4th May 2009, 13:05
"Just how much "talent" does it take to floor an accelerator??"
Not much, but shifting through the gears with a manual takes a lot of "talent". You will lose every race if you take off too hard and spin the tires, or if you shift at the wrong rpm levels not getting the most out of your drivetrain. Most people redline their car thinking that is the way to race, but they go way past the peak torque level and are just wasting the engine and more gas.
I once kept up with a guy in a Porsche 911 because he had no idea how to drive his car and was over-revving it and mis-shifting it. What was I driving?? A TOYOTA TERCEL!! 80 hp, vs at least 225 for that year Porsche (he was trying too 'cause I was chasing him , not racing him, after he went around me on the interstate in the grassy median (crazy fool) and then got off the next exit... where the pursuit began).
Point is, it does take a certain amount of talent to drive a fast car well. The lack of talent will also cost you on your gas mileage as good driving ability will increase the cars efficiency. Could be why you are getting 11 mpg in a car that is rated at 16-24 mpg. Yes the 5.0 is RATED at 16-24, and while I know they are sometimes off a bit, they are not usually off by 13 mpg, and most cars I have had are underrated including BOTH of my 5.0 Mustangs.
6th May 2009, 11:50
Who said anything about racing all the time... or getting 27 mpg all the time. I stated that on trips on the highway at 70-75 mph, I averaged in the upper 20's with two different Mustangs. Yes, I was getting it both ways because it was one of the faster cars at every stop light too. I didn't waste time figuring my mileage if I was driving harder as OBVIOUSLY it would be much less than my highway figures.
I don't think anyone is claiming great gas mileage when you mash the gas and row the gears like there is no tomorrow, but these cars are extremely efficient, given their power and performance, when you need them to be. If you spent your time racing or even driving around in 3rd or 4th gear when you could use 5th, you probably wasted a lot of gas.
I have ridden with countless drivers that don't know when to upshift, running the car at much higher rpm's than necessary even in regular driving. The Mustang will go around a 90 degree corner and recover nicely in 4th gear if you slow down to less than 20 mph with the torque the 5.0 has. Constantly downshifting is really costly on gas as the tendency to punch it to get up to speed is there instead of letting it return to cruising speed a little slower and more efficiently in the higher gear.
6th May 2009, 13:05
There would be quite a few people involved in a class action lawsuit against Ford if the mileage was as poor as you claim, myself included. If 28 MPG is the best you can do with a Fusion on the highway, your driving style and methods seriously need to be reevaluated.
My 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis Wagon, weighing in at nearly 2 tons curb weight, was easily capable of over 20 MPG highway. 23 or 24 at times to be exact. It is not that unfathomable that a much lighter Mustang of the same year with the same engine is capable of over 25 MPG highway.
My 1983 Buick Le Sabre that I owned in college had a 5.0 liter 307 cubic inch 4-barrel carburated V8. Still good for up to 23 MPG highway, even at over 300,000 miles.
My father's 1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88 has a 350 V8 4-barrel, and the old Turbo 350 3 speed automatic. 187,000 miles. Still capable of over 20 MPG at times. Not all the time, but not hard to do.
My 1998 GMC Sierra 4 x 4 extended cab with a 350 fuel injected V8 gets up to 18 MPG highway.
And you continue to claim that a modern V8 Mustang gets 15 MPG highway? Car and driver flat out states that they pound on their cars (slaloms, 0-60, hard braking) to achieve that type of mileage. So that argument of yours was never valid.
4th May 2009, 10:07
Yeah, Ford thought the 4 cylinder was the way of the Mustang back in 1974 too when they brought out the Mustang II. That worked out really well for them didn't it? Here we are 35 years later with more powerful (and more efficient) V-8's than ever before (never mind V-6's and turbo 4 cylinders).
I don't care if you agree with me or believe me about my mileage figures. Facts are facts, and I figured out my mileage on a regular basis as I was in college and gas money was harder to come by. If I was getting 11-15 mpg, I would have sold the cars and found something more realistic for daily driving. Oh well... sorry I didn't keep my sheets for you. Look up some Mustang forums online and see what others say about mileage. It varies a lot, but I have not seen 11 mpg, I have seen the upper 20's though even on modified cars with 3.73 and 4.11 rearends.
To me the extra few mpg you'll save just isn't worth the difference in engine performance... or lack thereof of a 4 cylinder in a Mustang. They will surely have to gear the car to compensate for the lack of power if they use a smaller engine. Guess what... taller gears mean lower fuel economy. Plus, they will never equip the car like the GT with all of the performance suspension upgrades which make the driving experience complete (this is already true on the current 6 cylinder cars).
I have driven Mustang Foxbody 4 cylinder's and they are like an Escort with a Mustang body on it, with really sloppy handling and cheaper interior components. You buy an econobox for good fuel mileage and a sports car for excitement. Like you said... you can't have it both ways. Car companies have tried it before and it will fail again.
The only 4 cylinder Mustangs worth anything over the years were the SVO's, and they got about the same mileage as the V-8 cars. I applaud your sense of economizing, but I just can't understand why you find it so impossible that a V-8 could get good mileage with the advancements in FI over the past two decades. Even the 638 hp ZR-1 Corvette is rated at around 23 mpg. I know a few people with Hemi Chargers and they average 24 mpg on the highway with them consistently.... with an automatic.
You think there is this great drive to go with smaller, lower HP engines. Well someone better tell the car companies because all I see is the continuous drive for increased HP. Even the Prius is getting a larger, higher HP engine in 2010 due to the complaints that it is a dog on the highway and in acceleration.