Any way to find EPA ratings for older model vehicles?
 

I finally got a full tank on the Buick, but now I'm wondering... How do I lookup the EPA ratings of older vehicles? I know when it was still stock I used to get about 14 MPG, but I wonder what the actual EPA ratings were.

-Jay

I am wondering the same thing- that website only goes back to 1985

I already checked... Can't get data for 1981 model year vehicles there...

For now I have decided to put in the mileage I got before I modified the vehicle as the EPA ratings. I would like to update the Buick's page with actual EPA figures if I can find them though...

-Jay

The best way I know is to find a car which is as close as possible to your car. My Cad is an '83, but it is pretty much the same car as an '85, so I use the '85 figures. Otherwise, maybe there is a Buick site out there on the WWW wherein there is a Buick guru which might be able to answer your question. Also try Yahoo newsgroups.

Good luck...

Well you could have bought a car that looked just like my car up to 1987, however, my car has a bastardized powertrain. 1981 was the first year of computer control. My Buick came stock with a 231 V-6 with a computer controlled 2bbl carb and a 3 speed TH350 automatic. The cars I can lookup on the EPA site (The 85's - 87's) are all fuel injected and came stock with 4 speed electronic overdrive transmissions. I do have the newer model transmission in my car, but not fuel injection. Also I would like the real EPA numbers as I'm considering the transmission upgrade a FE mod

Head to your local library (or maybe a nearby city library if your local library isn't big enough for this) and find archival copies of some car magazine's annual review edition. Something like Road & Track or Car & Driver.

PM me after 4:30 eastern time today. I have an encyclopedia of American car specifications from something like the 1950s through 1996. It may have MPG numbers.

Do any other GM cars 85 or newer and the same size car have the same specs as yours? If so the EPA estimates should be similar.

No, GM abandoned the computer controlled carb on the 3.8 V-6 after about 2 years because they could not get it to run right & reliable. They moved to fuel injection afterwards on those cars.

Another source might be any magazines in which Buick may have advertised your car...anything from car mags to National Geographic, Ladies' Home Journal, Playboy, etc. Many ads, especially up into the early '80s, touted fuel economy and gave EPAs figures (your mileage may vary, California mileage will be less).

yea i had to use figures from an 85 vette, mines fully carbed the 85's had some electronic controlled A/F ratio but they got close mpg.

Well, nevermind PMing me, I remembered on my own. There's no MPG figures in my book.

The other way to do it, is go into your doctors waiting room, pick up a couple of 1980 Readers Digests and flip through them until you find the car advertised with the EPA figures in a little box.

Except that half the doctors out there were barely born in 1980...

LOL, my best friend became a doctor. He was born in 1979... I can't raid his office for old magazines though as his specialty is emergency medicine.

-Jay

Jay, what kind of Buick model was it and what engine does it have? I'll get you the info. :)

Thanks, I haven't had time to go to the library. Its a 1981 Buick Regal Limited. Engine code A. It came stock with a 3.8 V6, 2bbl carb, and a 3 speed TH350 tranny.

Thanks again, Jay

Haa haa you beat me to it, I had read your profile and saw that you have a 81 Buick Regal so I looked it up and according to EPA ratings in 1981 it was as follows:
EDIT: This is the only information I found...it did not indicate a Regal Limited so take it for what it's worth. :)

Make: GM Regal
Model ID: B50105
A/C: YES
ACT. Dyno HP: 11.2
City MPG: 18
HWY MPG: 24
AVG MPG: 20

California Smog Info City (grams/mile):
HC: 0.309
CO: 2.15
CO2: 490
NOX: 0.66
California Smog Info HWY:
HC: 0.048
CO: 0.0
CO2:377
NOX: 0.58

No, its not a 91, its an 81... Is that a typo, or did you look up the wrong car?


-Jay

Silly me, I had a typo. That information is for a 1981 Buick Regal...sorry to confuse you. :P

You know the funny thing is I never got anywhere close to those numbers with the stock setup. The best I ever did with it was about 18 highway with the old 3 speed transmission. City I usually got about 12-14.

-Jay

You have to remember they used a simplified calculation back than, also the highway speed limit back then was 55mph so that would bump ALL car's mpg figures up.

Yeah, I subtracted 2 MPG from the figures to make it compliant with the "new" ratings. 2 MPG seems to be the variance in vehicles in the same mileage range where new and old ratings are available.

-Jay

Yep yep...anyway now you don't have to go to the library anymore :)

Saved me a few dollars worth of gas by eliminating that trip right there!

Thanks!

-Jay

heh, we must collect all the ancient ones around here then, and their waiting rooms collect ancient magazines. It's the cops that look like they're just out of school.

Do you have a good retirement program for police where you are? One of those "20 and out" type programs can lead to a very young force.

70DIMER, where did you find that info? I'd love to look up my 1980 Lesabre Limited 4.1L cabureted v6... :D