It got the mileage, but, not in a real world daily driving set up.
Car Craft: 46mpg from 87 Buick Turbo V6
I just joined, I hope this is in the right catagory.
January 1996 Car Craft magazine has an article called "Real Street Eliminators". A showdown between 7 cars, an 87 Buick Regal 3.8 liter (231ci) V6 Turbo places second. 1/4 mile time is 12.97 at 108.81 mph and they say "quite frankly a ridiculous 46.17 mpg during our 61 mile test journey". They say "we don't know how (this ain't no Geo) but it did it". Stock heads, cam, pistons, crank. Mods are "Lucas 40-pound injectors", exhaust and chip. TH200-4R overdrive auto, but with 3.73 gears. Can a Turbo V6 Buick really get this kind of fuel milage? Do y'all believe this article? 46 mpg sounds too good to be true. Thanks
The first place car in the article was an 88 Trans Am 5.7 engine. It's 1/4 time was 12.64 and mpg was 30.09. It had a lot of mods plus 6 speed manual and 3.08 gears.
January 1996 Car Craft magazine has an article called "Real Street Eliminators". A showdown between 7 cars, an 87 Buick Regal 3.8 liter (231ci) V6 Turbo places second. 1/4 mile time is 12.97 at 108.81 mph and they say "quite frankly a ridiculous 46.17 mpg during our 61 mile test journey". They say "we don't know how (this ain't no Geo) but it did it". Stock heads, cam, pistons, crank. Mods are "Lucas 40-pound injectors", exhaust and chip. TH200-4R overdrive auto, but with 3.73 gears. Can a Turbo V6 Buick really get this kind of fuel milage? Do y'all believe this article? 46 mpg sounds too good to be true. Thanks
The first place car in the article was an 88 Trans Am 5.7 engine. It's 1/4 time was 12.64 and mpg was 30.09. It had a lot of mods plus 6 speed manual and 3.08 gears.
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Did they coast down a big hill for most of it? 
i've got a solid 28mpg in my gn..
Best I've ever seen is 24 with a cat,stock chip,and stock injectors. As soon as I change them I get 20-22 the most.
Who can go that many miles with out a burnout or stomping on it!
I wonder what the "61 mile journey" was. And also what scale they were using. I feel like the units are messed up or something.
I think they forgot to divide by two somewhere in the equation.
No way, especially with 3.73 gears. Probably had a 145mph speedo which further screwed up the odometer reading. Best I've ever seen in my 2800# RX-7 with a Buick engine was 30mpg on a road trip with 2.59 gears.
Best I've gotten was 35mpg but that is using a Canadian gallon which is 14% bigger. It just doesn't compute. Even running a 17:1 afr I can't see it.:dunno:
I have forgotten, but, I believe it was Tom Chou that made the chip especially for the mileage part of the test. It was not a chip burned to be used in normal driving. Still sounds exceedingly good..but
Thats what I heard too. IIRC it was tuned so lean that even the slightest load would have burnt a piston. That motor would have been FUBAR'd if somebody other than the owner of that TR did the actuall driving for the test.Nothing in the rules that said you had to use the same chip through the entire contest. Just imagine what they could have done with a set of Mototron #60s.I have forgotten, but, I believe it was Tom Chou that made the chip especially for the mileage part of the test. It was not a chip burned to be used in normal driving. Still sounds exceedingly good..but
That doesnt sound like a Legit test to me? What would the 1/4 times be with that chip? One Minute & 28 seconds for the Buick!!
If it makes you feel any better the dinosaurs were allowed to rejet their carbureters between the rounds. :cheers:
Why is not it legit? They published the rules, he followed them.That doesnt sound like a Legit test to me? What would the 1/4 times be with
that chip? One Minute & 28 seconds for the Buick!!
In my first post I pointed out it was not real world. The Mobil economy runs were not real world either but they damn sure published the results.
I have done around 30mpg on long trips, i think the lean cruise that is burned in the chip helps alot.
I remember Tom Chou too posting about it I think on the gnttype mailingI have forgotten, but, I believe it was Tom Chou that made the chip especially for the mileage part of the test. It was not a chip burned to be used in normal driving. Still sounds exceedingly good..but
list. The main change was a special chip.
bye, Ed
Ed Chapman's Buick Turbo Regal Page
-- 84 T-Type WH1 [email protected] bone stock original - runner up B-5 GS nats 2004
2nd place GS nationals car show class V (nonintercooled) 2006
-- 87 T [email protected] stock daily driver
-- 87 GN bone stock original - 399/400 best 2 door in show 2003 BCA
397/400 BCA senior gold 2005 nationals (highest award)
-- 03 GSX [email protected] bone stock daily driver
:usa::6::cheers::6::usa:
Smoky Yunick was surely proud of the effort!
The best I've seen the Buick 231 was 28 MPG, the person was selling this motor and had the factory window sticker pictured.
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