How Many Miles To a Tank?

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T1BBST3R
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How Many Miles To a Tank?

Post by T1BBST3R »

Hello Gentlemen,
This is a post about fuel consumption as I was wondering how economical your cars were in general.

I first had a C18NE gls which got me between 380 in bad traffic (maybe 15 mins a day) and 420 miles in light traffic.
Then an x20xev gls which did between 450 and 520 and now have an x20xev CDX which does between 400 & 450 on a full tank.

The x20xev CDX has aircon and also 15 inch wheels where the x20xev gls had no aircon and 14" wheels.

How are your cars?
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Robsey
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Re: How Many Miles To a Tank?

Post by Robsey »

That is dependent on so many factors..
1 - State of tune of your engine - poor servicing = poor mpg.
2 - Tyre pressures, brakes and tracking - low pressures, sticking brakes and poor tracking = poor mpg
3 - Driving style - lead foot = poor mpg. Good steady progress = better mpg
4 - What is carried on board - lots of junk or passengers = reduced mpg
5 - Where you are driving - around town stop/start driving will always give much lower mpg than steady high gear motorway driving.
6 - Environment - lots of hills and poor uneven surfaces will reduce mpg. (gravel tracks and speed control zones).

Typical combined cycle economy should be approx 32 mpg. Later 16 valve engines should be slightly more economical.
If you have a fuel computer, the calibrated "base line" mpg is considered to be 28.3mpg according to Vauxhall / Opel Tech 1 specifications.

So based on a standard tank size of 61 litres or 13.5 gallons (As fitted to my 1994 hatchback)
at 28.3 mpg = 380 miles
at 32 mpg = 432 miles
On a motorway drive, I can get upto 37mpg = 499.5 miles

For information, the C20NE (2 litre 8 valve with cat) is just as economical as the C18NZ.
(It was in my case - I have had both engines in this car - C18NZ first...
you can't beat getting an extra 25 bhp for no less mpg)

You should expect between 400 and 500 miles from a tank if you have ticked all the boxes above.

I would have to go through all my till receipts to tot up my exact mpg.
I suspect it will be quite poor as I have to queue on the M60 twice a day, every day.
The north-west's biggest car park.

UPDATE - I am totally devastated!!
I do carry a lot of stuff in my boot, but rarely have passengers.
I am averaging 26.5 mpg.
Or 357.75 miles per tank.
That is dreadfull.

The wife's Vectra-C diesel easily manages 47 mpg (635 miles per tank) and that is a big heavy bodied car.

:cry :cry :cry :cry
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Cavalier342
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Re: How Many Miles To a Tank?

Post by Cavalier342 »

To sum it up, 3 main points to remember are:

1) Driving style. James May will always get more MPG in the same car rather than say Jeremy Clarkson.
2) Driving conditions. Heavy traffic/light traffic and length of journeys. Longer journeys will always return better MPG if you let the engine run up to optimum temperature without stopping a lot.
3) Engine condition. A well maintained and serviced motor will always be as efficient as it can be for the age of the vehicle.

Carrying crap in the trunk won't help, and nor will short trips.

From my personal experience, driving style was the most crucial factor with regard to fuel economy, it's just a matter of how quick the needle goes down and watching the trip meter numbers.

My old V6 was lovely on a cruise, didn't drink that much but around town, pulling a loaded trailer, it drank like Father Jack. Put in £10 at a time and the needle just stayed in the same spot. Was lucky to see 50-60 miles out of a tenner when I was pottering around town.

My old C18NZ auto was a typical 8 valver, go easy and it gets good MPG, rag it and it just gushes the fuel away like no tomorrow. The old 18SV was actually reasonably economical, even if I gunned it.
Previous:
China Blue 1989 Vauxhall Cavalier L 18SV
Kings Blue 1992 Vauxhall Cavalier LSi Auto C18NZ
Smoke Grey 1994 Vauxhall Cavalier V6 C25XE

Am I a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper? Well that depends on how much I've had to drink...
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Mk3alan
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Re: How Many Miles To a Tank?

Post by Mk3alan »

My CD is not used on short hauls and is generally lightly loaded and since I have owned it I have achieved 40 plus to the gallon. Driving a bit enthusiastically it will dip under 40 but my best ever run managed to achieve 54 mpg!
Couldn't believe the old girl had it in her!
Shame that Shell don't do the economy run anymore as it would be good to show these modern car owners just what their predecessors were capable of.

Alan
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James McGrath
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Re: How Many Miles To a Tank?

Post by James McGrath »

I've just managed to get 450 miles from 60 liters (34.1 mpg) in my C20NE manual Diplomat.

That was mostly driving the 6 mile journey to work across country lanes and back, plus a bit of A-road driving but no motorways.
So pretty good under the circumstances.

I drive quite economically though. Conserving momentum as much as possible, breaking as little as possible and changing up a gear as early as possible. That said, I'm not a slow driver, I drive as fast as I can get away with, I just do it in an economical way.

Keeping your car well serviced is very important for maximum MPG.
I just gave the Diplomat a service (Oil change + filter, fuel filter, air filter, new set of plugs and new set of HT leads) and I've gone up from about 28 mpg to 34.1 mpg.
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Robsey
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Re: How Many Miles To a Tank?

Post by Robsey »

I went through my own check list and found that I failed on most items.
Slow puncture on front left tyre, :roll:
Shed load of junk in the boot, :shock:
And way overdue a good service. :no
To name just a few items.

No wonder my figures are rubbish!!
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