500 miles on one tank. Anyone done better..?

JonnyP said:

50 is not a good speed to keep at because its right between 4 th n 5 th gear.
My next trip i will be looking to follow lorries. This time i was overtaking them cos i was keeping 60..

It reminds me of when i was young n in me Dads Cortina, forever urging him to go faster.. I always thought that if you drove faster, you got there quicker, so you used less fuel..
( i will never forget when he pushed it up to 106 mph once)

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Should be changing up at 40

When turbo comes in the pump supplies more fuel, ease off when turbo comes in, just enough to accelerate with out using too much fuel. When you get to a hill don't give it more juice to get over at the same speed, let it slow down a little then it'll speed up going down the other side, use gravity to save fuel,
If you crest a hill in fourth then change up immediately you stop climbing instead of giving it a bit before you change gear, drive as if your brakes are crap, anticipate traffic signals, if you approach a red light don't drive up to it, slip out of gear and coast up to red light.
Loads of ways of saving fuel, just have to think about it

I used to regularly get 540miles to a tank in my 200...and thats living in london!
Must depend on the driver....

landowner said:

Should be changing up at 40

When turbo comes in the pump supplies more fuel, ease off when turbo comes in, just enough to accelerate with out using too much fuel. When you get to a hill don't give it more juice to get over at the same speed, let it slow down a little then it'll speed up going down the other side, use gravity to save fuel,
If you crest a hill in fourth then change up immediately you stop climbing instead of giving it a bit before you change gear, drive as if your brakes are crap, anticipate traffic signals, if you approach a red light don't drive up to it, slip out of gear and coast up to red light.
Loads of ways of saving fuel, just have to think about it

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I do most of that.. I do hang back and am good at sussing the road ahead, n do the taxi driver trick at traffic lights. I do not brake much, but 40 mph in 5th gear is way to low in mine.. She is struggling with the smallest incline at 50 mph in 5th. I am inbetween 4th n 5th a lot at 50 mph on many roads. Maybe i am doing it wrong but i dont think so cos i can hear n feel the engine straining..
I used to have a VW that showed the mpg i was doing. I remember it showing bad mpg if i was struggling a bit in fifth gear..

It does use more struggling in fifth that's why series owners with 200 tdis get good mpg cause they are low geared.
Changing up at 40 to cruise at that speed is ok or going down hill.

I used to drive an artic that did 60mph and 10mpg, when the diff went they put the wrong one in and it would only do 48mph but mpg went to 12+

landowner said:

It does use more struggling in fifth that's why series owners with 200 tdis get good mpg cause they are low geared.
Changing up at 40 to cruise at that speed is ok or going down hill.

I used to drive an artic that did 60mph and 10mpg, when the diff went they put the wrong one in and it would only do 48mph but mpg went to 12+

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Thanks for your thoughts on this.. I will post back on my Herberts return trip, on how much fuel i got through n speed etc..

landowner said:

Should be changing up at 40

When turbo comes in the pump supplies more fuel, ease off when turbo comes in, just enough to accelerate with out using too much fuel. When you get to a hill don't give it more juice to get over at the same speed, let it slow down a little then it'll speed up going down the other side, use gravity to save fuel,
If you crest a hill in fourth then change up immediately you stop climbing instead of giving it a bit before you change gear, drive as if your brakes are crap, anticipate traffic signals, if you approach a red light don't drive up to it, slip out of gear and coast up to red light.
Loads of ways of saving fuel, just have to think about it

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My driving instructor learnt me not to coast

And don't forget to check your tyre pressures.

Front 32psi; rear 36psi. minimum.

thebiglad said:

And don't forget to check your tyre pressures.

Front 32psi; rear 36psi. minimum.

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Not for my 205's.. It said in me book 28 front and 38 (from memory) on the back..
Good point though..

JonnyP said:

Not for my 205's.. It said in me book 28 front and 38 (from memory) on the back..
Good point though..

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Yes, I know what the book says, but that's because LR wanted to give the car a soft comfortable ride in towns and on the school run.

If you set them as suggested, you will find the car runs better.


Dave

shenton24 said:

My driving instructor learnt me not to coast

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Bet he taught you to put handbrake on every time at the lights as well, you do don't you?

I think instructors teach people to indicate at the very last minute instead of in advance nowadays, and to turn to the left just before turning right when sat in the middle of the road so as to put the frights up any one coming up the inside

Coasting is ok but not too much as some gearboxes need to be in gear to lubricate themselves. My disco would go for ages in neutral and hardly slow down in town.

