Volvo Community Forum. The Forums of the Volvo Owners Club

Forum Rules Volvo Owners Club About VOC Volvo Gallery Links Volvo History Volvo Press
Go Back   Volvo Owners Club Forum > "Technical Topics" > C30 / S40 & V50 '04-'12 / C70 '06-'13 General

Notices

C30 / S40 & V50 '04-'12 / C70 '06-'13 General Forum for the P1-platform C30 / S40 / V50 / C70 models

Information
  • VOC Members: There is no login facility using your VOC membership number or the details from page 3 of the club magazine. You need to register in the normal way
  • AOL Customers: Make sure you check the 'Remember me' check box otherwise the AOL system may log you out during the session. This is a known issue with AOL.
  • AOL, Yahoo and Plus.net users. Forum owners such as us are finding that AOL, Yahoo and Plus.net are blocking a lot of email generated from forums. This may mean your registration activation and other emails will not get to you, or they may appear in your spam mailbox

Thread Informations

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

Views : 602

Replies : 13

Users Viewing This Thread :  

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 11:53   #1
samcramphorn
New Member
 

Last Online: Jan 10th, 2018 23:52
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Northampton
Default 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,
samcramphorn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 12:56   #2
Sasha94
The Dumb Blonde
 
Sasha94's Avatar
 

Last Online: Mar 17th, 2019 11:58
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Bangor, Gwynedd
Default

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
__________________
2014 Skoda Octavia vRS with loads of toys!
ex 2012 V50 1.6D DRIVe SE Lux, 2008 XC70 D5 AWD SE Geartronic, 2004 S40 2.0D SE, 2008 C30 1.6 S & 2000 C70 2.0T
Sasha94 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 12:59   #3
V50money
New Member
 

Last Online: Oct 13th, 2017 14:04
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Cumbria
Default

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.
V50money is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 13:29   #4
samcramphorn
New Member
 

Last Online: Jan 10th, 2018 23:52
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Northampton
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sasha94 View Post
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
Oh, OK thanks! :-)

Why will it drop??

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

Thanks,
Sam
samcramphorn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 13:37   #5
StatusRed
Premier Member
 

Last Online: Yesterday 22:38
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Glasgow
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by samcramphorn View Post
Oh, OK thanks! :-)

Why will it drop??

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

Thanks,
Sam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_diesel_fuel
__________________
2009 S40 SE Lux 2.0i | 2022 Suzuki V-Strom 650 | 2002 Audi TT 225


Previous: C70 Coupe 2.4i | Saab 9-5 Aero | Daihatsu SporTrak
StatusRed is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 13:51   #6
Welton
Premier Member
 

Last Online: Sep 14th, 2021 18:03
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Market Harborough
Default

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
__________________
2005 S40 T5 SE - Manual. Bilstein B4's. (For Sale)
2010 Citroen C4 1.6 HDi (bizarre Gearbox model).
2010 Renault Twingo (refreshingly simple)
2018 Infiniti Q30 1.6T Business Executive (what's this button do?)
Welton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 13:55   #7
Tannaton
Bungling Amateur
 
Tannaton's Avatar
 

Last Online: Today 12:43
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Beverley, East Yorks
Default

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.
__________________
2011 XC90 D5 Executive
2003 C70 T5 GT
2012 Ford Ranger XL SC
1977 Triumph Spitfire 1500
1976 Massey Ferguson 135

Last edited by Tannaton; Oct 13th, 2017 at 13:57.
Tannaton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 17:22   #8
TheFiend
C30 R-Design
 

Last Online: Dec 21st, 2023 14:45
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Cumbria
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tannaton View Post
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.
TheFiend is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 17:48   #9
samcramphorn
New Member
 

Last Online: Jan 10th, 2018 23:52
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Northampton
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFiend View Post
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.
samcramphorn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 13th, 2017, 20:26   #10
skippyfox
VOC Member
 
skippyfox's Avatar
 

Last Online: Mar 29th, 2022 16:52
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: rossendale lancs
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tannaton View Post
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.
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.
skippyfox is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 16:14.


Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.