GM J, W, or F body for MPG/fun toy

[Dust]

Been looking at the three vehicles. The listed vehicles would be a
2002 up Ecotec 5 speed
1998 up GT or GTP
1998 up F-body 6 speed

They all will get about mid to high 20’s on the highway. With I/H/E, a wideband, HPTuners, and a possible methanol kit, their power will be much different between the three, but so is the weight. Would like to end up with mid to high 30’s on the highway. I know that tuning for max MPG wouldn't necessarily mean the most fun, but I think it would be challenging to get it working all together. I guess power goals would be to run in the 13's or 12's, but not much of a drag racer.

J-body
Pros
Smallest engine
5 speed
Smallest vehicle

Cons
Not very fast, and would need a turbo to get up to the power that I would like, plus the lack of a 2 bar MAP sensor

W-body
Pros
Boosted from the factory
HUD

Cons
Huge
Automatic Transmission that doesn’t like any power

F-body
Pros
6-speed
RWD
Torque
Lean cruise?

Cons
Probably the highest insurance deductible
Highest purchase price.

If you choose other, let me know what and why.

[Dust]

Wanted to bring this back up to the top, and see if anyone else wanted to vote.

[Bill@HPTuners]

99+ Fbody. end thread/

[Bill@HPTuners]

BTW I own a GTP

[Dust]

Bill, wonder if HPtuners would work on this?

http://ucar.autos.yahoo.co.jp/detail...00CU0004730108

would give me a year to learn the hptuner ropes

Also found a f-body, but it was $10K, this one is only 2.5

[Bill@HPTuners]

Yeah I'm pretty sure our software covers some cavaliers http://www.hptuners.com/products/vcmsuite_vehicles.php

[Dust]

I am just wondering about the import being different. Still have to convince myself and the wife that I need a different car for one year.

[Dust]

Back from the dead for more opinions.

[346ci]

I vote f-body if you want a fun car that can be decently fuel efficient

[runndownn]

Ecotec is the correct answer...spent nothing really setting up the turbo on my Ecotec Grand Am 5 speed...tuning is a sinch with HP tuners...a tank of gas lasts awhile...fast and easy to rep. (can pull out the motor/trans in 4hrs and have it running again with a new motor swapping the trans/flywheel in 4 and 1/2hrs) lots of room to work...set up a light run with a Camaro SS the other day had him off the line...he stayed at my rear bumper until we had to slow down (round 120) he wasnt the first that lost either...oh and the GA interior is banging...

take a looksi...
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3805102

[murphinator]

I vote f-body if you want a fun car that can be decently fuel efficient

many 12 sec & under w bodies that get 30+mpg highway and i am sure the j body guys do even better being 4 cyl and smaller platform

f body being rear drive should make it the most "fun" as far as driving goes

j body should be most economical

they all have fabulous mod potential

I currently have 9 w bodies for our family 4 drivers , 1 project drag car , rest parts cars

the sc'ed ones can be found for a grand or 2 as running driving cars , a couple hundred bucks in the right places and you are cracking 13's , around $800 will put you low 13's , $1200-1500 cracking 12's (less if sprayed) and they can run much faster than that but it takes a big investment in tranny to take 11's and quicker - quickest to date runs 8.6 @158 on a stock gm short block with lots of money in heads, turbo's , and tranny

if autocross or road racing are in your future the f or j body would be better choices IMO

the f body in ls1 form obviously left the factory as the most fun of the 3 platforms and has a big aftermarket but initial cash outlay is larger than the j or w body will be

also in f bodies favor take a look at the forums on here gen 3 v8 is by far the most active so you should be able to get plenty of help

[JMHZ2401]

I'm a JBody owner. 2001 Z24. I have the GM charger and get 30 mpg, and guessing a high 13 sec car.

When it was N/A I was getting 35mpg with tuning.

[Dust]

Want to bring this back to the top, and add a question. Is 30 mpg reasonable with tuning for a lightly modded f-body?

