Best Mileage Hybrid Z???

[JustinOlson]

Anyone else every thought of building a daily drivern 240z with mileage in mind? I figure if you put a small 4 cylinder in the Z car it should be able to knock down 40+mpg due to its light weight. Another Cool swap would be a vw TDI swap with a toyota RWD transmission. I've seen these done in 4 runners. That would easily get 40-50mpg. Just thinking of entertaining projects.

 

Justin

[Savage42]

You'd be hard pressed to get any 4 banger with any real power to get 40 mpg in the Z. I know a bunch of the roadster guys with NA SR20s get about 32 mpg at 80 mph, but they are much smaller than a Z, too. The TDI setup would most likely get you power and mileage. I'll live with mid-high 20s mpg in my BMW 540i and the Z.

[auxilary]

well a guy on the 240z.org mailing list was building an electric 240z... so i think he wins

[ZDrifter]

35mpg on a untuned RB25DET at a constant 75-80mph Wont last for long haha.

[Challenger]

I dont think the mileage wouldnt anything extordinary because the z weighs just as much as most other little 4 bangers and nearly every other car sold on the market has better aerodynamics then the Z.

[tannji]

I averaged ~26mpg over 2000 miles from San Diego to Iowa in mine... Chevy TPI V8 with 700R OD tranny. I was in a hurry to get home, and made excellent time! I imagine I could have teased a couple more mpg's had I taken my time.

[Lewis Maudlin]

I get 30 mpg out of my SR20DET 280Z. I suppose I could do a little better if it didn't have close to 400hp and I didn't drive it set on 18psi as my daily driver setup. I drive 70 miles per day round trip.

 

The two best options for fuel efficiency which I have seen are:

 

1. There is a biodiesel 240z out there. It was on ebay at one time.

 

2. Switching a good setup to liquid propane. Propane burns almost identically to gas so the changes are minimal. You need to change the tank and the lines and the car should run. Liquid propane cost half as much as gasoline but you need 25% more propane to produce the same power. So where $100 of at $3.20/gallon and 30 mpg will get you 937.5 miles, the same $100 of propane at $1.65/gallon will get you 1454.5 miles. That is over a 50% increase with the same or better performance. The LP will burn cooler so you should be able to crank the boost higher without detonation. So comparing dollars to dollars that would be like having a car that gets 46.5mpg.

[qwik240z]

My Friend Keith in North Carolina built a 280Z with a Maxima Deisel engine. He drove it to the Z convention in Syracuse 2 years ago and got 42MPG that trip.

 

He autocrossed it too. Did quite well with it.

[qwik240z]

I have had my LS1 240Z on several road trips. My best mileage was 30.5 MPG. The A/C was off as it was cool out. That was a 450 mile trip. I got 27 MPG in another trip with the A/C running and it rained most of the trip.

 

Oh yeah, I have a heavy foot and tend to travel at about 70-80 MPH on road trips. I bet if I stuck to the speed limit, I could knock down better mileage.

 

 

My Z car gets the best mileage of all the cars we own.

 

06 Infiniti G35X 25MPG Hwy 14MPG city

05 Honda Odessey 26MPG Hwy 16MPG city (wifes car)

70 Datsun 510 (stock L16) 22 Hwy 18 city

[jgkurz]

My Friend Keith in North Carolina built a 280Z with a Maxima Deisel engine. He drove it to the Z convention in Syracuse 2 years ago and got 42MPG that trip.

 

He autocrossed it too. Did quite well with it.

 

 

If you go with the L28D you'd have a crank for your stroker turbo motor later..

[silicone boy]

There must be a way to put a Prius drivetrain in a Z. Then it would be a true Hybrid Z in every sense of the word.

[Pete84]

I get 30 mpg out of my SR20DET 280Z. I suppose I could do a little better if it didn't have close to 400hp and I didn't drive it set on 18psi as my daily driver setup. I drive 70 miles per day round trip.

 

The two best options for fuel efficiency which I have seen are:

 

1. There is a biodiesel 240z out there. It was on ebay at one time.

 

2. Switching a good setup to liquid propane. Propane burns almost identically to gas so the changes are minimal. You need to change the tank and the lines and the car should run. Liquid propane cost half as much as gasoline but you need 25% more propane to produce the same power. So where $100 of at $3.20/gallon and 30 mpg will get you 937.5 miles, the same $100 of propane at $1.65/gallon will get you 1454.5 miles. That is over a 50% increase with the same or better performance. The LP will burn cooler so you should be able to crank the boost higher without detonation. So comparing dollars to dollars that would be like having a car that gets 46.5mpg.

 

I know that Australia has a fairly strong LPG[?] push, but is it feasible in the US? Would it be possible to do on smog controlled vehicles? Visual wouldn't turn anything up I imagine, but would the sniffer get anything?

[Lewis Maudlin]

LPG is a lot cleaner burning. I believe that it should pass emissions without a problem. The question would be whether there is a station that pumps propane near your home. I have one within a mile of my house that pumps propane.

[DavyZ]

I know that Australia has a fairly strong LPG[?] push, but is it feasible in the US? Would it be possible to do on smog controlled vehicles? Visual wouldn't turn anything up I imagine, but would the sniffer get anything?

 

Yes. You could register the car as an "alternative fuel vehicle" and that would probably exempt the car from any emissions testing thereafter, despite the supercharger sticking out of the hood, etc. That's my theory anyway.

 

There is a member from OZ that posted a wicked looking motor a while back and it was a serious LP V8 engine for his Z car. The TB was bizzare looking if I remember the picture correctly.

 

Davy