But don't do it or you will die

thebiglad said:

Yes, I know what the book says, but that's because LR wanted to give the car a soft comfortable ride in towns and on the school run.

If you set them as suggested, you will find the car runs better.


Dave

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Ok, cheers, will do that then

You need to fill up to the click, do your mileage and then fill up to the click again. Its the only way you'll get an accurate measure of how much fuel you've used. Also make any allowances for bigger or smaller wheels/tyres. I have 33.5" tyres on mine which throws the speedometer, trip metre and mileage count off by ~12%, ie when I'm doing 60, I'm doing more like 67; 30 - 33.5 etc assuming standard diameter of 29". Every inch makes a HUGE difference. On 33.5 inch tyres, the circumference is 11"' more than that of a 29" tyre. So every revolution of the wheel takes me 11" further forward than a standard wheel. BIG DIFFERENCE on a journey of 500mile

Larry365 said:

You need to fill up to the click, do your mileage and then fill up to the click again. Its the only way you'll get an accurate measure of how much fuel you've used. Also make any allowances for bigger or smaller wheels/tyres. I have 33.5" tyres on mine which throws the speedometer, trip metre and mileage count off by ~12%, ie when I'm doing 60, I'm doing more like 67; 30 - 33.5 etc assuming standard diameter of 29". Every inch makes a HUGE difference. On 33.5 inch tyres, the circumference is 11"' more than that of a 29" tyre. So every revolution of the wheel takes me 11" further forward than a standard wheel. BIG DIFFERENCE on a journey of 500mile

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Larger tyres take more energy to turn though, n there will be more friction on the road..
I did fill to the first click on my last fill up n i have worked out i did 33.5 mpg on the trip.
I have noticed that filling to the first click does not fill the tank up. You will get more or less fuel depending on how fast the fuel is going in..

I did 725 on a full tank in Germany constant 75 mph with cruise control set and climate control on

Different pumps click off at different times so I fill up at same pump when I'm checking fuel.
If you take an average from several fill ups it will be more accurate.

JonnyP said:

Larger tyres take more energy to turn though, n there will be more friction on the road..
I did fill to the first click on my last fill up n i have worked out i did 33.5 mpg on the trip.
I have noticed that filling to the first click does not fill the tank up. You will get more or less fuel depending on how fast the fuel is going in..

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Oh yeh, I wasnt suggesting you get bigger tyres. Tbh, unless one is going to change the gearing somewhere along the line, I would seriously recommend against it. I bought mine with the larger wheels but as soon as I have the money, I will be going back to a smaller size.. or change the gearing, not sure yet.

Yeh you're right. They click at different times, some fuel is more frothy when it comes out plus the fact that when I hear mine click, it the pipe running down to the tank glugs for about 10 seconds, so its pretty hard to get the same amount in twice. As landowner said, best to take an average over several runs, something I'm currently in the process of doing.

Looks like I am only getting about 24mpg which I put down to the larger tyres. Very hard to stay in 5th and the roof rack which has since been removed.

Larry365 said:

Looks like I am only getting about 24mpg which I put down to the larger tyres. Very hard to stay in 5th and the roof rack which has since been removed.

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Could be your speedo is slow due to bigger tyres and you are actually getting say 27

Specially if you do a bit of high speed cruising cause it will be even more inaccurate, say 29mpg

landowner said:

Could be your speedo is slow due to bigger tyres and you are actually getting say 27

Specially if you do a bit of high speed cruising cause it will be even more inaccurate, say 29mpg

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Unfortunately this has all been taken into consideration. On paper I am doing 22mpg but with everything taken into account, its more like 22 + 12% = 24.6.

The vehicle is a work in progress and I'm hoping to have her back to around 30. I'm not overly fussed as she isn't my every day vehicle and as long as the low MPG is down to weight etc and not mechanical fault, if ya get me.

Ive had a couple of 300tdi's in the past and cant remember exactly what I was getting out of a tank. Definitely more than 500 as I used to do regular trips to Sittard in NL, go about my business and then fill up for the return journey. Of course nearly every mile of that was nice flat motorway.

drewster said:

I did 725 on a full tank in Germany constant 75 mph with cruise control set and climate control on

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In a standard disco..?

JonnyP said:

In a standard disco..?

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Yes totally standard td5