somewhat off-topic

Red66GT · Jun 20, 2005

This is somewhat off-topic but thought it would be ok to post. I currently use my 66 stang as a daily driver and am considering getting another car as a daily driver b/c of the crappy gas mileage I get (12 mpg). Plus, I want to do some more projects on the stang that would be much easier if I didn't have to drive it to work everyday.

So I've been looking at mid-90's stangs for a daily. Since my 66 will be the performance car and head turner I'm looking at the v-6. It supposedly gets 20mpg city and 30 highway. With that said, do any of you guys know how the reliability of the 94-98 stangs are? they're priced competively but I won't get one if I'm gonna have to put much money in it to keep it running.. that money's going to the 66

cougar694u · Jun 20, 2005

Red66GT said:
It supposedly gets 20mpg city and 30 highway. With that said, do any of you guys know how the reliability of the 94-98 stangs are?

AFAIK, they're pretty reliable. My GF's mom has a 96-98 (not sure) v6 auto and it's no bad. I've driven it a few times, and it appears reliable (aside from the typical bad battery or altenator). The only thing is, the gas mileage isn't much different than my '99 GT. I had a 97 convertible GT that got around 20-22 MPG with a mix of city & highway driving and a fairly heavy foot (probably could achieve 24+ cruising on the freeway, no heavy foot, and moderate speed with supporting mods). It was bone stock, but you could do the typical cold air intake, pulleys, and remove the cats (mine had 3 per bank, 6 total!!) to get a little better mileage. It was also manual.

I have a 99 GT now that gets around 23-25 mpg in a daily mix of city/highway driving. I did the whole cheap, daily driver for good gas mileage thing and couldn't deal with it. I had a non-turbo eclipse that I drove to get good gas mileage (32 mpg on the freeway and 27-28 average), but chose to go back to the GT's because I just can't deal with a sub-V8 motor. It's a matter of preference, but I'll sacrifice those few miles to drive a mustang GT. My 90 GT wasn't real good on mileage, around 19-22, but I hauled ass everywhere in that car.

mustangdave · Jun 20, 2005

I'd have to vote for a GT with a five speed; gas mileage is almost as good as the 6 banger plus you have sturdier parts (brakes,suspension,etc...). For power, the GT's went up drastically in '99. My '86 got over 20 m.p.g. combined mileage with a few tune up tricks and 3.55:1 gears.

Bullitt · Jun 20, 2005

i drove a '98 V6 (5spd) for quite a while. the only issue my family has had with the car is it had a throwout bearing go out which ruined the clutch/pressure plate.

car got fantastic gas mileage. 25ish in town and 30 on the highway. granted these were high altitude numbers, so expect less down at sea level.

limey66 · Jun 20, 2005

ha ha ha - I laugh at your 20-30mpg!!

You need to step over to the dark-side my friend, to the world of the Turbo Diesel. My daily driver (2004 Ford Mondeo if you're interested) averages 40-42mpg, and can easily return 50mpg. It makes only 115bhp, but lashings of torque - the 50-70mph performance is just unreal! Certainly good enough for a daily.

Trouble is fuel costs so much over here, and I don't think you guys can get diesel on every filling station forecourt like we can - you have to mix it with the semis?

Red66GT · Jun 21, 2005

I've been contemplating the v8 GT over the v6 b/c the price to buy the car isn't much higher, but I keep reminding myself that it'll start to defeat the purpose a bit.

My brother is actually contemplating an 02-04 Mustang GT, and if he gets that he'll give me his daily driver acura integra, which gets 30 mpg on the highway.

Either way, there will soon be a new pony in the family, just don't know how powerful that pony will be yet.

jes72mustang · Jun 21, 2005

I have a 2002 GT- 5 spd manual and make between 23-25 MPG mostly highway averageing about 75-80 MPH. Glad I decided on the v-8 over the v-6.

Hack · Jun 21, 2005

If you figure out the cost of gas, times the number of miles you drive per year and the difference in fuel economy - how many decades will it take you to pay for the extra car? Oh, and don't forget to add in the car insurance, license, repairs etc. on the extra car. Don't try to get too accurate, just use your best guesses - insurance just get an estimate for the car you want.

You know what I mean? I doubt that you will save money by buying a second car. Take a few minutes and figure it out. Then if you still want a second car, by all means buy one. Just don't expect to pay for it with savings on fuel.

