chevy suburban

[donny hochstetler]

We are looking to buy a 1999 suburban, its in nice shape for its age 4x4,  with the 454 :)what kind of gas milage can I expect, if a person drives with common sense ,  we would mainly use it for vacations ,maybe pull my small fishing boat, wife ,5 kids  and whats it worth, it has 4 new tires,  might need new front brakes , any pros. cons

[Jeff]

The Sawyer at our west mill had one and he was always complaining it took him two gallons of gas to get to work and back home a day. He lived 8 miles away.

[isawlogs]

I would not doubt that a bit  Jeff , I have a '79 here with a 350 that can drink gas with the best of um .  :-\ On its defence , it does have full time 4X4, efficiency on gas was on vacation that decade  :

[donny hochstetler]

we had several of em years ago we put alot of miles on em they were nice to travel in but they had the 350's in em so I didn"t know about the 454 maybe I ought to find one with the smaller engine

[isawlogs]

I would love to find one with a deisel in it . those gas engins no matter what you get are goinf to be hard on the pocket book  :-\

[addicted]

I've driven quite few 454's. All suburbans and ranging from the 70's to the late 80's.  The 70's version got 9 miles to the gallon when you were empty and 9 miles to the gallon when towing a thirty foot airsteam trailer. The ones from the 80's got about 2 more miles to the gallon when empty, and 9 again when towing.  The 40 gallon tank is a must, obviously. But with bad gas mileage comes far more torque that the same year 350's.  I don't know the specific stats but from a driving point of view the 454 would haul a load through the rockies without hesitation and muscle left over. The 350's of the same time would work a lot harder under load.

[Warbird]

My old Ford snow plow truck has a tired 460 big block in it.  If the 454's fuel consumption is anything like that 460, then I feel your pain.  When that engine dies, I plan to replace it with something smaller.  The C6 transmission and the way she is geared already provides plenty of torque, IMO.

[celliott]

what kind of gas milage can I expect, if a person drives with common sense

One of the biggest factors affecting gas mileage is your right foot.  If you accelerate gently and keep a steady foot you will get better mileage, although with a 454 I can't imagine it would improve too much if you were careful, only drop drastically if you got into it.  I don't think you will get reasonable mileage no matter what you do, so i'd say drive it like its got a 454  8)

[Jeff]

One thing about only getting 8 miles per gallon is, that if you can find a way to get 9, that's a heck of an increase percentage wise. 

[Warbird]

The thing about that 460 is that it pretty much gets consistent gas mileage.  It doesn't matter if I'm pulling a large load of firewood, plowing, or just making a quick and light garbage run.  I imagine a 454 would be similar?

[tyb525]

At work I got to test drive a dually 3500. It was basically a dually suburban, but it was as long as an extended cab long bed. It had a 454, and the owners drove it in Alaska. It was a monster, no idea on the gas mileage, but if you buy one of those that probably isn't your first priority.

A '99 Suburban with a 350 or a 302 would get better gas mileage. My 1500 extended cab with the 302 gets around 14, but it needs a tune up.