kcducttaper

I'm looking to buy/build a Camaro mostly for daily driving, but perhaps a weekend or two at the track. It seems as though the 305 and 350 were good for about 17/24 or so. I don't recall that the LS1s have the cylinder deactivation thing (like Chevy uses in their pickups) and it seems like that would be pretty handy for a dd. What sort of mileage does anyone get just cruising along with a LS1/LS3 and has anyone got mileage numbers on the engines with cylinder deactivation?

The thought had occurred to me to just drop in a newer wrecked pickup/suv vortec 5.3 that has the bells and whistles that I'm going for. The newest line of motors with constantly variable valve timing, direct injection, and cylinder deactivation seems pretty tasty. Thoughts, comments, estimations?

khulsebus

iTrader: (2)

Mine has an LS1/4L60E, no displacement on demand or anything special. I took drove it from the middle of Missouri to south of Chicago this last weekend for ThirdGen Fest. The first day was a good solid 8 hours of driving, without cruise, at about 80. I averaged 22.4, which isn't too bad. If I had driven it more nicely, or had cruise, it might have got a little better.

BTW, my rpm was right at 2,500 at 80mph.

BrutalGTA

iTrader: (2)

If your wanting something you will be reving over 6000 rpms on,I would stay away from the DOD/AFM motors. The collapsible lifters are known to fail if subject to 6K+ rpm constantly.

Mileage is another story. Way to many variables in this equation ie: tire size, axle ratio, trans, weight, motor size/condition. With enough research and the right parts you can build a fast street car that gets good mileage.

You can look at the factory mileage for a ls3 camaro or 5.3l truck and for the same combo know you can get at least the same mileage in a 3rd gen but most likely 2-3 more mpg more. These older cars are kinda pigs but quite a few hundred pounds lighter than the new camaro's and trucks these power plants are in now.

kcducttaper

I've heard that too, but I wonder if that's been addressed in the new line of direct injected motors. It's probably just too early to tell.

It'll be a manual for sure. Ideally, I'd have a 6-speed where the first 5 gears are kinda on the sporty side, then a 6th gear just to cruise. The axle ratio will probably be pretty middle-ground for performance and mileage.

I'm sure the 3rd gens have much better aerodynamics than the pickups too. I don't really know if the new gen camaros and corvettes have the DOD/AFM stuff in there. I don't think they do, but I'm not sure.

Pocket

iTrader: (24)

Efficiency depends a lot on driver, cam, gearing and trans

I got 27mpg on a totally stock 5.3/4l60e through 2.73 gears mixed driving. Low 30's on a stock mild LSx and a t56 are common

Drive a stock ls1/t56 4th gen and see if you like the power. Putting it in a 3rd gen will be similar, just a 4-500lb lighter chassis

khulsebus

iTrader: (2)

What Pocket says is correct. Like I said earlier, it get's much better mileage when I'm being nicer to the car. On the way back, I was following my parents who were towing their trailer behind their truck. We were going somewhere around 60-65, and while I didn't bother to do the math to figure out the mileage, I used somewhere around 1/4-1/2 the fuel. It also helped that at that speed, the converter was locked up just over stall and the engine wasn't spinning at 2,500.

kcducttaper

Most definitely. It also has a lot to do with aerodynamics, tires (and pressure), weight, altitude, temperature, etc, but fuel management does play a solid role in it as well. the 4-cylinder thing is worth about 3mpg on my dad's pickup. I would expect slightly better results out of a camaro as the drag is less.

Cruising on the highway at 2500 just seems way excessive to me. I don't see any reason under 2000 or 1700 (at 70) couldn't be achievable with an ls1 and certainly with an ls3. I wanted to hit 30+ MPG for cruising, which seems definitely attainable, but also be solid for an occasional track day - more for fun than getting every tenth.

khulsebus

iTrader: (2)

I was cruising at 80 when it was spinning at 2500. 70 is about 2000, and a lot easier on the wallet. When we were on the way back, we took back roads instead of the interstate when I was going there. On the back roads, we were going 55-60 most of the time, and as I said, it was at 1500 or so.