Question: A 2001 camaro v6 3.8L gets 30mpg hyw and 18 or so in town. Not bad considering that the car is 10 years old and there are still commercials of new cars raving about the same numbers. And yet some of these cars are getting 320 horse power out of a ≤3.0L non turbo car. And I was wondering why a 3.8L in a camaro only gets 215 at best. And is there a way to make an 3.8L v6 engine get to that higher horse power level and still keep the mpg. I am open to many different ways of figuring this out.
If you feel like explaning all of this then I encourage it. If you just happen to know where to find the information and don’t want to waste a lot of your time then and links would be great as well.

 

The 3800 is a 16+ year old cast iron OHV dinosaur. It was a great design and very dependable but it is outdates. You do things to improve your mileage and HP but your are not going to get near a modern car if you go after both. Look at the V6 in the 2011 Camaro. Its got technology out the wazoo. Just variable valve timing alone is amazing but you add in Overhead cams and 4 valves per cylinder and it is a 300 HP monster. Sure you can get a 3800 to 300 HP but not a 30 MPG and not with the low end torque the 3.6 has. Your 300 HP 3800 is going to get crappy mileage also.

 

They don't make them like they used to, and it is a good thing they stopped making them that way. lol

 

Too bad we can't get the 3.6 as a crate engine and stuff it in our 4 gens!

 

You could go to a Chevy dealer and order anew engine and it will come in a crate, but you may not like the price. lol

 

I do not think your going to see GM releasing crate motors of its most recent technoligy. They have not in the past. They tend to wait till they have something new and better. They do not want to compete with themselfs.

Would you rather have a 1969 Camaro (new dynacorn body) with a new under warranty 580 HP 427 for 50K or a new Zr1 for 60K. Sure the Zr1 will be a better all around car but the masses will go after the new 69.

 

It would be nice if all the people insisting old technology is better could understand this.

 

Nothing wrong with the old school, But at the same time technology is nothing to be afraid of.
Also i get 12 mpgeez in my camaro 3.8 at about 230 (Guestimated with Intake and exhaust)

 

People always rely on what they understand. Old school guys like me that grew up working on late 70’s early 80’s cars have a legitimate gripe with new technology. For a decade+ newer meant it was a pc of crap. The automakers had their hands tied by the government and anyone with half a brain could build a motor that was faster and got better mileage and could even pass emissions with some fine tuning (fine tuning was not done well on the assembly line). IMO 1974-1985 were the dead years for GM. From 86 on it got harder for the average guy to beat GM for an all around engine HP/mileage with decent emissions.

My 3800/5 speed averages 29-30 MPG across the tank every week in the summer(unless I get caught in a trafiic jam). It will fall off to 27-28 once it gets cold. Headers/exhaust/CAI. I am guess about 220 HP at the crank vs the stock 200

 

My grandfather who raised and taught me is old school only, then when i got into the honda scene i realized there is no one walk of life, find what you like and roll from there.