Guest SRP.Cain Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Hi, I've always loved the styling of the Z's and recently have been tossing around the idea of getting one. If I do get one, it will be my daily driver. Because of this, I would like to have it get pretty decent gas mileage. Since I have a gas mileage requirement I was thinking about swapping in some 4 cylinder that gets good gas mileage. Well, before I get to that, do you think one of these with a 4 cylinder swapped in would make a good daily driver? Some people have told me there are better while others have said it's fine? What do you guys think? If it is fine, what engine would you recommend for me? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lvcien Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 I think you'd be fine with the 6 cylinder in it, if it's tuned and in good shape, it wont' be that bad... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SR240Z Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 any car with the right tuning can have good gas mileage, but if youve got a heavy foot like most of us on the board, the sr20 with stock turbo, ecu and maf can still get you about 25mpg average Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SRP.Cain Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Well, I was thinking about the SR20DE, not the turbo. My main goal is just good gas mileage for now. On the stock motor, what kind of gas mileage do you think I could get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Maudlin Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Why would you go for the non-turbo? Can you find it cheaper? When I put in my mostly stock SR20DET, I was getting 25 mpg and it ran like a scalded dog. I was averaging mpg even putting my foot in it sometimes. I think it gets great gas mileage since my last built Z was a sbc and I only averaged 12 mpg. Alex (SR240Z) can help you with the SR20DET install. He has done more than anyone and can even do your install for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SRP.Cain Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 What kind of gas mileage were you getting around town? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Maudlin Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 I ran 3 tanks of gas through it and averaged 25+ mpg each time. That included highway driving and pushing it as hard as it would go. I don't know what it worked out to, but I suspect that it was getting about 30 mpg highway and 10 mpg or less with my foot in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SRP.Cain Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Any numbers for city driving? I rarely drive on the freeway. Anyways, I've never done an engine swap before. How complicated is this compared to others? Just want to get an idea of what to expect and what I might get myself into... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar240z Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 For an SR swap it's going to be complicated, and its going to be expensive. Spend time on some sr20 specific forums if you want to learn more about it. SR info is kind of lacking here on hybridZ. A simpler swap would be another L6 motor. Like they were saying, a well tuned motor will get good gas milage. Your driving habits will have a lot to do with the milage you get. Part of the reason why i'm doing an SR swap is good milage, because of the 6speed available. I plan on doing a lot of highway driving. [up and down the 5] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProjectSR20 Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Another option, from what I have read on the bords, if you want to go another route than a 4 cylinder is an LS1. I have seen several people here claim that it gets over 20 mpg, and know other people not on this board that claim the same thing. The only problem is that it seems to be pretty expensive. I choose the SR20 for some of the same reasons you want. Just read alot, and when you think you have read everything, read some more. That is the key with any sort of swap. Do this and you will be amply rewarded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 I agree that with a good tune most motors can get decent if not great MPG. That said my stock L28E only gets around 20. (19.5 on last tank). For somewhere in the neighborhood of 170HP that's pretty crappy. Even if it was 250HP that's still crumy. But it's an old EFI system, wich is it's only excuse. I have a friend that reems the @$%@ out of his CRX with a B16 and he's never seen under 30 except when he was having ECU trouble and was going into limp mode all the time. He never sees anything more than 5 MPG difference with throttle ON all the time and keeping RPM under 3k. Turbos are a different ball game, simply becuase power takes fuel. An engine under boost will soak fuel. Now, as others have stated even an SR20DET can get over 25 MPG with a heavy foot. I think a cheeper opition would be to keep the L28 and run a stand alone EFI. Some of the people here have seen over 25 MPG on carbed L28's, so I bet you could get even better on a mild street L28 EFI. It would be alot of work, but you deal with different demons than an engine swap. But you can put the money you'd spend on a new motor into things that will get more power to the ground, like flywheel/clutch, aluminium driveshaft, 5 speed tranny, fine spray injectors, intake, ect. For lower street HPs you can pretty much get away with any engine though in my opinion. So take all my advice with a grain of salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 SRP.Cain - You've never defined what you consider "good" gas mileage. Since it will be primarily in-town that will lower the numbers others have been posting. Are you looking for 20, 25, 30 mpg? A stock L24-28 properly tuned will probably only net you about 18 -20 mpg around town. But then again, you can buy a lot of fuel for what a non performing 4-banger will cost you to install. If your real concern, however, is fuel economy and you just wanted a Z because it looks cool then you really ought to get a Civic, Insight, or Prius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SRP.Cain Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 SRP.Cain - You've never defined what you consider "good" gas mileage. Since it will be primarily in-town that will lower the numbers others have been posting. Are you looking for 20, 25, 30 mpg? A stock L24-28 properly tuned will probably only net you about 18 -20 mpg around town. But then again, you can buy a lot of fuel for what a non performing 4-banger will cost you to install. If your real concern, however, is fuel economy and you just wanted a Z because it looks cool then you really ought to get a Civic, Insight, or Prius. Good gas mileage for me for around town is 25ish, give or take a few miles. If I was putting down as much power as a DET or something along those lines and got 25...well, I'd be very happy. Anyways, how's the stock L24? Does it have much potential? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 Ok, I'll say it, since it's been said to me my fair share of times. Search... Like it's been stated before earlier in this post: "A stock L24-28 properly tuned will probably only net you about 18 -20 mpg around town" This is true until you get into stand alone EFI setups, or go turbo. If you check out some of the recent nissan L6 threds there are guys running 11s that get up to 28 MPG highway. 25 city is easily reachable with many motors. But I'll leave the recomendations to people that have done swaps and would like to represent them. It also wouldn't hurt to search. There's probly more info on this site than most of the forums out on the net. Definatelly one of the largest banks of Z info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SRP.Cain Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 It also wouldn't help to search. Interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 If you check out some of the recent nissan L6 threds there are guys running 11s that get up to 28 MPG highway. Yeah but hes also running a stroker along with a turbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 hehe, sorry for that typo. I'll go back and fix that. Yes, they're running heavily modified motors. I'm just saying there's potential in the L series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Maudlin Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 If you want good gas mileage to help the environment, then maybe an SR20de (non-turbo) is the way to go. If you are wanting good gas mileage to save money, then the L series is probably better. If you can get 18 miles/gallon out of an L series (I personally only ever get about 18 max), you can compare that to an SR20DET which I get 24 or so with my foot in the pedal occasionally. I estimate that it would take 150,000 miles to recoup the costs ($5,000) of installing the SR20DET in your automobile at a 6 mpg difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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