Thinking About Buying A 5.0 Would Gears Help Mileage......

iowabowhunter · Sep 22, 2013

I commute 80 miles per day all highway 65-70 mph so mileage is a big factor. I can't find one solid reason not to buy a new v6 other then it's not a v8. My concern is I will regret not getting the v8 (cause I'm old and old school) but then will kick my own arse when all I do is drive the car back and forth to work daily and have no real reason to have a v8. Would a set of tall gears 2.73's on the automatic bring the 5.0 into v6 mileage territory? My understanding the 30mpg on the v6 is with these tall gears.

earleys94gt · Sep 22, 2013

The theory seems sound, although the 6 speed, essentially with 2 "over-drives", helps a lot with the mileage aspect.

In all honesty, if the car will be driven mostly highway why get a V8 solely for the reason of "because it's a V8"? Yes, 400+ hp is awesome, but 305 hp can still get you in trouble

echo7 · Sep 23, 2013

Yeah, i would imagine you would get about 26 mpg with the 3.31 in a V8.

Hard to say if a 2.73 would get better, might actually be too much, lol.

I don't think the 3.31 hits 2k rpm until about 60-65 as is. Can't remember.

echo7 · Sep 25, 2013

I was wrong about the rpm range. It's more like 1550-1600 rpm @ 60mph, lol. I would be very interested to see if a 2.73 could even work.

FastDriver · Sep 25, 2013

2.73s will improve mileage. The lower the RPM, the better. If you're running 1550 RPM now, you'll be at just less than 1300RPM with 2.73s. Will it give you V6 mileage? No, but I could see a few mpgs. I think you will not regret getting a V8. In fact, I can honestly say I've never heard anyone lament getting a V8 instead of a V6. My personal strategy is to have a 4-banger sedan as a beater that I can drive in any condition without fear of something bad happening. I can get into it sweaty, dirty, etc... I can haul my friends without setting draconian rules about eating and drinking or cleaning their shoes off, or slamming the door too hard, etc... I can drive it down dirty roads or in the snow. If I curb it, no big deal. The small non-performance tires, wheels, brakes are cheap. I'm not afraid of traffic flinging rocks onto the front bumper/hood/windshield. And, of course, I'm getting 35-ish mpg on the highway on low-grade pump.

I'm in Germany so my current beater is a '97 BMW 318i that I paid $1750. Now, I call it a beater, but it's actually in perfect shape aside from some minor scratches here and there. Everything looks and works great, it's cheap and reliable, junkyard parts are readily available, good fuel economy. In the end, I will resell it for as much or more than I bought it for.

McNastyGT · Sep 25, 2013

I drive a 2014 5.0 and get about 21 mpg at about 75mph on the highway so it's not to bad just stay off the pedal

ScottyG00GT · Sep 28, 2013

I have a 2013 5.0 with the 3.31s and I get 27-28 mpg at 65-75 mph if I drive fairly smoothly. And my engine only has about 2700 miles; I see this improving as it breaks in. I drive about 50 miles per day commuting to and from work, mostly on the Interstate. My actual average is a bit lower because my around-town driving nets me far worse gas mileage - with the sound and the power, it's hard to keep from just stepping on it at every traffic light and stop sign.

I drove a V-6 when I was shopping and it too was amazing and very fast. I believe it had the 3.31s. The 5.0 has a muscle car feel; the V-6 more of a sports car feel. Two different flavors of true automotive greatness.

McNastyGT · Sep 28, 2013

My car has like 800 miles so I'm sure after it gets broken in it will improve

ScottyG00GT · Sep 28, 2013

McNastyGT said:
My car has like 800 miles so I'm sure after it gets broken in it will improve

Yeah, my first tank I got about the same as you're getting on the highway. It's been gradually inching up ever since. Not that I bought this car to save on fuel costs, but it's nice when your friend makes some smart comment about your gas mileage and you can throw back a number that's better than his Honda. It's also nice that this isn't the sixties where 400-plus HP often meant fuel mileage in the single digits!

McNastyGT · Sep 28, 2013

ScottyG00GT said:
Yeah, my first tank I got about the same as you're getting on the highway. It's been gradually inching up ever since. Not that I bought this car to save on fuel costs, but it's nice when your friend makes some smart comment about your gas mileage and you can throw back a number that's better than his Honda. It's also nice that this isn't the sixties where 400-plus HP often meant fuel mileage in the single digits!

Lol yea I'm not exactly worried about it...it is what it is. I love my car so ill put as much gas in her as she needs lol

ScottyG00GT · Sep 28, 2013

McNastyGT said:
Lol yea I'm not exactly worried about it...it is what it is. I love my car so ill put as much gas in her as she needs lol

BTW that is a beautiful car but since it looks exactly like my '13 I guess I have a biased perspective!

