VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Fuel Economy - City / Highway- 1930 Sport Roadster

What is the average City / Highway - Miles Per Gallon ( MPG ) for a 1930 Sport Roadster 194 cu in engine.

please advise, thank you.

Maybe someone else can post the "official" numbers that were advertised.

But my rule of thumb when touring is: 10 miles per gallon TIMES 10 gallons EQUALS 100 miles per tankfull. I use my odometer a lot on long trips. When I get to 90+ miles, I get nervous and start looking for a gas station.

Now, one tidbit that I do have from an early Chevrolet manual is this:

--Bill B

GM Proving Grounds numbers for 1930. Test run with car driven at steady speed in both directions with a 600 pound load.
at 15 mph 20.0 mpg, 25 mph 20.7, 35 mph 19.5, 45 mph 17.6, 50 mph 16.3.

That is really funny---they still don't get it right 82 yrs. later--GM says my new Silverado should get like 20 mph averaged between city + highway! Actually gets 15.5 average according to computer onboard...and I drive like grandma!! LOL

I don't have a '30 on the road so can't give personal statistics. However my '31 got 17-18 mpg with various types of driving. My '28 gets a fairly consistent 17-20 mpg on VCCA tours. I use 15 mpg as an estimate on how far I can go on a tank of gas and only ran out once (when I read the mileage in the tour book wrong).

Interesting- My 32 gets around 12-14 consistently with the carb JYD rebuilt for me. With a later W-1, I got 10 before the rebuild. I think, just as today, it matters a lot how you drive and where you drive. My '07 Avalanche gets a consistent 21-22 MPG on the highway with cruise on. My lovely wife, does not use the cruise control, and the MPG drops to 19-20 on the same trip. Go figure....!!!!

Mac

The average City/highway mileages posted on all new vehicle window stickers are obtained while operating on a chassis dynamometer using an EPA provided driving schedule. It is all a part of the Vehicle Emissions certification process. The numbers are great for vehicle to vehicle comparison but, as you already know, have little to do with what mileages you and I obtain. The driver follows a standard driving schedule on a TV monitor screen keeping a moving red dot positioned over a graft type image as the test progresses. It's the same for everybody regardless of manufacture.

I have very little knowledge/experience with the new systems but I spent a lot of my life collecting the type of data Chevygene posted above. Even that data has little meaning to what mileages you and I might expect to obtain. It is good for comparison between vehicles, or between component changes on a given vehicle but that's about all.

The only accurate was to check fuel milage is by taking a trips of a few hundres miles and averaging it out.
Day to day driving with a lot of cold engine starts and idling will pull down the milage by a ton.
In 1949 Floyd Clymer did a test of the 1949 Chevrolet and polled hundreds of owners. Of the hundreds of owners 17.8 was the average for city driving and 20.2 for highway driving.
This was back when many of the speeds limits were lower and roads were less congested, especially in the cities.
My 2005 Chevrolet Uplander mini-van exceeds the EPA listed milage giving 25 to 26 MPH and is rated at 24 MPG at 65 to 70 MPH.
MY old 6 Cyl cars will get at least 20 at 50 MPH but will drop to 17-18 at 60 MPH and 16 at 65 MPH.

Just completed a 200 mile Highway trip and averaged 19.29 MPG at 45 MPH . So all seems to be within range suggested here , Thanks for your help.

Initial mileage was only 12 MPG at 45 MPH . After reading the comments I then fitted new Sparkplugs & Points which obviously made the difference.

18-20 mpg is the range for well tuned good running '30-'31 engines. '29 will be a little lower. Early '32 is closer to 10 mpg and late '32 up to 15-17 mpg. With a 569s the '32 will get a bit better.

Good Dog, you are agreeing with me more lately. Must be one or both of has changed in our maturing years. Don't think it is me!

i think the type of fuel that you put in the tank has a lot to do with the milage a while back i did a tour in the 26 roadster after the first day i checked the milage and to my surprise it was around 20 it usally never gets that i thought i had miss figured the next day was the same i checked with the other guys and they reported the same as most of us got fuel from the same station the 26 usally gets about 14 - 16 so somthing was causing a increase in milage not only mine but all that i checked

Chipper Dipper: Nope, I haven't changed either. I have been agreeing with you because, for some reason, you have been correct more often lately.