[uneasyrider]

Here is an example of a VERY heavy car that didn't get that bad of mileage if you compare it to a "car" the same weight today like an SUV. This is out of an old test drive artical from 1957:

"Salesmen and others paid expenses on a per-mile basis should find it especially valuable! Speaking of gas mileage, the Cadillac turned in averages just about on a par with other cars in its class. City driving under varied traffic conditions resulted in an 11 mpg average. Highway cruising average was about 16-17 mpg at steady speeds of 50-65 mph. Overall average was just under 14 mpg."

The average 1957 Caddy weighed in at 4,600lbs curb weight and had a siginficantly larger frontal area and Cd than my TA. Here is another from a book I have "Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930-1980":

"The 1963 models would reach 115-120 mph, do 0-60 mph in 10 seconds and 0-80 mph in 16 seconds, and would return about 14 miles per gallon."

The average 1963 Caddy weighed in at 4,600lbs curb weight also and still had a MUCH greater frontal area and Cd than my TA.

The average 1974 TA weighed in at 3,700lbs curb weight. You knock 1000lbs off a car and cut the Cd from approx. 0.5 to 0.4 and the frontal area from say 30sqft to 24sqft (all total SWAG's) that will make a big difference in fuel milage. Then change from a automatic tranny to a manual. The gearing for both cars is more than likely on par. I don't know if the new Q-jets are "better" carbs than the older Caddy carb but there is another possable gain. Just some food for thought. I have also seen on other posts on here that there are people getting quite good mileage (20mpg+) with there big Pontiacs.

An old Motor Trend for a 1965 GTO:

"In the same ad referred to above, Pontiac also hints that the GTO is a gas hog. Actually, you can drive it to deliver some remarkably good gas mileages when you consider its weight and the brute power on tap. Our low mileage figure of 11 mpg came in stop-and-go driving, when we used this spirited car's performance to the hilt. We were so surprised when we got 19 mpg on a 200-mile trip of steady 65-70-mph freeway driving that we rechecked it with another 100-mile drive (this one included secondary roads and small towns), and backed it up with 17.6 mpg. Our average for the entire test was 13.2 mpg."

I'm thinking if that GTO was getting 19mpg with the 3.23:1 diff., 2spd power slip, same curb weight, and 4bbl carb. I think I can beat it with 2.73's and a 4-spd manual.