L36 Mods and MPG

Talk about modifications, or anything else associated with performance enhancements. Have a new idea for performance/reliability? Post it here. No idea is stupid! (please use Detailing and Appearance for cosmetic ideas)
Post Reply
Madcarpenter
SSE Member
SSE Member
Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:23 am
Year and Trim: 1995 SE
Location: Portland, OR... Nine months of rain per year, yet wicked expensive tap water...

L36 Mods and MPG

Post by Madcarpenter »

A few questions for those of you who have installed the most popular performance mods for L36:

* How do these relatively simple mods affect your fuel efficiency: Magnaflow Cat, FWI, Flowmaster Muffler?

* How about the more involved/expensive mods: PLIM, PCM tune/aftermarket PCM, Yella Terra 1.8 Rockers?

Specifically, I'm curious to know what happened to your MPG's after these mods. Would also appreciate suggestions to otherwise mod for more MPG's.

Thanks for your replies, and sorry if this has already been beaten to death, but I didn't turn up many answers with the 'Search' function.
01bonneSC
Certified Bonneville Nut
Certified Bonneville Nut
Posts: 4938
Joined: Sat May 24, 2008 5:18 pm
Year and Trim: 05 Chevy 'Hoe
1997 'maro (3.8L M5)
89 SkiDoo
Location: Sycamore, IL

Re: L36 Mods and MPG

Post by 01bonneSC »

You will see a gain with fwi, hi flo, mufflers don't make a diff.


It's all about keeping your foot out of it, no matter what mods you have. Truly and honestly its about being easy on the gas. Anything short of a cam isn't going to make it worse.
Image
00Beast wrote:Less off-topic than Lane's Heated Steering wheel, but yeah, back to the topic.
00Beast
Retired Site Developer
Retired Site Developer
Posts: 20960
Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 10:30 pm
Year and Trim: '17 Silverado 1500
Location: MN/IA
Contact:

Re: L36 Mods and MPG

Post by 00Beast »

The muffler won't affect mileage or performance at all, it's merely a sound modification on these cars.

The FWI and a DP or even just a HF cat will improve mileage and efficiency, provided you don't utilize too much of the extra power you get out of them. :wink:

The same applies to the other mods, but the law of diminishing marginal gains appears here.
Bye Bye:
Image
RIP sandrock
Sirius wrote:Think about it. You’re tooling down the road in your Prius, knowing full-well that this thing being green is as big a sham as federally mandated ethanol-enriched gas, Russia pulling out of Ukraine, and Obamacare.
User avatar
95naSTA
Certified Bonneville Nut
Certified Bonneville Nut
Posts: 7087
Joined: Wed May 21, 2008 11:47 pm
Year and Trim: 95 SLE
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: L36 Mods and MPG

Post by 95naSTA »

ZZP ER ratio rockers will out perform 1.8 and 1.9 ratio rockers on a L36. They are the optimum ratio which was found through R&D.

My GT1 cammed/Ported head & LIM/TOG header/HVII/L67 TB L36 with terrible compression (~130ish) was able to get 25 mpg highway with 2.97 gears.
Image
95 SLE... a keeper. 241k miles. Low and Slow.
97 BMW 528i
98 Infiniti vq35'd i30: 13.3@104mph, 30MPG Hwy (RIP)
02 Jag X-type
03 BMW M5
05 Chevy Cobalt LS
07 Infiniti G35s 6MT (Sold)
07 Ducati Monster S2R 800 with DS1000 swap
83 Yamaha IT175K
72 Yamaha DS7: '74 RD250 swap, JL chambers

Info on dropping a 92-99: Here.
Madcarpenter
SSE Member
SSE Member
Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:23 am
Year and Trim: 1995 SE
Location: Portland, OR... Nine months of rain per year, yet wicked expensive tap water...

Re: L36 Mods and MPG

Post by Madcarpenter »

'The Law of Diminishing Returns' ,yess! I usually invoke that when I'm trying to get that nearly perfect coat of drywall mud a LITTLE bit smoother, and then make a mess of it by running the taping knife across it just ONE more time... #-o

Thanks.
deano55
Posts like an L36
Posts like an L36
Posts: 1008
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 7:38 pm
Year and Trim: 2003 Bonneville SSEI
Location: Morris, IL.

Re: L36 Mods and MPG

Post by deano55 »

LOL
User avatar
nos4blood70
Certified Bonneville Nut
Certified Bonneville Nut
Posts: 9522
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 6:11 pm
Year and Trim: 2003 SLE
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: L36 Mods and MPG

Post by nos4blood70 »

My average for basically 95% city driving went from 18.7 to 19.3-19.5 after my FWI.
-Car Guy Carl
"Penelope" - 2003 SLE - 250k Miles
"Sydney" - 2000 Honda S2000 - 101k miles
Image
User avatar
Phantom
Posts like an LN3
Posts like an LN3
Posts: 485
Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 8:52 am
Year and Trim: 1998 Bonneville SSE

Re: L36 Mods and MPG

Post by Phantom »

One of the bigest changes that you can make is tuning the PCM but a lot if it is adjusting the shift dettings and TCC locking speeds. That will make the most difference if you do more low speed driving, if you get on the highway right away it will not make much difference. For hw driving increasing the timing in cruise can help MPG.

The easiest way to increase your MPG is to adjust your driving style, keep the throttle under 15% on the highways as much as you can.
98 Bonneville SSE
Image

03 GrandPrix GT
CAI, U-bend delete, Ported L67 TB, L26 PLIM and UIM.
Post Reply