What is the best mileage (MPG) I can hope for with my car?

What is the best mileage I can hope for with a 73 Lesabre, 350 2bbl in the city?

Right now I get 8.5 is that normal?

 

12-15 mpg. A little better if you get a qjet four barrel carb believe it or not. But that is if you can not beat on it too much. The front 2 barrels of a quadrajet are smaller than the two barrel for fuel economy but the secondaries are huge. A two barrel is such a let down.

 

8.5 is pretty low. I always did better with my 455's. Try a tune up including wires.

 

That sounds very low. I was getting that with a terribly messed up Holley 600 and a leaky gas tank.

 

I recently rebuilt the 350 in my 72 Lark. Was bored .030, had a .454 Comp Camp put in, 10.25:1 Compression, and a 4 barrel Q-Jet, HEI Ignition, and headers. And a mixture of town-highway gets me 14.5 mpg. I was thrilled with that!

 

The '72 LeSabre I owned with that same engine was in the 12-15 range.

 

For city driving with such a moose, 8.5 MPG doesn't surprise me frankly. Especially if a lot of your miles are with a cold engine.

But I bet those miles are VERY comfy!

-BC

 

try going to a electronic ignition conversion and bump the timing up 2 degrees
and a good tune up

 

That sounds normal if your driving 80mph and towing a heavy trailer:Brow: