What is the FE sweet spot for...
 

does anyone know the FE sweet spot(hwy) for GM 3.8 v6(fwd) cars? my 95 olds apparently is not scan gauge compatible. will be testing my wife's car(same motor) for this soon, but since she drives very little hwy and her car is rwd, there prolly is no info benefit in it(at least for my car).

keep in mind that i'm NOT willing to drive 55mph on the 70mph FL turnpike. just want to know if 75 is more efficient than 70 or if 65 is MUCH more efficient than 70,etc.

any help would be appreciated! rh77 and anyone else that has owned/owns or rented one of these vehicles thanks in advance for your info.

I used to rent Park Aves a lot around that time for work up north. I'd go 60 - 75 mph and get get around 28 MPG US. No idea where the sweet spot was, but it's an impressive powertrain for economy.

Test it. Find a gas station and two a few round trip runs on the highway w/o traffic and the cruise set on 65/70/75.

It really depends on the drag coefficient. The best FE seems to have been just above TC lockup. These cars like low RPM cruise. From the 3.1 in the Century or Beretta to the 3.8 in the Park Ave, Grand Prix, and LaCrosse, the best FE came from an average cruise speed around 50.

A good compromise might be 60 mph, but you'd have to test it out. Depends on the car...

RH77

the best way to know would be with a scan gauge, unfortunately i think that the sweet spot on an american v6 is pretty low on the rpm range :( i know they probably throw that top gear out pretty far so i think that rh77 has a pretty close estimate.

the slower the better. and i bet you will get significantly better fuel economy going 65 instead of 75.

i understand you want someone who speaks from experience, but my advice to you is don't go to slow, try to keep it at the speed recommendation(limit) of 70 :p

thank you all.

50mph does sound about right according to rpm(well below 2k). interesting tho, 70mph is ABOVE 2k(maybe 2200) w/cruise control, while without, it is right at 2k.

TC
 

TC lock and unlock is pretty touchy on GM 4-speeds -- can you tell if the TC is locked at 70 with the CC on? That may be the issue. TomO mentioned this fix in another post -- firms-up the shift and helps prevent damage.

RH77

very good link! i can feel my shifts, but not sure how to tell if TC is locked or not. how can i know? BTW, using amsoil AT fluid, so temp problems are not likely.

You can tell by comparing the tach to speedo ratio...

Bowtieguy,
As a rule of thumb, most engines achieve their best fuel economy at an RPM corresponding to a piston speed of 5 to 6 m/s (16.4 to 19.8 ft/s). Piston speed (ft/s)= 2*stroke(inches)*rpm/720.

Piston speed = 2 x Stroke in inches x rpm / 720

For the 3.8 GM V6 this is between 1740 to 2100 RPM.

Cheers , Pete.