Mpg

[Tallyman]

Just come down to earth with a big bump. Ever since I had the Surf I've always though the MPG was reasonable for a 3L lump of old technology at around 22 mpg average. However, having just put new GG AT2's all round I got quite a shock on my first tank of fuel that showed only 17.5 mpg.

I hadn't checked previously that the mileometer was accurate but the speedo has always been about 10% fast. With the new tyres the speedo is only 1 or 2% fast, checked against the satnav, so on that basis I think the mileometer was also showing about 10% more distance than I'd actually driven. I've just checked it on a 250 mile round trip and the satnav and mileometer only disagreed by about 3 miles.

Going to keep as very careful eye on the speedo readings as the tyres start to wear down and will compensate in future for my error in the rteadings when checking my MPG. So, if any of you think your mileage is OK, just check that the figures you are getting are accurate, otherwise you may get a surprise as well, especially with fuel as dear as it is in some places (just paid 131p per litre in local Tesco to fill up).

[Matt.n.p]

I went on a road trip last week from Eastbourne, to Skye, then down to devon , along the coast and home.

Distance covered, 1700 miles. Total fuel used, 331 litres or 72.8 gallons.

Fuel used, 100 litres WVO
80 litres Bio diesel
151 Diesel


Combined MPG 23.

2 inch body lift, KL71 32/11.5/16 tyres and a heavy load. 2 people and approx 300kg or gear in the back.

[shokenore]

I sympathise with you every time I fill up it hurts but then you have to kind of expect it really , the surf is a big ol' lump and the engine is not going to win any awards for fuel effiency either to put it into perspective my brand new merc van 3ltr td does about 30-33 mpg

[flounderbout]

22mpg or 17.5mpg are just numbers. If you were previously happy with the mpg, ie the cost of fuel was manageable given the type of driving you do, why does that position change just because the number is different? If it was the other way round would you be happy that your mpg was better even though it made no difference to your costs?

[Tallyman]

22mpg or 17.5mpg are just numbers. If you were previously happy with the mpg, ie the cost of fuel was manageable given the type of driving you do, why does that position change just because the number is different? If it was the other way round would you be happy that your mpg was better even though it made no difference to your costs?

I know it doesn't make any difference now but had I known earlier that the mileage was as poor as it was, I might have considered letting it go, especially since the price of fuel has rocketed. However, I don't do that much mileage each year now (about 2000 to 3000), mostly towing the caravan, so overall it's not costing me that much to run.

[steved]

Just goes to show how the wrong tyre choice can affect the fuel consumption something more road oriented like the GG UHP should give better mpg.

[Tallyman]

Actually I don't think it was tyre choice, rather tyre circumference. The old Yokohama HT's I had on it from when I bought it lasted quite a few thousand miles (probably 35K) and even then they were not down anywhere close to the legal limit (about 4mm left) but that was getting a bit low in bad weather, so it was about time I got new ones. It was the difference in the tyre size that showed up the fact that the old tyres were not giving an accurate mileage figure, as they had worn down quite a bit compared to the new ones.

I think 17.5mpg MAY have been a distorted figure when I checked it the first time after fitting the new tyres, as looking back I may have done a lot of short journeys to get that. The latest trip actually returned around 24mpg, although that was spending a lot of time on M-ways keeping to around 60mph. I'll keep a watch on the figures over the next few months to see how it goes. The comparison will be that we'll be doing almost the same trip as the latest one in a couple of weeks, but this time with the caravan in tow, so that should give some interesting figures.

Oh, and one other thing. If any of you have tyres fitted at a garage, etc, do check what pressures they put in. I specifically told the tyre fitters to put 30psi in each of my AT2s. When I came to check them a few days later the pressures ranged from 37 to 43. Not good for tyre wear!!