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An ECU Tune and a Chevrolet Corvette C5 Makes 40 MPG

40 mpg from of a V8?

1997 Corvette

Forget the Hybrid

Fuel economy is a hot topic in the automotive industry right now. Hybrid cars are a big deal. Getting 40 miles per gallon or more is pretty impressive, but you have to have a tiny light car or a hybrid vehicle to get there, right? Wrong. You can get 40 mpg in a Corvette C5 with the typical V8.

Alex Palmeri from the LegitStreetCars YouTube channel wanted to see how good he could do in terms of gas mileage in his 140,000-mile C5. The video was showcased on Road & Track recently. The vehicle received an ECU tune that made it run leaner, which means the car lightly sips fuel when cruising. 

Once the ECU tune was done, he was able to see 40.26 mpg during a mostly highway drive. While that was a trip taken easy and trying hard to get good mileage, this goes to show that you can get good mileage out of your C5 if you want to. We wonder if that’s the same for the other generations of the Corvette as well.

It would seem to us that more advanced Corvette’s might even be able to do better. Mayne Palmeri will be able to get his hands on some other Vettes to see what he can do. If he does, we’ll let you know. You can check out his video below.