XC90 D5 185 auto Poor fuel consumption
 

I've bought a new UK spec car and am finding consumption in the mid to high twenties mpg. I used to own a 2003 model with the 163 bhp and with a "black booster box" got at least 32 mpg with an easy 39mpg on a run.
The most I can get is 32mpg at 60mph on the motorway but consumptions drops like stone in town despite very light throttle use. My dealer said he expects 33mpg average so I am well down by 20%.
I am not relying on the indicator - I am getting 350 miles from full?
Any ideas?
thanks

Hi, I run a s60 D5 163 with 140k, fitted a K&N panel filter when I got it at 60k and it currently reads average 50mpg on the computer and regularly returns over 600 miles on a tank (I do a lot of motorway travel). The K&N improves airflow which should help the economy.

Hope this helps?

im in the same boat. ive just got the same car as you, had it for several weeks, and its sitting at 26.9mpg with normal driving. At new it was 23, but ive been told that your not meant to even look at fuel consumption till the first 3k of a new engine. This is my first new car, so not had experience of running an engine in. D5s are meant to be quite tight and need a good period of running in. Current odometer reading is 1400.

My experience is with a borrowed XC90 D5 185 auto.

By driving it on pretty flat terrain for about a hundred and twenty motorway miles at 70mph and another hundred and twenty (reverse journey) at 60mph, treating the accelerator pedal throughout as if there was a priceless egg between my foot and it and whose shell I didn't want to break, I got 32.2 mpg on the average consumption display (31.6 mpg actual, brim-to-brim).

For the entire trip of six hundred miles, the vast majority of which was at a cruise controlled indicated 70mph other than the 240 miles described above, it returned precisely 30.0 mpg according to the display (28.5mpg actual, brim-to-brim)

Total mileage on the car when I started was 45,300.

Noticed the same consumption issue here too .... swapped a 53reg XC90 163bhp auto that have been remapped for a 56reg XC90 sport auto 185bhp and found consumption dreadful.

Could get 31-32mpg with the old XC90 on a motorway run (about 420 to 450 miles with a full tank if I remember correctly) now it reads about 26mpg and get 340 miles with a full thank .... not good bearing in mind that it now has a 6speed gearbox, I thought it would have help to keep the comsumption down.

Old XC90 had 80kmiles, new has is just under 40k ....

Seems there are strange issues with the fuel consumption on several D5 versions.

I have the old 163hp, but can't say I'm happy with my consumption (driving is aimed at low fuel consumption, so absolutely no trashing (I don't trust the thing, so I am afraid trashing it would make it fall apart...)! Please note I have a V70AWD, not the much heavier XC90...see sig for actual value)

A friend with the XC90-V8 (!!!) claims to get 22mpg.:notworthy:

I think he is mistaken or I would trade in my small, slow V70 for an XC90-V8 in a heartbeat!!! Convert to LPG and the runningcost would be lower than it is now!!! (has to do with very high roadtax for diesels in Holland)

I've got a 2006 XC70 D5 185hp 6 speed geartronic that I've owned from new, it has done nigh on 95k and the average fuel consumption over that time is 31.89mpg the data is based on brimming the tank each fill up and dividing the miles travelled by the fuel added, the OBC average over reads by about 3mpg all the time.

Town driving here in Milton Keynes, a roundabout on each road intersection, wrecks the economy but highlights are regular 36mpg trips on the autoroute in France with the cruise control set at 75mph.

My pal had a 163hp version and he reckoned he could get 40mpg on runs I think he was working on the OBC rather the doing the calcs though.

I've 05 163bhp D5. I tend to ignore the various bits of average speed, average MPG, instantaneous whatsit.. information given by the display. I fill to brim then refill to brim from near empty. Compare odometer miles against amount of fuel added over several fills. I get anything from 350 - 380 before light comes on. Mostly daily commute of 8 miles on A roads and dual carriage & rest city driving. I'm working it out at 26 - 28 mpg, can get 34mpg on a long run ... wish it was more but there you are.

You certainly seem to be getting poor economy, the newer models all claim lower CO2 emissions so should have lower fuel consumption.
My 2004 165 XC70 auto gives similar figures to the ones you got from your old car; about 32-33 knocking about the doors, 40 ish on a long run. One exceptional run was Boxing day last year, when I came home from Nottinghamshire up the A1. The road was deserted and I had plenty of time, so I set the cruise control at 60 and did not touch it for 2 1/2 hours. The indicator said over 50mpg which I did not believe, but the next day I brimmed the tank and got 15.2 ltrs into it for 164 miles recorded, which is 49+.
If I was getting 20% less than before, I would not be happy, I assume that your car is fully run-in and the obvious things have been checked? Mid 20's with fuel at 120+ per ltr is bad news.

Well the new V70 D5 is awful on fuel, so much so I would be bankrupt in no time if I had one running to work.

DDN