McNastyGT · Sep 28, 2013

ScottyG00GT said:
BTW that is a beautiful car but since it looks exactly like my '13 I guess I have a biased perspective!

Haha yea black is the only way to go!

ScottyG00GT · Sep 28, 2013

McNastyGT said:
Haha yea black is the only way to go!

Agreed, my last GT was black as well. You cook in the summer and smudges seem to appear on the clearcoat just by thinking about it, but when clean and shiny nothing looks cooler IMHO. I somewhat mitigated the first problem with a windshield sun shade when parking in the company lot, but don't have any great ideas on the second since I drive mine every day.

McNastyGT · Sep 28, 2013

ScottyG00GT said:
Agreed, my last GT was black as well. You cook in the summer and smudges seem to appear on the clearcoat just by thinking about it, but when clean and shiny nothing looks cooler IMHO. I somewhat mitigated the first problem with a windshield sun shade when parking in the company lot, but don't have any great ideas on the second since I drive mine every day.

Tint helps a lot too...and as for the second there is absolutely nothing you can do but carry around a bottle of detailed and some rags lol....I washed mine yesterday and it just got rained on :/

ScottyG00GT · Sep 28, 2013

Quick Detail and rags is my bird poop weapon of choice . . .

On the gears/mileage question, I recall when buying my 5.0 that posters on this and other sites' forums estimated the difference between 3.31s and 3.73s at 1-2 mpg at highway speed. By the same token the 2.73s might have a similar effect vs. 3.31s, but having driven my 3.31-equipped 5.0 now for awhile, I'd be concerned that 6th gear would be come less usable. Right now, 6th has OK passing power, but you do sometimes need to downshift to 5th if you need to act quickly (4th to suck the headlights out of whatever vehicle you're passing!). That said, 2.73s are standard in the V-6 and people seem to like them, so maybe I am wrong. And with an Automatic, the story might be different.

All I know is one of the reasons I got the V-8 is so I could drive the heck out of it before Big Brother finds a way to outlaw cars like this. No, I don't need a V-8 and 420 hp in the practical sense, but it sure is a heck of a lot of fun, even on the Interstate, and for what it is, I am blown away by the mileage I am getting.

McNastyGT · Sep 28, 2013

ScottyG00GT said:
Quick Detail and rags is my bird poop weapon of choice . . .

On the gears/mileage question, I recall when buying my 5.0 that posters on this and other sites' forums estimated the difference between 3.31s and 3.73s at 1-2 mpg at highway speed. By the same token the 2.73s might have a similar effect vs. 3.31s, but having driven my 3.31-equipped 5.0 now for awhile, I'd be concerned that 6th gear would be come less usable. Right now, 6th has OK passing power, but you do sometimes need to downshift to 5th if you need to act quickly (4th to suck the headlights out of whatever vehicle you're passing!). That said, 2.73s are standard in the V-6 and people seem to like them, so maybe I am wrong. And with an Automatic, the story might be different.

All I know is one of the reasons I got the V-8 is so I could drive the heck out of it before Big Brother finds a way to outlaw cars like this. No, I don't need a V-8 and 420 hp in the practical sense, but it sure is a heck of a lot of fun, even on the Interstate, and for what it is, I am blown away by the mileage I am getting.

Well I will be putting the 3.73's in soon ill make sure to post up my results when I do

Coyote5.0 · Oct 5, 2013

I have a 2011 5.0 with 3.31 gears. With ethanol free gas and a smooth driving style, I can get 29-30 mpg with the cruise set at 70 on the highway. If you are stuck with E10, 27-28 would be the top end for a 5.0 on a good day.

As for the gears, you can't get 2.73 gears with the V8. And if you had them installed aftermarket, in theory, it would improve mileage, but probably not enough to pay for what it would cost to change out the gears, and it will not put you into V6 territory.

3.31s would be about as high as I'd want to go, anyway. With 3.31s, I run about 1900-1950 RPM at 70. A 2.73 gear would put you close to 1600 rpm at 70, and that's pretty tall. The torque of these engines falls off noticeably when you start getting that low (remember, these are DOHC, 4-valve engines not the pushrod torque monsters of the older generation of muscle cars), and even with a V8, its gonna start to feel pretty bogged down, which defeats the entire purpose of getting the V8 to begin with.

Ultimately, if you want a V8, you'll have to bite the efficiency bullet somewhat. These V8s do reasonably well on the highway, but will never get what the V6 will get. If fuel economy that big of concern, the V6 is probably good for about 3-5 mpg better depending on how it is configured.

If you do get the V6, though, spring for the optional 3.31s on it. 2.73s would be tall even for the V8, and will really make a dog of the V6.

Thinking About Buying A 5.0 Would Gears Help Mileage......

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