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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Marky Dissod" data-source="post: 28731" data-attributes="member: 13218">The 4.3L V6 itself was cheaper, but GM apparently thought that it'd be cheaper to make an externally identical V8 to an LT1,maybe so that the LT1 wiring & pcm & various lines and stuff became perfectly redundant, to simplify and speed up the assembly line?Like I said, though, the L99 was better than the 4.3L V6s (LU2 & L35) in terms of MpGs, emissions, and Noise / Vibrations / Harshness,which are more important to GM's target demographic (mid-50s & older) than power and torque.And yes, the 4.3L L99 weighed more than the 5.7L LT1 - 4.3L iron block was heavier by enough to outweigh the 4.3L's lighter bottom end parts.A 4.3L V6 would've been better for 2nd 3rd and 4th owners, but GM was selling to Aunt Cester & Aunt Tique, who definitely preferred the L99 vs the LU3/L35.FYI, the 5.7L LT1 outsold the 4.3L L99 just under 2-to-1 for police depts (9C1s), but the Roadmaster (5.7L) & Fleetwood(5.7L)  sales kept it just over 50/50.In other words, a majority of Caprice sedans came with L99s (and 2.73 or 2.93 axles instead of 3.23),which made wagons Roadmasters & Fleetwoods more popular in the 2ndhand markets, despite their 2.56 or 2.93 axles.CAFE is dumb. After how many decades of undergearing (?), compare the 4L60's gearing to the 6L80 / 8L90 / 10L80:10L80 . . . . . 8L90 . . . . . 6L80 . . . . . 4L60E4.70 . . . . . . 4.56 . . . . . 4.032.99 . . . . . . 2.97 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.062.15 . . . . . . 2.08 . . . . . 2.36 . . . . . . . . . .1.77 . . . . . . 1.69 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.631.52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.53 . . . . . . . . . .1.28 . . . . . . 1.27 . . . . . 1.15 . . . . . . . . . .1.00 . . . . . . 1.00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.000.85 . . . . . . 0.85 . . . . . 0.85 . . . . . . . . . .0.69 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.67 . . . . . . 0.700.64 . . . . . . 0.65In other words, GM used MORE gears AND ALSO shorter gearing to improve city MpG. Highway MpG was improved moreso by other stuff than by gearing.This is why, in the real world, GMT800s should all have 3.73 or 4.10 axles minimum (more if the tires are over 31.6" tall).</blockquote>