There is probably a thread or link here about this, but..
What makes up the MPG option?
My car takes about 1.5 minutes ;D from 0-60, so I figured the gears I have may be part of that package.
As an aside, I went to get a dome light bulb and told the kid behind the counter I needed a bulb for a 1976 Pinto..."What's that?" :amazed:
He was referring to the car, not the bulb.
I get a lot of that too. That or laughing that I bought one. I own a number of muscle cars and all those guys can't understand why I like the Pinto. Especially the wagon. On top of that I also build and work on Jap supercars. Those guys have really got no knowledge of the wagon. Hell its half the fun. I am fairly new to Pinto's so the MPG question will have to come from someone with more knowledge.
Jake
Yes, the gearing is the big part, tranny and rear end. They might have limits on other options to reduce weight too, but I am not sure. Don't feel bad, that is only 16 seconds more than the non-mpg 2.3's.
I have a 77 the same color, kool. Also, it would not surprize me if that parts person was talking about the bulb.
Bill
I know that whether it be a Pinto or M2, all the one's I've seen have had 2.79 rear gears. Never seen one that came from the factory, (not the dealer), with A/C either.
I have an '80 Pinto sedan that originally was an 'MPG': manual trans, aftermarket A/C, and a 2.79 rear end. I figured that every 1000 rpm in high gear would be equal 25mph. SO, one day I got the engine up to 4000 rpm and checked my speedometer, yep about 1" past the 85 max reading on the speedo, close to 100, I was flyin', it was great!!
After I stopped commuting with that car from Corpus Christi to Houston, I stripped it down, put an 8" MustangII rear with 4.11 gears, and a C4 auto trans. It was great on the dragstrip, the 2.3 really came alive with 4.11's
I'm swapping the 2.3 for a 302, it just might fly with that combo in it! Good days to all!
Respectively,
Wes in Houston
My car has the 2.3, auto (which I assume to be a C3) and A/C.
I just filled it up to check mileage, and it got 29.4, mostly city driving and one 100 mile trip. :fastcar:
Not bad, in my opinion.
When I get off this crazy overtime I will crawl under and check the rear end ratio.
More later.
Mike
My dad just went out and bought one of those crappy foreign cars.
He was tellin me how great the gas mileage was 35 mpg with a four cylinder. I started laughing at him and told him they made pintos that get 30 mpg. He didnt like that. To think that even with fuel injection they cant get that much better.
Fuel injection is an improvement over a carb but mileage is not the only thing. See who has the better 0-60 times, quarter mile times, passing power and the ability to run at different altitudes better. Those are just a few of the things that fuel injection gives over carb cars.
Jake
Believe me I know fuel injection is way better than a carb but I was just saying that it got excellent gas mileage for a carb car.
No aurgument there. I have been tweaking my 74 2.3 auto car now trying to see what it can really get mileage wise before I convert it to a turbo FI engine. Its getting new tires now so hopefully I can see an entire tank of gas for a good idea of how close they were. I am cheating a little since I removed all the smog and am using a little taller tire than stock.
Jake
I would love to drop a fuel injected 2.3 in my pinto or even better a turbo motor but I lack the skills needed to work with all the wiring and computer crap. I love my pinto because of how simple the car is. The main reason I bought one is because I raced one and love how easy that it is for someone like me to work on. I would rather work on a carb and simple wiring.
There is something to be said for that. I am finishing up a motor swap on one other car right now but when I start the Pinto swap I am going to do as good a job as I can documenting everything. Hopefully it will make it a little easier for the next person. Although I will be using a Merkur harness and I think they are starting to get a little hard to find.
Jake
Quote from: Gaslight on March 10, 2006, 08:08:59 AM
...when I start the Pinto swap I am going to do as good a job as I can documenting everything. Hopefully it will make it a little easier for the next person...
As long as anyone that uses that info knows that there are MANY different variations in the parts between the models and years, and IF they don't, they can have big problems. This is why when I started pursuing the info for mine a few years ago, I could not get too many answers. When I was "done" I did post as much info as I could on what "I DID" and the specific donor parts I used.
Bill