From: Matthew Gill <mgill3@xxxxxxx> Subject: IML: Ways to improve milage? Hey all, Matt here again, and still somewhat considering an attempt at an Imperial as a daily driver (64-66).. I've mostly decided that i need something with better milage, but what kinds of ways are there to improve gas milage? What kinds of upgrades should I be looking at? I'm trying to add the cost of the car, and upgrades to decide whether or not it's worth-while. It's my last hope for going that direction. Thanks
I don't want to discourage you from getting an Imperial as a driver, but your best way to get improved mileage is likely to be careful driving and keeping it in good tune. A low-resistance air cleaner, dual exhausts, and an electronc ignition would likely help a little, but we're only talking a mile or two per gallon here, best-case. If you ever managed to average 15mpg in an Imperial, I'd say you had it about maxed out.
On the other hand; mileage, schmileage. I drive a '69 every day as my only car, and if I'm not well within the bottom 10% of the list, income wise, then I feel sorry for the rest of the IML... I drive about 300 miles a week on average, and at current prices that costs me about $50. When gas was over a dollar more per gallon this summer, it cost me about $75 - we all bitch about gas prices, but they really don't affect most of us that much. If I were driving a Prius, which gets about triple my mileage (there's just about nothing that does better than triple), I would have still been paying twenty-something bucks a week in gas, so we're only talking about a difference of maybe $50/week at an extreme. Not having to drive an econobox is easily worth that to me, and I can skip eating out once a week to manage it. The difference is even smaller when you look at the other sorts of cars you might actually buy - in a slant-6 Dart (nice cars too, but no Imperial), you'll be able to average maybe 18mpg - that's only a 50% improvement over an Imperial, so we're talking maybe 15 - 20 bucks a week at ordinary yearly travel rates. I'd suggest you just get the car you want, it'll likely be worth the extra gas money.
Now, if you drive 800 miles/week like my wife, the Imperial's mileage might be more of an issue...
-Kle.
'69 Crown 4DHT
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