Police "harrassment"

[granatl]

So I decide to go cruising tonight in the GN, to see what kind a gas mileage it gets on the highway (more about that later).
So cruising up the 95 out of Vegas, I see a sign for Beatty like 100 miles away. So as I'm coming into town, the speed limit drops to 25. I'm following this UPS triple trailer, so we're really doing more like 20. As we get to the other end of town (maybe a mile), he turns right. And I go about cruising around trying to find this bar that's to be having a pig roast. I eventually end up back at the intersection where UPS turned, and I find the bar. In front of me is a local yocal. He does a u-turn going the other way. Then he flips another u-turn and hits his lights for me. Although he's trying to contain his enthusiasm, I can tell he really likes the car and knows what it is. He said he pulled me over since my back plate is too dark (light's out, or too dirty was his reasoning; my guess is because of the tinted cover that's on it). So once he realized that the car wasn't stolen, and I wasn't some drug mule, he let me go about my business. I'm almost positive he just wanted to get a better look at the car.

So I seemed to average just over 17 MPG @75 MPH, no A/C (windows + moonroof open). As little effort as it took to sustain that speed, I would've thought I should have gotten at least 20/21. At the Nats, I heard Bob Bailey say he got 26 MPG @ 70 MPH on the way to Bowling Green (I'm using his Extender Extreme chip with lean cruise enabled). EGT's float between low 1200's and high 1300's. This leads me to poll for some opinions:

1. Should a GN get better highway fuel mileage at 160-180 coolant temp, or 180-210? Part of me thinks lower is better since it would produce more HP; but the other side says it takes more fuel to create the more HP. If I use 1 fan, I can stay in the upper range, or 2 fans in the lower range.

2. Has anyone done the window down versus A/C test in their Buick? Was there a noticeable difference?

3. My car is mostly emissions legal (it passes with flying colors, active EGR, cat, etc.). I do know that the charcoal canister is broken, and I can smell fuel vapors. Is the loss here any more than negligible?

4. Those of you running the EE chip in lean cruise, do you commonly get a SES light warning about low O2's. I know they're to really drop in lean cruise, but I'm surprised that it goes low enough to trip an error code. About 1/2 my trip it was on.

 

[SilverSleeper]

Well, for comparison sakes heres mine.
Its an 87, TA49 with 009's and a Poston 5 position thumb wheel chip. It has the trans + in it now, but when I was using the stock MAF I managed 24 highway (@ 65-70mph, windows partly down) most of the time. Plus I have 245/50 size tires on 16s, too, at all corners, which doesn't help rolling resistance. I worked a highways jump away which was about 20 miles from where I was living, so it was a fairly consistent result. On the few trips I took to see a friend in Fredricksburg VA, I even pulled down some 26mpg trips. I haven't yet really messed with the trans+ in my car, it needs other things before I worry about that. But, I have gotten some good mileage out of that car. I'm not sure what the settings on the chip are anymore off the top of my head, but I would use the lowest setting that wasn't valet (3 I think) for my highway cruising. Maybe that has something to do with it. My AC's never worked, so no idea there.
I think 2 of the things working against you are: 1, Your moonroof being open, that interrupts an already brick-like airflow. These cars are horrible in that aspect, and any windows open just makes it worse. 2. Cruising at 75, again, the faster you go, the more the huge drag co-efficient works against you. If you cruised at say, 65, you would most likely gain a couple mpg's.
Oh, I have a 160 stat in there too. I think the chip programming has a lot to do with the numbers. I also have a huge CAI, plus a hollowed out cat. I think that might make a big difference. But, even stock, with the factory injectors and the chip, I was seeing decent (low 20s) for highway. I live in the middle of nowhere, so its pretty much all highway here...lol.

 

[Quiky One]

On a fairly stock car with stock injectors, I've gotten 17-18 MPG at 75-80. I think you numbers are right on..

Jason

 

[441120]

Avg city/hiway I'm getting 18~19 mpg.
Clocked it on a trip one time hiway was 24 mpg. Cruising at 65~70 to keep the rpm and wind drag low.

 

[Scott Atk]

What was the LM-1 showing at cruise??

 

[granatl]

Much like EGT's, it floats depending on LV8. But generally 15.5:1 to 16.5:1 in lean cruise and ~14.7:1 out of

 

[TurboJunky]

I would remove the illegal license plate cover. There's a reason we have license plates that are supposed to be easily read.

I put those silly covers in the same category as headlight and brake light covers.

 

[QuickBuick87]

My 87 GN averages 24-25 HIGHWAY, around 15 city. I have a nasty habit of "jackrabbit" starts though........

My 87 T, same highway, and lil higher city mileage.

Ken B.

 

[bison]

How is this harassment? I would pull you over if i was a cop too. They are doing their job. They are looking for as reason to pull you over to see if you have a stolen car or if they can find something else wrong. Id remove the cover from the plate to avoid further problems.

I typically nail down 19-20 mpg with the build in my sig driving 75 mph on 240 mile round trips that i frequently make. If i slow down to 60 mph it will go 21-22 mpg. Engine is 8.4:1. This is with a non locking converter. For a comparison the 3800 series II in my Park Avenue has hit over 35mpg driving 60 mph on the same trip. It indicated 37 mpg but was actually a little over 35 mpg. It gets 33mpg driving 70 mph. The most ive seen in a TR is 30 mpg. This was driving 55 mph with a 9.2:1 engine and a lockup converter and small cam. If you drive it hard or have any tune issues or a front end alignment problem you will lose a few mpg minimum.

 

[granatl]

Apparently, some people are missing the facetiousness of my post, overlooking the quotes around harassment and the smiley face. Lighten up.

 

[SS_Sean]

Doesn't sound like harassment to me, dude. Sounds like a kewl cop who likes to check out nice rides. That's the one that you need to make friends with....savy?