Modern engines that are relatively fun & reliable?

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
No offense to anyone who likes them but the G8 styling was so bland it reminded me of too many other Pontiacs.

Fantastic drivetrain, stick avalable, it's got it all for me except the looks.

"Do a burn-out so we can tell if that's a Grand Prix GXP or a G8"

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
No offense to anyone who likes them but the G8 styling was so bland it reminded me of too many other Pontiacs.

Fantastic drivetrain, stick avalable, it's got it all for me except the looks.



I'm one of those who actually like the looks, MUCH MORE THAN ANY sedan from Japan/Korea (talk about "bland"!!

).

I even see a little hint of certain latter year S4s/RS4s in them, especially the back.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: tig1
What about a Ford Ecoboost in the Taurus?

No manual trans available.

 

[Gene K]

You guys really need to define what is "awful" fuel mileage.

My 2011 5.0L Mustang with the Manual gets 25-27 mpg in mixed driving. 31 mpg a couple of times on the highway. Our Hyundai Accent Automatic beats it by all of 10% on a good day.

I personally feel like the current 420 bhp 5.0L is a pretty good engine.

Now if we could just get Ford to add IRS and build a sports sedan the size of the 5-Series on that platform and price it $30,000 like a GT is might be worth having.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Gene K
You guys really need to define what is "awful" fuel mileage.

Since I'm the OP, I'll define what it means for me. E60 550i gets 15 mpg city, 22 mpg hwy, 18 mpg combined. That's kind of awful. Now, my wife's C300 4matic isn't much better - 17 city, 25 hwy, 20 combined, despite having a fraction of power and performance of a 550i. Even if driven gently, it's hard to beat these EPA figures.

A G37 manual has the same ratings as the C300 4matic, but if I can get close to 30 mpg by driving gently on the hwy, as was Garak's experience, that's not awful. However, most people on Fuelly average around 20 mpg. Not that great. It looks like I would need to compromise somewhere.

The fact that you can average 25-27 mpg out of your 5L Mustang is actually remarkable.

 

[Gene K]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Gene K
You guys really need to define what is "awful" fuel mileage.

Since I'm the OP, I'll define what it means for me. E60 550i gets 15 mpg city, 22 mpg hwy, 18 mpg combined. That's kind of awful. Now, my wife's C300 4matic isn't much better - 17 city, 25 hwy, 20 combined, despite having a fraction of power and performance of a 550i. Even if driven gently, it's hard to beat these EPA figures.

A G37 manual has the same ratings as the C300 4matic, but if I can get close to 30 mpg by driving gently on the hwy, as was Garak's experience, that's not awful. However, most people on Fuelly average around 20 mpg. Not that great. It looks like I would need to compromise somewhere.

The fact that you can average 25-27 mpg out of your 5L Mustang is actually remarkable.



Its funny how the cars some of us want never seem to get built. A sedan version of the Subaru RBZ would be awesome. I really crave a modern day 510.

 

[hattaresguy]

The 550I with the sport package and a stick is an awesome car to drive. WGAS how much fuel it burns, its smiles per gallon!

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

Since I'm the OP, I'll define what it means for me. E60 550i gets 15 mpg city, 22 mpg hwy, 18 mpg combined. That's kind of awful. Now, my wife's C300 4matic isn't much better - 17 city, 25 hwy, 20 combined, despite having a fraction of power and performance of a 550i. Even if driven gently, it's hard to beat these EPA figures.

A G37 manual has the same ratings as the C300 4matic, but if I can get close to 30 mpg by driving gently on the hwy, as was Garak's experience, that's not awful. However, most people on Fuelly average around 20 mpg. Not that great. It looks like I would need to compromise somewhere.

And again, if I continue to only put on 5K miles a year, at the current gas price of $4.20 (premium), the difference between 18 mpg avg and 23 mpg avg is only about $250/year. In the grand scheme of vehicle ownership, it's not enough to lose sleep over. It'll only become a problem if I start driving a lot more.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
WGAS how much fuel it burns, its smiles per gallon!