Red66GT · Jun 22, 2005

I drive a good 60 miles roundtrip a day to work and back and spend about $300 a month on gas. If I could double my mileage, get about 25ish a gallon, then I would have an extra $150 a month, which would basically pay for the new used car.

jes72mustang · Jun 22, 2005

I wish I only drove 60 miles round trip. I drive about 50 miles each way, granted it is almost all Highway (PA Turnpike). I can get a little more than 3 round trips on a tank of gas so I am spending about $50 a week on gas. before I got my 02 GT for daily driving I had a 99 escort wagon, and was spending about $40 a week on gas. The trade off on a much nicer car more power and not getting run over on the highway was worth the increase in gas and insurance cost.

Hack · Jun 22, 2005

Red66GT said:
I drive a good 60 miles roundtrip a day to work and back and spend about $300 a month on gas. If I could double my mileage, get about 25ish a gallon, then I would have an extra $150 a month, which would basically pay for the new used car.

So the trip to work is the only driving you do? Otherwise double the mileage will not cut gas by half.

and how much does insurance cost? There are also other costs associated with owning a car, but I'd probably neglect them.

cougar694u · Jun 22, 2005

I changed the insurance on my cougar to recriational only (rarely driven), and got full coverage on my mustang. I pay less than $100 a month now with my 99 GT. It really didn't change much.

I greatly enjoy having the GT as a DD simply because it's nice to have two powerful cars. It doesn't get the same gas mileage as my eclipse, but it's so much more fun to have.

Red66GT · Jun 22, 2005

I do a little more driving than the trip to work, just around town for errands mostly. But remember guys, another big reason I want to get the more economical daily driver is so that I can spend more time working on my 66 and not have to worry about driving it to work.

First project I have lined up is that I want to sand the floorboards down, apply some POR 15, sound deadener, a new carpet, repaint the interior and replace the seats. Basically get the whole interior done by taking my time. This just wouldn't be possible if I had to drive the car to work everyday.

Red66GT · Jun 22, 2005

My goal by the end of summer is to finish the Interior, upgrade the Ignition, get the car repainted and finally get some 17" wheels I've been wanting so bad.

I've been working a second job during the weekends so I can reach this goal (also b/c I have other financial obligations).

302 coupe · Jun 22, 2005

Red66GT said:
I currently use my 66 stang as a daily driver and am considering getting another car as a daily driver b/c of the crappy gas mileage I get (12 mpg).

Your car should be getting alot better than 12 mpg. I always got between 18-22 mpg with mine, and it was far from stock. 18 with the C4 and 3.25's, 22 with the T5 and 3.70's. I'm guessing you have a 289 or 302, even with significant mods you should get close to 20 with a proper tune and everyhting working right.

cougar694u · Jun 22, 2005

302 coupe said:
Your car should be getting alot better than 12 mpg. I always got between 18-22 mpg with mine, and it was far from stock. 18 with the C4 and 3.25's, 22 with the T5 and 3.70's. I'm guessing you have a 289 or 302, even with significant mods you should get close to 20 with a proper tune and everyhting working right.

I got ~12 with my cougar being bone stock, all they way down to the 2v carb and 3.00 rear end. I rebuilt it, went with a 4v carb, stock 4v intake, and it didn't change much, but it was probably closer to 10. I could go 200 miles on a tank of gas, which is 20 gallons. If I was leaving myself 3 gallons in the tank, that's just short of 12. I ran out one time, so I bet I was only leaving 1~2 gallons. Granted, I had a 5.8, too.

Hack · Jun 22, 2005

302 coupe said:
Your car should be getting alot better than 12 mpg. I always got between 18-22 mpg with mine, and it was far from stock. 18 with the C4 and 3.25's, 22 with the T5 and 3.70's. I'm guessing you have a 289 or 302, even with significant mods you should get close to 20 with a proper tune and everyhting working right.

20 is really good for a V8 with a carb and no overdrive. Maybe if you really baby it and drive 45 mph everywhere. 10 is really poor though, unless every journey is a race and you're really winding it up.

However, I remember back in college I used to make a 350 mile trip home on the weekends quite often in a '76 Cutlass with a 350 and a quadrajunk. If I drove 90 I burned roughly twice as much gas as I did at 70. So once I consider that, it seems plausible that two people could get very different mileage with similar cars - even if both are in a good state of tune.

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