MPG, 3Y vs. 4Y

[Geodesiq]

Is there any noticeable mpg difference between the 3Y & 4Y engines? How about RWD vs. 4WD?

[llamavan]

Depends!

• Properly maintained and dialed-in manual transmission vans always gets better fuel economy than the automatic equivalents.

• 4WD is a heavier vehicle. For driving conditions that require a lot of starting and stopping, a 2WD van will significantly out-perform a 4WD van at fuel economy.

• 3Y engines don't have as much power, so power-demanding situations (floored-accelerator merging into traffic, or high-speed freeway driving, or significant hills) will definitely result in lower MPG than an equivalent 4Y van.

IME, if you drive for fuel economy, maintain for fuel economy, and buy decent gas, there'll be no significant difference between a 3Y and a 4Y 2WD van (except under the above stated circumstances). My best performer is a 1985 (3Y) 5-speed cargo with 28-29.5 summer mpg on the average. Although Trustyvan is rather stripped down, he still achieves those figures with a 300+lb llama in the back. OTOH, speeds above 65 mph kill his MPG in a hurry, as do lotsa mountain passes.

Also IME, a dialed-in 4WD 5-speed van can get phenomenal fuel economy on long road trips (less stopping and starting!). Like 30+mpg on occasion, and 28mpg+ fairly reliably. Yes, really!

BUT ... and this is really, really important ... THE MOST important factor in fuel economy is the person doing the driving. People whine about paying at the pump, but nothing will change until they put in the hard work of changing their attitude and habits and keeping them changed.

Gwen