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OK, so yes - I am aware that "if you're worried about fuel economy, you need a new hobby". This isn't a "damn, my Charger sucks at fuel mileage!" thread - it's more a question for the group about state-of-tune.
I track the mileage (MPG) in all my vehicles as a matter of course. Not because I hyper-mile or anything like that (my size 14's are too heavy for that!)...but, like tracking my heart rate during workouts, it's a great indicator of mechanical problems and a dip in mileage for no apparent reason, makes me look at the vehicle to find out what's wrong...and fix it before any type of catastrophic failure.
That said, I'm getting enough miles on my Charger that I'm pretty confident that this is "what it gets" for MPG. 70 Charger, bone stock 318 2bbl, factory air cleaner (single snorkel), factory manifolds, dual exhaust. 904 automatic, 2.73 rear. Close-to-corret size tires - speedo reads 65, GPS on Waze shows an actual speed of 62. She's getting me a pretty consistent 13 mpg, country/mountain driving and highway driving combined. No racing - it's a cruiser, not a bracket machine - just...cruisin' around in the car I've wanted all my life.
So, for the others around - does 13 sound about right? She runs great, no flat spots, no hesitation, no stink of stupid-rich exhaust, good acceleration, no pinging, no lugging. Rolls freely, no brake drag, no bearing resistance. Or, does it sound low and I should start looking at state-of-tune stuff?
I'm not looking to turn this into a 20mpg car - that's not what this is about. Just...setting the baseline for "healthy MPG". If this is where it's happy...it is my baseline, and I go from here, no problem. But if people with a similar setup ARE getting 20mpg...I'll start digging and tuning. Healthy cars are happy cars!
I track the mileage (MPG) in all my vehicles as a matter of course. Not because I hyper-mile or anything like that (my size 14's are too heavy for that!)...but, like tracking my heart rate during workouts, it's a great indicator of mechanical problems and a dip in mileage for no apparent reason, makes me look at the vehicle to find out what's wrong...and fix it before any type of catastrophic failure.
That said, I'm getting enough miles on my Charger that I'm pretty confident that this is "what it gets" for MPG. 70 Charger, bone stock 318 2bbl, factory air cleaner (single snorkel), factory manifolds, dual exhaust. 904 automatic, 2.73 rear. Close-to-corret size tires - speedo reads 65, GPS on Waze shows an actual speed of 62. She's getting me a pretty consistent 13 mpg, country/mountain driving and highway driving combined. No racing - it's a cruiser, not a bracket machine - just...cruisin' around in the car I've wanted all my life.
So, for the others around - does 13 sound about right? She runs great, no flat spots, no hesitation, no stink of stupid-rich exhaust, good acceleration, no pinging, no lugging. Rolls freely, no brake drag, no bearing resistance. Or, does it sound low and I should start looking at state-of-tune stuff?
I'm not looking to turn this into a 20mpg car - that's not what this is about. Just...setting the baseline for "healthy MPG". If this is where it's happy...it is my baseline, and I go from here, no problem. But if people with a similar setup ARE getting 20mpg...I'll start digging and tuning. Healthy cars are happy cars!
