[AT] OT was runaway cars/now "electronic steering"

[Steve W.]

charliehill wrote:
> John, a brand new Vette with a 366 engine and 400 HP will get real close to 
> 30 mpg highway.  I'm fond of the cars we had back then but we only thought 
> they were fast.  The new cars out now, and not just the high performance 
> stuff, will leave a lot of them in the dust.  Same basic engine designs but 
> improved by computers and managed by computers.  The only problem is fixing 
> them in the future when the computer fails and the parts aren't available or 
> affordable.
> 
> Charlie
> 

The 4.3 and it's father the 5.7 (350 CID) both have the same problem
when it comes to fuel mileage. The engines will run for a LONG time but
they are not fuel mileage designs. The bore/stroke ratio is not really
great for mileage. But they make a LOT of torque and power for the size
of the engine.

The new designs (5.3, 6.0) get better mileage due to a LOT of revised
items. Different bore/stroke ratio and the computer EFI mapping along
with the transmission and final drive gearing being higher make a huge
difference.

I have been tempted to take a 502 that I have here and stick the control
hardware from a modern big block on it and drop it into a truck. Just to
see what it does.

-- 
Steve W.