24.8mpg!

[ozarkman]

Coming back from Springfield Mo this weekend I got 24.8mpg in Rose's Super Coop! Who says these old cars are gas hogs?!

[Chris Pile]

Ain't it great?

[55 prez]

Fred, you forgot to fill the tank at your Arkansas destination. (:-)

[55 prez]

I know what you did now, you made Ozark Petunia get out and push. (:-)

[PackardV8]

That would have won the Mobilgas Economy Run most every year. (Of course, your 24.8 MPG was on a certified odometer, as require for Economy Run participants;>)

jack vines

[ozarkman]

Jim...How did you know my secret!

Jack...I certified the speedometer between mile markers with a stop watch. ;-) I figured if it's dead on at 60, it must be close at 80!

It's amazing what new transmission bearings/gears will do for fuel economy. I waved at the guys in the '57 Chevy as I passed 'em! They didn't seem impressed.

[starliner62]

I too was impressed with the gas mileage my 63 Lark got after I installed the overdrive transmission. 24mpg with a 259. I was a happy camper! I probably could have done better if I could have stopped playing around with it, winding it up in 2nd gear to make it shift in to overdrive and then giggling to myself when it did.

[PackardV8]

Jack...I certified the speedometer between mile markers with a stop watch. ;-) I figured if it's dead on at 60, it must be close at 80!

There is an indirect relationship between the accuracy of the speedometer and that of the odometer. The odometer is directly gear driven and the speedometer is driven by a magnet. The magnet can lose potency and the speedometer can go off calibration without affecting the odometer. Tire size is another variable.

FWIW, I always check odometers against a 10-mile section of the mile markers on the freeway and run the check a couple of times to insure I wrote it down correctly. The odometer on a Stude is seldom-to-never exactly correct. Modern tires are usually smaller in diameter than the old bias plys and thus the odometer often runs up more miles than are actually traveled. Transmissions have sometimes been swapped and rear axles have sometimes been changed. Your results may vary.

jack vines

[avanti76]

Studebaker always did very well in the Mobilgas economy runs. The drivers knew all the tricks and would and would get every bit of mpg they could. I remember reading articles in old Motor Trends from the mid 1950s and some of the Studes were getting 30+ mpg. Amazing, but most car buyer back then didn't care about fuel economy.

[jclary]

Not that I could be accused of being a wee bit skeptical, but...thinking that all those mile markers are accurate is a fairly big assumption.

Most of them were installed years before there was a GPS system in place. Many were installed by the sub-contractor of a sub-contractor and who knows level of literacy (or sobriety) of the actual employee who set the marker post? What you wanna bet, that if he hit a rock, he just didn't move it a few feet one way or the other for convenience.

I do believe that our Studebakers can hold their own when it comes to gas mileage. Back when I had my Lark (259 V8 - Automatic) on the road, getting better than 20 mpg at interstate speeds with the air conditioner running, was the norm.

[PackardV8]

I remember reading articles in old Motor Trends from the mid 1950s and some of the Studes were getting 30+ mpg.

I'd appreciate having any such references you can provide. The Mobilgas records I've been able to find are by no means comprehensive, but none I've been able to find give Stude mileage beyond the high-20 MPG. The best I have found is a '54 Champion at 29.58 MPG. That's close, but not quite 30+.

Interestingly, in 1960, a Hawk turned in 23 MPH.

jack vines

[kurtruk]

I'd appreciate having any such references you can provide. The Mobilgas records I've been able to find are by no means comprehensive, but none I've been able to find give Stude mileage beyond the high-20 MPG. The best I have found is a '54 Champion at 29.58 MPG. That's close, but not quite 30+.

Interestingly, in 1960, a Hawk turned in 23 MPH.

jack vines

Kinda slow for a Hawk, ain't it?

[DEEPNHOCK]

I now run my speedometers against my GPS....
Aint no speedo can do no elevation
Jeff

[shifter4]

Way back when... I was privileged to work during the old Pure Oil Performance Trials here in Daytona.
I worked for NASCAR , as they were the overseer for the event. Did different jobs.
One was helping in the quick install of the 5th wheel and Texas Instrument Recorders for various events.
Another was to man a "Stop Station " near the entrance to turn 3, in order to make sure that cars came to
the required full stop on each lap during the gas mileage runs.
In one year , before the event began , I also went to Jacksonville and helped drive the AMC factory entries
down to Daytona. They were kept at a friends EXXON gas station near where I live today.
One year , the Pontiac team was caught cheating big time on gas mileage. The team chief had previously been one
of Smokey's mechanics. Rather large fuel lines.....Large.

[ozarkman]

Just for grins I decided to recreate my route home on Google maps and got 128 miles instead of the 129 that the odometer clocked...so now I'm down to 24.6mpg!!