Camaro mpg question
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Teching In
Joined: Dec 2014
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From: sylvan lake alberta
Camaro mpg question hello all ,I have a question about the fuel economy my camaro is getting. I am seeing 20ish mpg is this normal? 1998 camaro ls1 , auto , 2.76 gears, slp lid, and cat delete is about all that’s done to it . I am driving about 95% highway at 65-70 mph with the odd full throttle run when passing but not often. I just did a full tune up as well ( plugs,wires,air filter,fuel filter, transmission fluid and gear oil change). I had a 02 trans am 6 speed a few years ago and could hit 28mpg no problem. Thanks for your input
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Dec 2014
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From: sylvan lake alberta
Ok, it is what it is . I knew it wasn’t going to be great but I figured mid 20’s with the 2.76 would have been doable. I D.D it about 70 miles a day so I was just wondering is all.
The window sticker gas mileage for this car was 18 city & 25 highway. I owned an 01 Z28 with an automatic transmission and the stock 2.73 gears. I averaged right around 23 MPG with 75% highway driving.
20 MPG isn't that bad considering your car is 20 years old now and it probably wasn't tuned after the cats were removed. In optimal form you could probably get a little better.
20 MPG isn't that bad considering your car is 20 years old now and it probably wasn't tuned after the cats were removed. In optimal form you could probably get a little better.
My 98s' window sticker is 17 / 25 (just looked at it) with the optional 3.23 gears. I think the 2.73 sticker was 18 / 27.
On 8 trips to Florida from Ohio running with the traffic in cruise control on interstates,mpg was 24.5 ( verified by a ScanGaugeII hooked to the OBDII port). Speeds were typically 75 in a 70 and 70 in a 65. MPG is 'right foot dependent' so city driving is disregarded. An occasional full throttle will really drop mpg down. Overdrive ratios are different for M6 and A4. M6 is .5 and A4 is .7. Dropping mph down on freeway cruising to 60 gives me 25.5 mpg on the ScanGaugeII.
On 8 trips to Florida from Ohio running with the traffic in cruise control on interstates,mpg was 24.5 ( verified by a ScanGaugeII hooked to the OBDII port). Speeds were typically 75 in a 70 and 70 in a 65. MPG is 'right foot dependent' so city driving is disregarded. An occasional full throttle will really drop mpg down. Overdrive ratios are different for M6 and A4. M6 is .5 and A4 is .7. Dropping mph down on freeway cruising to 60 gives me 25.5 mpg on the ScanGaugeII.
If I am Realllllllly nice I can get 27 but most of the time I get 25-26 on the highway. However I'm pushing a little over 400 hp. Big price difference between Now and Then.
Last edited by LS1121; Jun 3, 2018 at 08:06 AM.
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For 95% highway that seems a tad low, but not unheard of. My M6 with 4.10's, heads and cam, and higher compression still gets about 22-23 highway. City is another story...around 12-14 on average
When the car was designed, we had a 55 mph National speed limit on the highways!
My best mileage was on a long 100% highway run after a tune up and carbon cleaning. I got 29 mpg. During full City driving, I get 12 mpg. So, there is quite a range.
To baseline really where you are, I would suggest taking a long run on the highway at 55 mph and seeing what you get.
This is pretty good. Too fast for high mileage, though.
When the car was designed, we had a 55 mph National speed limit on the highways!
My best mileage was on a long 100% highway run after a tune up and carbon cleaning. I got 29 mpg. During full City driving, I get 12 mpg. So, there is quite a range.
To baseline really where you are, I would suggest taking a long run on the highway at 55 mph and seeing what you get.
When the car was designed, we had a 55 mph National speed limit on the highways!
My best mileage was on a long 100% highway run after a tune up and carbon cleaning. I got 29 mpg. During full City driving, I get 12 mpg. So, there is quite a range.
To baseline really where you are, I would suggest taking a long run on the highway at 55 mph and seeing what you get.
Those numbers are not healthy. I also have 1998 (Trans Am) with 2.73 gears and 4-speed auto, and when I picked it up at 100K miles back in 2003, I could get at least 24mpg highway at 70-75 mph. If I kept it closer to 65-70, I have gotten as good as 27 mpg on an all-highway tank. Usually I would drive around 72-73 mph to keep it around 2K RPM or just over and that would yield around 25 MPG if all-highway. In the city, I would get about 14-16, and just a hair under 20 in mixed driving. I pulled the LS1 at 207K miles, and it still was getting 24 MPG on the freeway (even with my big wide 19" x 9.5" wheels/tires), but in the city and in mixed, I was now getting 14 MPG--but never had any other symptoms such as check engine lights or anything. How many miles on your Camaro? It could come down to tuning issues without cats and the rear O2 readings (maybe some others who know more than I do about that stuff can chime in).
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Dec 2014
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From: sylvan lake alberta
About 70k miles, I didn’t know you had to tune after cat delete on these cars ? I have an wide band a/f gauge I used for tuning my firebird I could throw in and see what it’s doing I guess . Car runs great tho and has had a full tune up
off topic, still blows my mind how cheap these cars were. lets say in todays pricing they are 25000 starting instead of 20000. i mean i know they physically are cheap, but where else can you find a v6 sports car starting at 30000 now a days let alone an advertised 305 hp v8? i mean i no the v6s now swing 305 easy but still. **** a alway decent v6 sedan is 35000 starting
I don't think you can say that without understanding the true nature of the driving behind the numbers and be in a position to make an apples-to-apples comparison.
These numbers might be achievable with a well tuned car, and as you point out, on an all-highway tank. The minute one goes off-highway, even for a little bit, the numbers become grossly diluted. An all-highway run at a constant speed is really the only reliable way to benchmark something like this, which I don't believe the OP has done yet.
These numbers might be achievable with a well tuned car, and as you point out, on an all-highway tank. The minute one goes off-highway, even for a little bit, the numbers become grossly diluted. An all-highway run at a constant speed is really the only reliable way to benchmark something like this, which I don't believe the OP has done yet.
I don't think you can say that without understanding the true nature of the driving behind the numbers and be in a position to make an apples-to-apples comparison. These numbers might be achievable with a well tuned car, and as you point out, on an all-highway tank. The minute one goes off-highway, even for a little bit, the numbers become grossly diluted. An all-highway run at a constant speed is really the only reliable way to benchmark something like this, which I don't believe the OP has done yet.