Average MPG

[TomTom]

I am interested in how our old Volvos compare on the question of fuel consumption.

How many miles do you get on a tank of petrol, bearing in mind that it probably wasn't quite full when you started or quite empty when you finished. Or perhaps you have done a more accurate test?

My recent run was 220 miles on about 35 litres (c.8 UK gallons), which seems about average for 160 miles of motorway and 60 of town driving. Or could this be improved?

Please state your model, year and mileage, and how calculated.

Cheers

Tom

[stuart131]

Hi and Happy New Year ,I did work this out recently ,my 1970 131 amazon averages about 30 to 34 to the gallon .This is on a single carb and with overdrive ,rarely do more than 65 even on motorway.
The tank usually takes 33 odd litres which is about 8.5 Great British Gallons .Last time I clocked up just under 280 Great British miles so 280 divided by 8.5 is about 33 miles per gallon .
Not very scientific Im afraid,and Im thick at maths but about right I think .In any event ,anything 30 plus is quite good in my view ,especially when you factor in free tax disc and low insurance .

best regards

[wellshj]

I often check my fuel consumption by filling the tank to the cut-out (usually some way short of full due to that angle of the filler) and then returning to the same pump and doing the same. My results vary according to the driving that I've been doing between about 25 and just over 30 MPG. This is for a standard 123GT and usually includes some motorway miles (but I cruise at an indicated 80 or so...) and at least a few miles of town driving as I live in central London.

Hope this helps.

[222s]

Is the tank on the estate the same size as the saloon? I'm sure that I've put at least 40 litres into it on occasions! The best I've had from a single tank of petrol is about 250 miles before I filled up again (purely motorway driving & normally cruising at similar speeds to wellshj), but if I'm just driving around locally (SW London), this can be as low as 180...

I've never bothered to work out the actual consumption, as I just keep an eye on the trip meter and compare it to the fuel guage, which normally gives me a good indication of how economically I'm driving.

1967 Amazon 122S B20 Estate
1961 A-H Sprite Mk2 948cc

[TomTom]

Good tip about going to the same pump. I suppose my 25 for motorway driving is about average; I was secretly hoping that my refurbished carbs would bring me a magic improvement; probably not, but I'm sure there's some improvement anyway.

Looking through the Gold Portfolio I notice that on all the UK tests the MPG is stated at about 25-28, but on the US tests it is usually quoted as higher, sometimes more than 30. This is strange considering the US gallon is less than the imperial one. Or did the US use imperial gallons in the 60s, when these tests were conducted? But it's funny that the economy always comes out better. My US contacts say they regularly get 28-32 mpg American, so that's even more by UK standards. Something's not quite right...