[WS6FirebirdTA00]

Yes, as long as you don't go trying to make a 10 or 11 sec car, the F-body is the best bet off all these IMO on so many levels. You would have to mod all the others to make it just as fast as the Fbody and then your fuel mileage may suffer. When you get in boost on a small motor you will start to eat up gas. My 335 gets great gas mileage but if I get in boost a lot (not even anything crazy) it starts to kill the fuel mileage. When my WS6 was bolt ons only I got around 19-20 MPG around town and 26-27 MPG on some beach trips. I couldn't tell you how many WOT runs were per tank, but there were a ton (not quite the best for fuel mileage). I have since got smarter and don't drive like that

A carefully picked mild cam for an Fbody can get you over 400 RWHP and still close to 30 MPG highway.

[smokestack]

Yes, as long as you don't go trying to make a 10 or 11 sec car, the F-body is the best bet off all these IMO on so many levels. You would have to mod all the others to make it just as fast as the Fbody and then your fuel mileage may suffer. When you get in boost on a small motor you will start to eat up gas. My 335 gets great gas mileage but if I get in boost a lot (not even anything crazy) it starts to kill the fuel mileage. When my WS6 was bolt ons only I got around 19-20 MPG around town and 26-27 MPG on some beach trips. I couldn't tell you how many WOT runs were per tank, but there were a ton (not quite the best for fuel mileage). I have since got smarter and don't drive like that

A carefully picked mild cam for an Fbody can get you over 400 RWHP and still close to 30 MPG highway.

That is insane.... And makes me want to pick your brain Fbody wise. So what cam? Stall as well? And just cam?

And yes. I have watched all your vids heh. Nice ride. I am working my way up Slowly but one day

[WS6FirebirdTA00]

Something in the low 220 duration range, really an LS6 setup will get you close to 400 HP with supporting bolt on and still get good gas mileage.

My car is a manual. I think the autos get a little worse with converter slip and higher cruising RPM. Remember the 6 speed cruises at very low RPMs at highway speed.

[Dust]

WS6, I understand that I won't get 30mpg beating on it, I am just looking to be able to get 30mpg with cruise control set, and no beating on it.

[JOSH13]

I have an Ls1 F body and a W body GTP. I would have to say that in all honesty that the F body is way more fun .... Yet the W body is much more daily driver friendly and much more gas friendly and can really surprise people , even other F bodies .... So .... I say get both : )

[murphinator]

since my earlier post in this thread close to a year ago I have added 2 ls1 f bodies to my stable and the bottom has fallen out on 4th gen cars especially ones with some miles on them...

both cars were bought for 3 grand and change each , both are stock internals cars with what I would consider full bolt ons ( long tubes , intake , catback , ls6 intakes ,etc... as well as a fair amount of suspension ( umi/qa1 components on one , strano/koni on the other) , stereo upgrades ,mods etc.. my 6 speed car had recent ls7 clutch & hydraulics , my auto car had recent built trans with vigilante 3600 stall and 3.73's.

the stick car went 11.95 for the previous owner (member here) on street tires not dr's ( I was there that night and saw him run 11.9's) the auto car should run similar as its a 1sz car with no frills and nearly identical mods , the stick car gets compliments everywhere it goes as its clean and straight in and out - looks and drives like 30k miles not 230k lol

my point is that high price isnt really a negative on these ls1 cars anymore , and a friend just picked up a pretty clean ls1 camaro for 3500 and I just missed a 2000 formula for 2800 so the deals are out there on them

I still love my sleeper w bodies too - a guy I know just went 11.9 @114 for under a grand including purchase price with one that he gutted and sprayed hard

both are great , rwd is more fun to drive but a fast 4 door fwd buick will screw with a lot of peoples heads at the track - everyone expects an ls1 f body to run 12's or faster do it with a w body and it shocks most people

[PSYKOSTEVO]

I am in a similar dilemma. I want another fun car, somewhat limited budget, and would like to be able to tune and modify it.

I have owned F-body, W-Body, and Deltas amongst many others. I don't know if a J-body is worth it, especially when I can go buy a Regal GS and have a lot more fun and not get noticed.

I am leaning towards a Regal GS right now because it is a little more comfortable in size and has a lot of potential. But if I do, this time around I am going to intercool the damn W-Body.

I'm not looking to do a whole lot, but I figure a transmission job, porting the S/C myself, modest exhaust improvements, intercooling, and maybe rocker arms not sure. I just think there is really a lot there for $1,000 in aftermarket.

Could a J-body really provide that much fun? I'm not thinking so.

Could an F-body? Yeah, and then some.