Fuel burn

[harvey07]

Originally Posted by Bill Edmondson

..because I bet they are all very similar between models.

Also had a heck of a lot to do with the driver !

I still sometimes forget I am not in the VRS...and watch the mpg plummet !

[XC90Fan]

Bill,

I have half a tank today and I am going to zero it and see how many miles I get.

I am going with the average MPG reading on the trip computer.

Just wanted to add I drive very lightly.

Bill, dont get me wrong (I am not disputing what you are saying) but I find it odd that you are getting 31 mpg on the motorway and 30.5 mpg average in town driving. I would expect a bigger difference. Did you mean 41 mpg on the motorway?

[DCO]

Originally Posted by XC90Fan

Bill,

I have half a tank today and I am going to zero it and see how many miles I get.

I am going with the average MPG reading on the trip computer.

Just wanted to add I drive very lightly.

Bill, dont get me wrong (I am not disputing what you are saying) but I find it odd that you are getting 31 mpg on the motorway and 30.5 mpg average in town driving. I would expect a bigger difference. Did you mean 41 mpg on the motorway?

Hi,

I suspect that Bill did not reset his average fuel consumption readout to nil before taking the town driving reading. If he did not then the figures he quotes are very likely. I recently achieved 37.4mpg average on a motorway run, and then did nothing but town driving for a week. Because of the low number of miles I was covering in town on each journey, typically 4 miles, the average consumption figure took forever to drop much, even though I was getting between 20 - 25mpg depending on whether I was driving on the flat or taking the back route over the hills in Brighton.

With a geartronic, I find it difficult to believe that anyone can achieve over 30mpg in heavy town traffic in an XC90.

[pdrvolvo]

Originally Posted by dave morton

I swapped from a 2002 V70 D5se to a 2006 XC90 D5se a year ago and went from 47-50 mpg down to 28-30 mpg running around town, school run etc.
I appreciate that the 90 is heavier and constantly in 4 wheel mode and the engine has been stretched to achieve a little more HP but I must admit to being a little disappointed with the return for the same journeys.
Am I expecting too much or are the figures pretty close to the norm?
cheers

p.s can anything be done to improve the figures, engine chips etc?

What exactly were you expecting from a four wheel drive that weighs nearly 2.2tonnes ??.


peter.

[dave morton]

Originally Posted by pdrvolvo

What exactly were you expecting from a four wheel drive that weighs nearly 2.2tonnes ??.


peter.

the fuel burn difference is approaching 40% however as other posts suggest I am achieving a little better mpg than some so cannot expect any more.

cheers

[pac19640]

I have a 2006 Diesel auto and my commute is about 49 miles each way.
This consists of about 15 mile sof town and the rest motorway.
My average consumption is 39mpg.
As I live in London If I use the car at weekends around town consumption drops dramatically, but I balance this off with how comfortable the car is and pleasurable to drive.

[Bill Edmondson]

Originally Posted by XC90Fan

Bill,

I have half a tank today and I am going to zero it and see how many miles I get.

I am going with the average MPG reading on the trip computer.

Just wanted to add I drive very lightly.

Bill, dont get me wrong (I am not disputing what you are saying) but I find it odd that you are getting 31 mpg on the motorway and 30.5 mpg average in town driving. I would expect a bigger difference. Did you mean 41 mpg on the motorway?

Hi yes you are completely correct, i dont reset between areas as although yes you will get that increased reading its not the average whilst swapping between the two on a daily basis. So I can watch mine creep up over 50 miles then diminish as I enter town again.

Also the fuel gauge changes depending on how you drive on modern systems its not just the exact depth. So if you hoof it, it will drop, then back off and it will rise again. So any tests need to be done on a maximum tank for distance from a tank full, you also must notice that when full you can do quite a distance before it starts to drop.

So in my opinion only the only way to give an accurate feedback that we can all relate to is on a full tank driven to empty and how you acheived it either urban or motorway. There is already a trend appearing of 430 average with people beating 500 on complete motorway use.

[JimG]

From what I've read on this forum in the past, the ways to help improve your chances of obtaining better economy are to inflate your tyres to the eco setting, ensure the alignment is correct and maybe flush/renew the ATF.

Some say that switching to a different engine oil designed to increase your mpg helps, but it's debated.

[judgeman]

Looking at the first post it says XC90 'is permanent 4WD' - in fact it is front wheel drive most of the time, and only engages rear wheel drive to make it 4WD when it detects it needs it.

I have had 51MPG twice as a maximum on the DIM readout. One was a journey from Skipton in North Yorkshire down to London, early morning, steady just under 60mph on the M1. The other was Skipton to Ormskirk in Lancashire, 60 miles and only approx 40% on motorway. This was achieved by having a VERY light right foot, and being VERY conservative when accelerating, especially from a standstill. I suspect though that if I had calculated the MPG accurately from mile driven and fuel used (full tank to full tank) the figure would be slightly lower.

Currently I am getting an average of around 37MPG (based on figure in DIM), with a bit about town (Skipton isn't that big!), minor A roads and a little motorway.

I just changed the worn Michelin tyres for General Grabbers, and though the ride feels more comfortable and slightly quieter, the MPG appears to be marginally lower.

On trips from Skipton to Wiltshire to visit relatives I have come to expect around 40MPG over a 500 mile round trip.

I had a V50 D5 Sport 185BHP before getting the XC90. I used to get around the same MPG from the V50 (calculated old fashioned way, as it didn't have the driver information av mpg etc), my XC90 is an '05 D5 163BHP, 83,000miles. Although the XC is 700kg heavier than the V50, the similar MPG figures I can 100% put down to the fact that I drove the V50 hard - because I could! The V50 was very fast and quite fun to drive/throw round the bends considering the engine it had. I found that if I was not being careful it was easy to let the speed creep up to 80+ on the motorway without realising it. Also it was great fun to accelerate hard up to the speed limit, which drinks fuel.

I find best MPG figures are driving 'normally' (not creeping away from junctions), but when up to speed not keeping the right foot planted, but easing off just a fraction - enough to maintain speed, but be smooth. I have a friend who must think the throttle is an on/off switch, and accelerates, backs off and loses speed, accelerates up to speed, backs off and loses speed etc, etc. I have seen this alot on motorway and main A roads, with cars 'yo-yoing', which will clearly use more fuel than someone who is smooth and consistent. Accelerating hard in the XC will likely activate the rear wheels, and so further reduce fuel economy.