V50 Petrol consumption

[guy-taliesin]

Do all V50 computers lie? Mine tells me I'm doing 35 mpg, when really it's 33 brim to brim. I mentioned this at first service and was told there is nothing that can be done. Mentioned at second service and now it's saying it does 36.5 mpg - and still doing 33mpg in the real world.
Biggest problem is that because of the optimism of the computer you run out of fuel with 40 miles to go according to the read out. Closest i have got is coughing and spluttering uphill on motorway - very scarey.
Is this unique to my 2 litre petrol - anyone else have same problem, anyone know a fix.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by guy-taliesin

Do all V50 computers lie? Mine tells me I'm doing 35 mpg, when really it's 33 brim to brim. I mentioned this at first service and was told there is nothing that can be done. Mentioned at second service and now it's saying it does 36.5 mpg - and still doing 33mpg in the real world.
Biggest problem is that because of the optimism of the computer you run out of fuel with 40 miles to go according to the read out. Closest i have got is coughing and spluttering uphill on motorway - very scarey.
Is this unique to my 2 litre petrol - anyone else have same problem, anyone know a fix.

The gauge is the First port of call when deciding how much fuel is left do you ever look at it? :-) The Miles to go is not the way to do it ( even though it is right at the moment you look at it ) as it can vary as you know depending on driving conditions at the time .. it might say 50 miles to go if you have been driving nice and steadily for a while , then you have to drive up a mountain hill to get you your house and it will rapidly drop to 10 miles to go and stop due to the much heavier fuel consumption at this stage of the journey ... Use the gauge !

[MavUK]

Gotta sat whilst mine is never this bad, it´s also never perfect.

Got to say though, +1 to clan. If the guage says it´s empty then it´s empty never mind what the trip computer says.

Incidently my fuel light comes on with 100kmś to go most of the time, and it takes another couple of gallons which is about right. But then Holland is quite flat and I do mainly motorway miles so it doesn´t change that much.

[Big John]

The fuel gauge/miles to go/mpg drives me bonkers I ran out of fuel within first 7 days as I couldn't believe I was getting 415 miles out of a full tank - 2.0D However; having thankfully coasted down the A12 into a petrol station at 15 mph I've learnt my lesson. Use the gauge not the miles to go and when it looks empty - it is! Weirdest thing was that when the engine physically cut out as empty I could only pump 49 litres of diesel back in. Whats that all about? Supposed to take 51 or 55 I thought. Happy days.

[Clan]

The software cuts your engine out before the tank runs dry leaving 5 litres in the bottom. So that you can walk to the garage get some fuel , put it in and off you go again ... Before it stops you will get a mis-fire like problem , this is a last resort so you can limp to a fuel station . This is because once you get air in the system you are stranded you wont get it going again without the VOLVO hand priming pump . all down to FORD's cost cutting by not fitting a tank pump .. OR a hand priming pump . even Citroen fit these on their version of this engine

[guy-taliesin]

Hmm - so what we have is an expensive computer system which doesn't really work. I've never been able to put more than 50 litres into the tank, so it seems there is 5 litres which we carry about all the time and cannot use.
I'm not sure it's the software either - I bet the pick up is in a weird place. And i wonder whether the computer is set to give you a feel good factor about consumption in the same way the fuel guage takes ages to go down to half full and then plummets.
I'm with Big John - annoying and frustrating to have information that is inaccurate on an alleged up market car.
Our Punto which cost half as much is more accurate - better sound system too.
On fuel consumption - wish I'd stuck with the 2 litre 940 estate I had which regularly returned 28mpg - bought the V50 to be more fuel efficient and am really pretty disappointed.I hear that the diesel's struggle to hit the early 40s, not good compared to the competition.
Take into consideration depreciation and I should have kept the old tub which is still running round now with 200k plus miles on the clock.
We now drive round mostly in the Punto - 58 mpg - but Credit Crunch means value of the V50 has dropped like stone and I'm loathe to take the hit!

[glypto]

Clan, I have found following note in the V50 MY08 owners manual:

Empty tank
No special procedures are required if the
tank runs dry. The fuel system is bled automatically
if the ignition switch is kept in
position II for approx. 60 seconds before
the start attempt.

Does that mean Volvo is now putting the priming pump in these cars ?

[HeliFella]

My Saab is giving 60mpg running around then tries to fob me off with 72mpg if I feather it on a motorway!!

What is the formula to work out the TRUE consumption?

[Clan]

Fill tank to brim
zero the trip mile counter
drive as far as you can until tank is near empty
fill tank to the brim
note the nunber of litres to fill
note the miles travelled on the trip meter
divide the number of litres by 4.54 to get gallons
Divide the total miles travelled by the number of gallons used
you get the MPG figure
It is the ONLY way to do it accuratly ....

[Alan C30]

I'm happy to see that others are finding that the mpg displayed is nothing like real life and more importantly even FURTHER from the 'book' number. I have never, ever actually achieved anything like 48mpg on the 1.8 C30. I could easily get 45mpg with the old 480 (2 litre) and if gentle on loud pedal I did once get 50mpg on an October break around Inverness area so NO motorways but then again NOT flat, tank fill to tank fill!! I was told to 'ignore' the instant mpg as it is not valid, tho it scares me to look at getting 25mpg where the 480 got 30+ on same route. Ah well the joys of 250kg of extra safety kit!! I think I'll just revert back to the old placcy pig, free tax and only three tyres? :-)

Alan