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Better gas mileage 1980 280zx?

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Old 05-24-2013, 12:32 PM
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Better gas mileage 1980 280zx?

I have 199,000 miles on my 80 280zx non turbo standard transmission.

I currently am getting 22.1 mpg over all. I drive 50/50 between highway and city.

I don't drive the car hard. Is this as good as I should expect or should I be doing a little better?

The only symptoms I have is sometimes the engine will flutter a little when driving and go away and at cold starts it idles around 400 rpm's until warm then idles around 800-900 once warmed up.
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Old 05-25-2013, 09:04 AM
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A full tune up will do wonders for a tired engine.

Other factors:
-Tire pressure
-Tire size / gear ratio
-Ambient temperature
-Car weight
-How heavy your foot is (driving habits)
-City / freeway driving



Remember, it is a 6cyl engine. A few people have been able to achieve 30mpg's from the 280zx, but it's rare. I believe the gov "official" estimated MPG was ~22mpg.

Last edited by NismoPick; 05-25-2013 at 09:07 AM.
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Old 05-25-2013, 07:30 PM
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22 is pretty good. ive heard megasquirt can get you near or low 30's if tuned for economy cruising
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Old 05-26-2013, 06:32 AM
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I get about 27-28 highway with a 4 barrel set up. It was pretty close to that with the FI.

82 N/A 5-speed
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Old 07-10-2013, 07:49 PM
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You put some money into a header and 2.5" exhaust from MSA and do a cold air intake you'll see a nice increase in gas mileage. I have these mods on my 280zx that got wrecked and I was seeing a little over 600 miles a tank if I drove straight interstate so that was about 28 mpg.
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Old 07-11-2013, 05:07 PM
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when i went to msa in 07 i got 600+km in a tank easy. but that was all highway driving at mostly 70ish mph. whatever the metric conversion is.
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Old 07-11-2013, 10:34 PM
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I've gotten 32mpg going 62mph in my car, just accelerating very lightly and trying not to brake.

That's boring though, so I can live with 20mpg and my foot in the asphalt :P
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Old 07-22-2013, 05:34 PM
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check your airfilter, if its heavily clogged it can reduce your mileage by 2 or 3 mpg
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Old 07-22-2013, 10:49 PM
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Who buys a datsun sportscar to save fuel??
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Old 07-23-2013, 01:24 AM
  #10  
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i cant keep my foot out of it half the time. i was going to drive my car this summer but with prices sitting at $1.50 per litre of premium gas i opted out until i have more cash in reserve for the $150 per week gas bill
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