Power to weight ratios?

[AZ ADVenturist]

Hey Mike; I just read this thread on MPG/KPG. Our R/T-Chev. 190V w/52,000 miles is lucky to get 15 mpg. On a good day down hill @ 65mph with no AC I've gotten 16.5. Of course we do have quite a few 6%++ grades (like Hwy 89 south of Page, AZ.) Turn off the AC in Arizona??
We have a K&N air filter & I was convinced to install dual exhaust (cat-back) last year. 1% improvement!??
This winter I'm having an induction system cleaning done it's expensive but promised to help performance & fuel efficiency. It Must be Magic!
My other concern is with oil consumption - a full quart between oil changes (3,000 miles). Oh that's right it is GM (Gov't Motors). They ALL do that, I'm told. Just add oil & 4 get about it...
And So it goes. Ric.

[Mike]

I've driven that stretch of 89 more than once. The point almost 2 miles south of Page which starts the climb, and then the careening downhills to the cutoff for the Grand Canyon North Rim is one of those places where I wish I had a bit more power.
My wife isn't a big fan of either direction in the mountains, and the climbs seem hard on a 4.5 ton vehicle being powered by a smallish gasoline V8. If it's not too hot outside, I do turn off the A/C during the 6% + climbs to ease the stress on the engine. The 6% downhills test the heat dissipation of the pads and rotors, for sure. My transmission helps a bit, but the brakes bear the brunt. I think my engine is still pretty good on oil, but I do check it after a series of aggressive climbs just in case, and it's sometimes a bit low. Always carry an extra quart, jic.
I mentioned I'm looking into an engine rebuild/upgrade but there are several factors besides the money that will determine the final decision, not the least of which, is whether I'm going to keep this thing for a few more years. We do prefer this mode of travel to any others, so far. I'd be wary of snake oil being passed off as miracle cures for anything. There's just too much of it around these days.
Maybe we'll see you around sometime. We must look almost the same to each other, us the Popular, you the Versatile.

[AZ ADVenturist]

<Quote Mike>Maybe we'll see you around sometime. We must look almost the same to each other, us the Popular, you the Versatile.">
I tried posting a Pic. of our C190V, but it didn't work. So I put it on the ADVenture motorcycle site instead. It worked there & there Is a motorcycle in the pic. as well.
I like this forum better. It's nicer & more adult than ADV. Ric.

[moreforles]

I didn't read through all the replies (yet) but for more power and torque, I believe there's a chip you can plug in to adjust things on the fly.... maybe switch between econ and power as you need it (like when you get to mountainous terrain or towing heavier loads)

My cousin was plyaing around with full sized Chevy pickups and supposedly saw some impressive results... never dabbled with it myself, but might be looking to experiment once I get my build started/completed.... the Dodge/Chrysler Caravan/Town and Countries, had three different size motors (that I know of) 3.0 Mitzubishi built that I currently have in my 99 Caravan (work van), 3.3 and 3.8 US built. I was thinking I will look for one with the 3.8, just to have the additional HP, and tweak it a little with larger intake/turbo and/or chip it.

We picked up a wheelchair rampvan (modified 2000 Grand Caravan) with the lowered floor and ramp the folds out the passenger side door, that has the 3.3 and it just doesn't have the power I want, so not sure if it's because of all the weight they added by modifying the floor or just that the 3.3 doesn't have the HP needed. I believe the 3.3 was only rated at 165 (when new of cousrse) and the 3.8 had an additional 20 hp, not a major difference, but I think in the long run every little bit will help and some othe modifications like the chip should be able to get 200 - 225 hp... at least that's the hope.

Supposedly different tire types, with their different chemical makeups, can also effect mileage as well, so will be looking at traction verses fuel econonomy as well.

[moreforles]

GFORCE performance chip, is the one I spotted so far, supposedly 60 hp and 4 - 7 additional mpg.

Again, not sure just how substantial a change it will be, but every little bit has got to help.

Hoping to get somewhere around 20 - 25 mpg on a minivan based RV, we had a 97 Grand Caravan, that I managed to get better than 30 mpg on the highway regularly, but haven't been able to match that with any since then, and I think it did have the 3.8 in it.

Some of the newer models (2008 and up) have an additional gear in the Transmission that should help as well. not sure, but think that for the money, if their compatible, it might be worth the expense to do a swap, if they're compatible with older vans...

with Motorhomes being exempt from emision tests (at least in Ohio), experimenting with different engines and trans to get the best combination might also be worth the money.

Thanks for the post!

[Mike]

Just cleaned up some of my original posts. They were ugly, at best. I must have flipped some formatting switch that messed them up. Thus, the edits in them.