Yeah, that's a good point.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
A G37 manual has the same ratings as the C300 4matic, but if I can get close to 30 mpg by driving gently on the hwy, as was Garak's experience, that's not awful. However, most people on Fuelly average around 20 mpg. Not that great. It looks like I would need to compromise somewhere.


Quite true. I can definitely ruin the gas mileage in my G if I step into it a lot or do way too much city driving (where I'm more tempted to take off faster, as well as seeing a lot of stop and go). My overall average since owning it is roughly 22 miles per U.S. gallon, with about 65% freeway and highway, 35% city.

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
The fact that you can average 25-27 mpg out of your 5L Mustang is actually remarkable.


A lot of the old Mustangs, Camaros, and Vettes have been doing very well on fuel mileage, far better than they should be entitled to get.

 

[Jarlaxle]

My wife's best friend has a 2001 Z28 SS...it will handily top 25MPG on the highway, best tank was a touch over 28. Gotta love that double overdrive 6-speed.

My friend's 6-speed LS1 Miata will top 30MPG highway.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
If I continue to only put on 5K miles a year, at the current gas price of $4.20 (premium), the difference between 18 mpg avg and 23 mpg avg is only about $250/year. In the grand scheme of vehicle ownership, it's not enough to lose sleep over. It'll only become a problem if I start driving a lot more.

I've made similar calculations in the past. It puts car ownership and expense in perspective and takes away the emotional aspect of driving a so-called "gas hog". It put me at ease with owning and driving my Mercury Marquis.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
It put me at ease with owning and driving my Mercury Marquis.


Which are far from terrible on gas in the first place!

That's one thing I miss about my Town Car - a nice, giant ride with no need for premium, enough power to pass on the highway without revving 8,000 rpm, and more than acceptable mileage.

 

[SteveSRT8]

My son has had a bunch of big Lincolns, They are nice cars.

But they may be a bit slower than Pete was asking about. And their handling is rather barge like.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
But they may be a bit slower than Pete was asking about. And their handling is rather barge like.


And they certainly don't come with manual transmissions. They were about as old school as one gets these days - bench seats and column shift.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Grand Marquis - the only car where you can drive down the highway at 70mph in first gear and not even hit redline! Never understood the 2.73 gears ... after towing with a gutless mod motor I learned that they get better fuel economy and are much happier around 2000 and above, not the 1000RPM that the crown vics cruise at.

Really bummed they stopped making the panthers

I want to pick one up before they all rot into oblivion.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
My wife's best friend has a 2001 Z28 SS...it will handily top 25MPG on the highway, best tank was a touch over 28. Gotta love that double overdrive 6-speed.

My friend's 6-speed LS1 Miata will top 30MPG highway.


If I keep it steady at 65-70 mph, I can get >30 mpg on the highway in mine.

(Gotta love that .50 sixth ratio, as well as a decent coefficient of drag number/frontal area!

)

 

[Quattro Pete]

That's one thing that baffles me about the G37 manual trans gearing ratios. At 80 mph in 6th gear, you're already at around 3K rpm. If you're going to give me a 6th gear with a fairly large and torquey engine, I'd like it to be about 500 rpm lower. If I want swift acceleration, I'll downshift to 5th or 4th, but if I just want to leisurely cruise and achieve better MPG, why not give me a taller 6th gear?

FYI, the auto version is at about 2.6K rpm at 80 mph in last gear.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: Gene K
A sedan version of the Subaru RBZ would be awesome.
of course, that would defeat the purpose of that car in the first place.

 

[BearZDefect]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
That's one thing that baffles me about the G37 manual trans gearing ratios. At 80 mph in 6th gear, you're already at around 3K rpm. If you're going to give me a 6th gear with a fairly large and torquey engine, I'd like it to be about 500 rpm lower. If I want swift acceleration, I'll downshift to 5th or 4th, but if I just want to leisurely cruise and achieve better MPG, why not give me a taller 6th gear?

FYI, the auto version is at about 2.6K rpm at 80 mph in last gear.

I have had this same thought many times in recent years about some modern manual transmission vehicles. With six forward gears, the first five can be the close ratio 'racer' gears, but please let the top gear be at least as tall as the automatic option!

Do they really think that most people who buy the MT are too lazy to downshift from cruising top gear when the extra power is desired?