How can I increase the avg mpg in my S40 Eco?
 

Hi,

Just got my car today (woo) and did a test drive. Done about 25 miles on A roads (avg mph 50)and got an avg of 55 - 60mpg. Any idea what I can do to improve it?

They say it could get up to 80ish but I can't see how that's realistic.

62 plate
fully serviced
60k miles


Anything that springs to mind? (apart from not use aircon or lights?)

Cheers,

60 MPG is good going, it’s pretty much what I get from mine. 80 is not realistic, it’s the windless, 90 seconds to get to 40 MPH test to compare cars together figure. In reality, outside of hypermiling techniques there’s not an awful lot that’ll get it over 65 real world. 70 is possible, but my god it’s dull. I tend to get between 58 and 63 MPG out of mine depending on weather conditions and driving route. Remember winter diesel is coming soon so the MPG will take a nose dive shortly :)

Hey Sam,

Great car there bud.
I had one of them.
But I treated myself for my retirement.

I think the MPG your getting there kid is great.

Oh, OK thanks! :-)

Why will it drop??

Also, what fuel is recommended? Is there really a difference?

Thanks,
Sam

Manufacturers MPG figures are ridiculous, it's about time they were forced to tell us the REAL mpg, you know, like, driving the car on roads!

If there was a Volvo Diesel saloon that could return 80 mpg everyone would have one :)

The other point to mention is that the in car gauge can vary - the only way to know the true MPG is to brim the tank, drive the car, brim the tank again and calculate it.

There isn't much you can do - removing the EGR sometimes gives a small increase in MPG but that's controversial, and might one day be an MOT fail.

Cleaning the inlet manifold sometimes helps but with only 60k on your car it's unlikely to need it.

The "go faster" fuels never recover in gains what they cost.

The cheapest and easiest thing is keep your tyre pressures to the Eco setting (38 psi I think) and choose your tyres carefully (check the labels). This makes more of a difference than most people realise.

I can't explain the technical reason why but modern diesel engines do become less efficient in colder temperatures - my XC60 drops 3 mpg at least, plus another 2 for the winter tyres.

Another cheap option is being lighter on the accelerator, and adopting driving techniques to achieve better fuel economy.

Absolutely, I don't try to reach the speed limit as soon as possible. If I can keep it under 2k revs per gear then pretty happy with that.

Must agree with most of what you say, but diesel engines not liking the cold? The cooler the air charge to the engine the better, hence the fitting of intercoolers to a lot of diesel engine vehicles. just a thought.