Fuel economy... Is mine good or bad?

[squipper]

Hi all & Happy New Year!

1. Just tested my recently bought L Reg Jap import 3.0 SSRX out on a good run.
Covered a total of 1091 miles (not Km), driving steadily & using OD & Cruise control for the majority of the journey.
Total cost was £190!
I reakon this is approx 17-20 Mpg & think it is quite poor.
Any chance of some expert opinions?? I have a 3 month warranty & could if required use this to rectify the problem.

2. When swithching the OD on and off, I notice no difference in performance. Should I? What's the most economical setting on a run, on or off?

Thanks in anticipation.

[malum]

Can't help you on the gearbox settings as mine is manual.

I got 24.8mpg on a similar length trip in August with the AC on the whole time.

[Linda]

1. Just tested my recently bought L Reg Jap import 3.0 SSRX out on a good run.
Covered a total of 1091 miles (not Km), driving steadily & using OD & Cruise control for the majority of the journey.
Total cost was £190!
I reakon this is approx 17-20 Mpg & think it is quite poor.

Hi there! Mine is also L reg 3.0 SSR-X and I agree that your getting poor mpg. I average about 25mpg round town and 28mpg on a long haul. I have O/D on and ECT off on the motorway... O/D off round town if I remember.

[stara]

Hi all & Happy New Year!

1. Just tested my recently bought L Reg Jap import 3.0 SSRX out on a good run.
Covered a total of 1091 miles (not Km), driving steadily & using OD & Cruise control for the majority of the journey.
Total cost was £190!
I reakon this is approx 17-20 Mpg & think it is quite poor.
Any chance of some expert opinions?? I have a 3 month warranty & could if required use this to rectify the problem.

2. When swithching the OD on and off, I notice no difference in performance. Should I? What's the most economical setting on a run, on or off?

Thanks in anticipation.

you are getting 5.74 miles per £ of fuel, how much is a gallon of diesel where you are? £3.80 = 21.82mpg..
£4.00 = 22.97mpg
are you running oversize tyres (bigger non standard tyres will cause your odometer to under-read, i.e. you will have gone further than the indicated 1090miles on the same amount of fuel), check your tyre pressures are not too low, make sure air-con is off (this will cost you 2-5mpg),
other than that it does seem low, i get about 25mpg on a run (2.4td)

[birdy]

I checked my miles with a G P S and it's spot on and i only get 19 MPG. So far changed air temp sensour which was faulty,air and fule filter, checked brakes and tyres and have just changed thermostat (88/100 standard) and it gets up to temp quick and stays there (normaly takes a long time to get up to temp and cools back down when going slow). Hope this might change things but im not holding my breath.

[Ems and Jim]

Hi all & Happy New Year!

1. Just tested my recently bought L Reg Jap import 3.0 SSRX out on a good run.
Covered a total of 1091 miles (not Km), driving steadily & using OD & Cruise control for the majority of the journey.
Total cost was £190!
I reakon this is approx 17-20 Mpg & think it is quite poor.
Any chance of some expert opinions?? I have a 3 month warranty & could if required use this to rectify the problem.

2. When swithching the OD on and off, I notice no difference in performance. Should I? What's the most economical setting on a run, on or off?

Sounds like you may have a fault here.... try 60mph without O/D, then switch it on..... the engine should drop revs quite noticeably..... if this isn't happening you've been driving around in 3rd (or is it 4th in later cars?) all the time - hence the bad fuel figs.

Thanks in anticipation.

[marky]

youncan get around 80mph with o/d off o/d or overdrive is a higher gear sometimes classed as sports mode. around town have it switched off m/way have it on you get better mpg using it like this.ECT this allows higher revs before gears change great for towing etc

[boxertwin]

youncan get around 80mph with o/d off o/d or overdrive is a higher gear sometimes classed as sports mode. around town have it switched off m/way have it on you get better mpg using it like this.ECT this allows higher revs before gears change great for towing etc

I always thought o/d provided improved economy.

[Rob]

I checked my miles with a G P S and it's spot on and i only get 19 MPG. So far changed air temp sensour which was faulty,air and fule filter, checked brakes and tyres and have just changed thermostat (88/100 standard) and it gets up to temp quick and stays there (normaly takes a long time to get up to temp and cools back down when going slow). Hope this might change things but im not holding my breath.

Is that right folks? I thought the thermostat was supposed to keep a fairly even temp?
Birdy - are you saying your temp gauge goes up and down according to the speed you are driving?

[stara]

one thing we've not mentioned is the viscous fan, if it is permanantly fixed (i.e. jammed) then it will be always turning, this would explain the loss of economy and the temp probs (although the thermostat would also have to be faulty), does it spin freely by hand when the engine is cold. Also what sort of rpm are you seeing at say 100kph?

[birdy]

My o/d is working ok and you can hold the fan still while the engine is running (when cold) . not shure about 100 kmh (60 mph) but at 120 kmh (70 mph) it's just over 3000 rpm. PS there is no black smoke when ive followed it.

[JimL]

one thing we've not mentioned is the viscous fan, if it is permanantly fixed (i.e. jammed) then it will be always turning, this would explain the loss of economy and the temp probs (although the thermostat would also have to be faulty), does it spin freely by hand when the engine is cold. Also what sort of rpm are you seeing at say 100kph?

My fan turns reluctantly when the engine is cold and not running (that cant be wrong theres belts all over the place). When the engine is started it turns immediately (dont understand that, whats the idea of a fan clutch if it doesnt wait for a temp rise)

[kitesurf_phil]

I'll double check when I drive to work Monday (if I can get up to 70MPH with shiny a**ed office workers back after Crimbo).
I'm pretty sure that with O/D on I cruise at 70MPH at around 2,500RPM. If I take the O/D off the revs jump to about 3,100RPM. I have standard wheels and tyres, a not too heavy right foot and get about 28MPG on a motorway run.
Mines a 2.4TD SSR-G Auto.
Are you using the Air Con. I can get down to 22MPG with that on.

[gemini]

My fan turns reluctantly when the engine is cold and not running (that cant be wrong theres belts all over the place). When the engine is started it turns immediately (dont understand that, whats the idea of a fan clutch if it doesnt wait for a temp rise)

The clutch is a viscous-coupling filled with silicone oil. The clutch allows the fan to slip at high speed, If the clutch slips too much, however, the fan may not turn fast enough to keep the engine cool. The silicone fluid inside the clutch breaks down over time and can leak out due to wear, too. If you see oily streaks radiating outward on the clutch (and/or the fan can be spun by hand with little or no resistance when the engine is off), it means the clutch is bad and needs to be replaced. Any play or wobble in the fan due to wear in the clutch also signals the need for a new clutch.

[birdy]

No my air con is off and the over drive is working but rpm is higher than yours . a viscous fan will always turn with the engine but when you are moving it will not turn fast enough to cool the rad unless the engine gets hot and then the fluid (link between fan and pulley) will expand and make the fan turn faster. The good thing with a viscous fan is a constant engine temp i.e when towing and in in traffic e.c.t but the down side is a slower warm up when driving slow and some drag on power and performance thats why some owners may like to switch to an electric fan, all the the kit is there you just need a bigger electric fan