Hey guys,
I got my hands on a 2001 Sunfire 5spd with horrible paint and 177k miles but a great sounding and shifting drive train for really cheap because I was looking for something a little better on MPG than my other car. I'm liking this car more than I had expected.

Rest assured I'll be doing searches before posting questions, but right now I'm not sure where to start with this car. I'll be putting on about 140 miles per day and am looking for optimal MPG. Hopefully in the future I'll be changing to performance with this little guy.

The other car is a 1999 Trans-Am and I've been on those forums for years.

Any tips on what to look out for would be really helpful. I'll be looking forward to offering any information I can.

I'm assuming it's the 2200 motor? If so all you need to do is drive it, they're bulletproof.

Especially with that motor, the best money spent is on suspension upgrades in my opinion. Sway bars, bushings, maybe springs and struts if you wanna get wild. I know getting a little lower helped the economy on my car for sure.

If you're looking for a little more performance I strongly suggest upgraded motor and trans mounts. When I had that motor with the 5-speed it was a lot more fun with good motor mounts. Having done the transmission mounts on my current J I vehemently suggest those too. They're pretty cheap mods for the return. I also noticed a substantial improvement with a decent header, but that may be more money than most are looking to spend on an econobox. By the way, Turbo Tech Racing has all of of the aforementioned parts at pretty reasonable prices.



"In Oldskool we trust"

Thanks much Cav. Yeah it's the 2200 but I'm still going to give it some time til I rip on it. Hell, I still have to get my feet wet with the reverse flow cooling, ha ha.
I have to admit that I have been tempted to rev up the engine a couple of times but I'm going to have to wait til I'm comfortable enough to burn it up.

Just like y3llow said 2200 gm ohv is bullit proof just drive it every day no worries. As far as performance not a pro on these but msd makes ignition parts there are cam options out there and ive seen some pretty sweet s10s running turbo 2200s so there is potental!


I Love My J ♡

If it were me....sell the j-body. Spend the money on more f-body toys. Mpg is overrated anyway, lol.