Vortec 2200 swap?

[0xDEADBEEF]

Also having a small 2.2L in that truck would be worse than putting a 2x4 under the gas pedal. I have seen that before. Vehicles need to have acceleration or they are a road block to traffic that is already moving.

Might be ok with a turbo, but ROI again. I don't know anything about the 2.2.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Might be ok with a turbo, but ROI again. I don't know anything about the 2.2.

It only makes a little over 100 hp and matching torque.

Edit- I just looked at the ratings for a 2000 S10. 120 hp @ 5,000 and 140 ft/lbs @ 3,600. For comparison a L31 350 makes 255 hp @ 4,600 and 330 tq @ 2,800. The L31 makes like 300 ft/lbs @ 1,500 as well. I looked at the EPA test ratings on the Express vans years ago. The 4.3L is epa rated 13/19 mpg, the 305 and 350 are rated 14/18 mpg. On long road trips my stock 350 consistently got better than 19 mpg. Torque is your friend moving around a heavy truck.

 

[sync]

Torque is your friend moving around a heavy truck.

Torque is fun.

 

[DerekTheGreat]

Even if you got better MPG, which is questionable. Return on investment is not worth it, IMO.

This. All that time, effort and money for what? You'll never see it. Akin to mom selling the car for gas money.

 

[Reluctanse]

A 15 year old Toyota Corolla will be cheaper than any engine swap once you are done screwing around, will get 35+ mpg all day, and run reliably until long past you are tired of owning the car.

 

[Intragration]

This. All that time, effort and money for what? You'll never see it. Akin to mom selling the car for gas money.

I was thinking about what to write, when this comment popped up. I agree. The 4 cylinder idea, is really bad in my opinion, for all the reasons people have already stated. Even a 4.3...it's going to have significantly less power, and mileage is not going to suddenly be great. (I had a couple 4.3 Blazers, they got around 15 MPG most of the time, in lighter vehicles. My 454 gets around 10. I'm guessing you're right in the middle with your 350?)

I think the two best ideas are either buy a cheap economy car to putt around with and drive it into the ground, or approach the fuel economy thing from the hot-rodder's "every little bit" angle. Keep your tires inflated, slightly high even. Use a slightly thinner grade oil, improve aerodynamics, K&N filter and lower-restriction exhaust, and most importantly, keep your foot out of it.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I was thinking about what to write, when this comment popped up. I agree. The 4 cylinder idea, is really bad in my opinion, for all the reasons people have already stated. Even a 4.3...it's going to have significantly less power, and mileage is not going to suddenly be great. (I had a couple 4.3 Blazers, they got around 15 MPG most of the time, in lighter vehicles. My 454 gets around 10. I'm guessing you're right in the middle with your 350?)

I think the two best ideas are either buy a cheap economy car to putt around with and drive it into the ground, or approach the fuel economy thing from the hot-rodder's "every little bit" angle. Keep your tires inflated, slightly high even. Use a slightly thinner grade oil, improve aerodynamics, K&N filter and lower-restriction exhaust, and most importantly, keep your foot out of it.

Biggest difference in city fuel mileage is weight. Get those heavy 20s off the truck, put the factory alloy 15s and factory size tires back on it. Then pull all the junk you haul around out of the truck. As mentioned make sure the tires are properly inflated. Do not under estimate synthetic lubricants. Have your alignment checked. Also make sure your brakes are not dragging. Put an underdrive pulley set on the engine. Use light and steady throttle and coasting is your friend. Applying the brakes is 100% wasted energy. 0411 with properly calibrated lean cruise is worth up to 2-3 mpg at slower highway speeds with minimal throttle being used. Currently I run E85 because it is much cheaper than 93 octane. My last tank in all city driving with many short 1 mile trips was only about 9 mpg. Highway mileage is close to double that on E85. Even that 35 mpg car is going to drop atleast 50% in fuel mileage if it is short, all city driving. Only hybrids do well in city driving and only if you treat the gas pedal as if you have an egg between your foot and the pedal. I had a 2014 Sentra with a 6spd manual trans that would get 42+ on the highway rolling 70 mph with the ac on and it was mid to high 20s in 50/50 city and highway driving. Purely city driving, short trips, idling at traffic lights, etc it was lucky to get 20 mpg and that was shifting under 2,500 rpm. My brother had an identical car except for color and it gave about the same results mileage wise. I traded mine off because I hated driving a tiny death trap. His was totaled by a SUV running into the back of it at about 40 mph. Try driving economy friendly routes, most GPS programs have routes that are better for fuel mileage. Typically lower speed limits, less stop and go, fewer traffic lights and things like that do make a difference.

 

[454cid]

I think I'm going to be looking for a more fuel efficient car this year, too. Even my Volvo's that I've been driving don't get great mileage. The 850 will get only 25mpg at best. The S70 has been getting 22-ish all winter, and is hitting 23.x now that it's getting warmer. Both need premium. I could get over 30mpg with my Saturn, and run 87. Anything is better than my truck, at about 12-13mpg on the highway with a ride that is so rough you can't think, due to the poor highway condition.

 

[DerekTheGreat]

I was thinking about what to write, when this comment popped up. I agree. The 4 cylinder idea, is really bad in my opinion, for all the reasons people have already stated. Even a 4.3...it's going to have significantly less power, and mileage is not going to suddenly be great. (I had a couple 4.3 Blazers, they got around 15 MPG most of the time, in lighter vehicles. My 454 gets around 10. I'm guessing you're right in the middle with your 350?)

I think the two best ideas are either buy a cheap economy car to putt around with and drive it into the ground, or approach the fuel economy thing from the hot-rodder's "every little bit" angle. Keep your tires inflated, slightly high even. Use a slightly thinner grade oil, improve aerodynamics, K&N filter and lower-restriction exhaust, and most importantly, keep your foot out of it.

I dunno. On paper an econobox looks better, but with the used car market the way it is, insurance, registration, maintenance costs, (No car is maintenance free) the money you'd spend on a "new" used car would buy a lot of gas for your current car.

The 350 in my truck will do 19 and some change MPG at 70mph. It's all stock and has a manual trans. I run Quaker State 5W-30 full synthetic, keep my tires inflated, alignment good and there is zero drag from the brakes. Everyday commuter driving nets me anywhere from 14.2-15.7 mpg. I'd expect full city to be around 14, although I can't say I've ever seen numbers below 14 mpg with it. I definitely keep my foot out of it and keep pressure on the throttle consistent, no pedal stabbing here. I also try and engine brake as much as possible and don't speed up to red lights.

 

[454cid]

I dunno. On paper an econobox looks better, but with the used car market the way it is, insurance, registration, maintenance costs, (No car is maintenance free) the money you'd spend on a "new" used car would buy a lot of gas for your current car.

If you drive a lot, the argument that "that money will buy a lot of gas" goes away fast. Once you burn through the savings of not buying a more fuel efficeint car, you're back were you started. If you buy the fuel efficient car, aside from continuing costs such as insurance, and maintenance, you're still saving on fuel, and you have an extra car if needed.

I drive 100 miles a day, and I used to do that with my [email protected]. When I started gas was under $1.50/gal, but was well over $4/gal in 2008 and was costing me almost $40 DAILY to get to work and back. It was like working the first couple of hours every day for free.