Which is better all the way around, performance, gas mileage, everything between a Chevy 2.8L and 4.3L?

 

It depends on what you want, and what you are powering

Neither is better all the way around

The 2.8 is better gas mileage, the 4.3 better power

 

Well it's gonna be a mini truck that it's going in. 87 S10.

 

It also depends on how you drive and what you haul.

My wife has a heavy foot she used to have a merc mystique with a 2.5 V-6 she got 22mpg and I got 29mpg. We now have a bigger merc [sable] with a 3.0 V-6. She gets 25 mpg and I get 26.

I have a straight 6 in a work van, fully loaded it gets 11mpg - better off with a V-8 but empty it gets 19 mpg, I doubt a V-8 would come close.

 

Im mostly just gonna drive it to work. 15 minute trip on the interstate. I do have a pretty heavy foot and I almost never haul anything.

 

The 4.3 is a 350 with 2 fewer holes, but the remaining 6 holes require considerably more gas than the 2.8. At $3+ for gas, you decide.

 

Mini Truck, commuter, no towing
2.8 for sure

 

but could I use a 5 speed tranny off of a 4wd truck?

 

I had the 2.8 engine in a 1984 4x4 S-10 Blazer, with automatic. It was a dog, and using cruise control, it could not hold 55 mph on moderate hills. I can't comment on gas mileage, as I didn't drive it enough to do the calculations.

I also had a 4.3 engine in a 1991 4x4 S-10 extended cab pickup, with automatic. It had considerably more power, but guzzled gas. I drove this pickup as a commuter vehicle 130 miles round trip daily, and it never got better than 18 MPG. I had friends with full size Chevy pickups with V-8's that got better mileage.