2.2 Gas-Mileage figures, and related BS

[John Gilbert]

I've been mileage-looping my '00 S-10 now for over ten years, and here's a portion of what I've learned.

First off the little buggers don't like hills. They'll get great gas mileage all day long if you don't make them go up a hill. My '94 Z-28 got better mileage going to SEMA from LA than my S-10 did the year before. Not only that, the Camaro got there an hour sooner. The Z-28 got 22, and the S-10 got 21.

Where the 4-bangers shine is in stop and go traffic. My last tank of gas I got 21MPG city with a little freeway thrown in. Most of the time I was running the A/C, with my foot on the floor.

In retrospect I wish I had bought a V6, but if the $6.00 a-gallon gas prices the LA news stations are predicting for the summer comes true, the 2.2 will be a little easier to tolerate.

I've never gotten over 28MPG, and I wonder how the heck anyone can milk higher mileage out of one? Are these real figures where gallons are divided into miles, or just wishful guessing?

Oh, and if you're thinking about buying something to take the sting off driving your fullsize daily, buy an S-10, those little Japanese cars are for girls.