of the throttle to coast down the hill at posted legal speed rather than gaining speed with the same throttle setting. This is especially true with an EFI vehicle as the "coast time" will be at up to 99mpg. Another reason to use the cruise control when safe/possible on an EFI vehicle. Respectfully, NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XframeFX Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 Plan-B to the BCA Nationals in Spokane had my son and I driving my daily driver Wrangler and not the Riviera (Plan-A). When my son was driving, he insisted on switching the UOM in the onboard computer from Metric to SAE. A peculiar visual observation, the Bar Graph for MPG went THE OTHER WAY from Litres/100 KMs! I was startled but only for a moment - LOL😅 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 3.8 liters = 1 gallon. £1.449 x 3.8 = £5.58 £5.58 = $7.19 Zowie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 Conversations about fuel economy with people that own cars as toys, sometimes multiple cars, at values in the tens of thousands of dollars makes me want to go for a nice long ride in one of mine. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cquisuila Posted July 26, 2023 Author Share Posted July 26, 2023 (edited) On 7/25/2023 at 8:28 PM, RivNut said: 3.8 liters = 1 gallon. £1.449 x 3.8 = £5.58 £5.58 = $7.19 Zowie. In france the liter of SP98 is $2 so the gallon is $7.6.................🤪 Comparative : in Usa the liter is $0.90...the gallon is $3.5 approximately Edited December 15, 2023 by cquisuila (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 I like to calculate my cost per mile. My primary driver is a 2005 Chevy Avalanche with 80,000 miles on it. It costs $0.25 per mile. That is with gas around $3.70 a gallon. If I wanted to make a significant reduction in the cost per mile I would give up a lot in what I like in a vehicle. When I was commuting I was driving my 2WD Silverado that consistently got 20 MPG. That would still be 18 cents a gallon. There is a base that you just have to pay to move the car. I don't really look at it as paying 25 cents per mile. I am paying 5 or 10 cents extra. When I spend the day in the garage just cleaning and polishing I don't go anywhere and save a lot! Don knows how to save on mileage and gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Balzer Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 (edited) Gallons per Mile Litres per 100 Kilometers All of you are using the wrong metric although @60FlatTop came close The proper measure is Smiles per Gallon which can be multiplied by waves/thumbs up per drive Edited July 26, 2023 by Craig Balzer (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 57 minutes ago, Craig Balzer said: Gallons per Mile Litres per 100 Kilometers All of you are using the wrong metric although @60FlatTop came close The proper measure is Smiles per Gallon which can be multiplied by waves/thumbs up per drive Is that similar to the "smileage" you got with BFG whitewalls back then, too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivguy Posted July 29, 2023 Share Posted July 29, 2023 I'd driven my '66 Riviera as daily transportation back in the 90's, gas was just hitting 3.25 a gallon. It did cost me a quite a bit, but I enjoyed driving the car. I also only had a 20 mile round trip daily commute. Mileage was between 10 -12 mpg. Now that I'm retired, I have to work at burning up even a quarter tank of gas! With several cars to choose between I'll often just take my truck or my late model family car. I have three vehicles with trip computers and it's interesting how factors like topography, hot weather (more a/c use) speed, and even headwinds can make a difference. I agree that the absolute mileage numbers are pretty irrelevant for hobby cars. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted July 29, 2023 Share Posted July 29, 2023 Main thing is to ensure they are running at their peak, or close to it. That they "run happy", which just makes things that much better for us! NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted July 29, 2023 Share Posted July 29, 2023 If you match the specs on my daily driver to a 1940 Cadillac Model 75 the 326 C. I., 133 inch wheelbase, height, and many other factors are quite similar. And it get about 30% better gas mileage. That's about $0.25 per mile at today's prices.. I just wish the fenders were a little longer and the hood pointed. Frugality is just a form of self denial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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