Realistic MPG - am I expecting too much?

[gman88667733]

I have done about 350 miles in my new to me 2013 V60 D4 manual. Current range left is 175 miles. My commute is 8 miles each way, but on the way home it's very hilly and not ideal for economy.

Assuming I manage 550 to the tank (I doubt it) that'll be 38mpg or so. Which seems pretty poor given half of my current tank was one fairly long trip, so good for economy.

My range on my way to work always goes back up by 30-40 miles, but then on my way home goes down even more. On the long run it had at the weekend, the overall range along with the current miles I'd done went up to about 750 theoretically (I know that's way off)

Not sure if I'm expecting too much. My old Octavia tdi DSG got about 38mpg just commuting. So not sure?


Just to add, the fuel guage has just dropped to half. Is it linear? Or is it one of these that drops really quickly near the end?

Edited by gman88667733 on Wednesday 14th July 17:06

Edited by gman88667733 on Wednesday 14th July 17:47

[KAC30]

Hi

I have a C30 D5 Manual and I get 43 -45 mpg no matter how I drive it. Would say yours is about right considering the extra weight and a similar 5 pot.

cheers

[gman88667733]

KAC30 said:

Hi

I have a C30 D5 Manual and I get 43 -45 mpg no matter how I drive it. Would say yours is about right considering the extra weight and a similar 5 pot.

cheers

Thanks for your response. I just don't want to be expecting something that is really unrealistic! I'll check the mpg on this full tank when I fill up and hope for the best I suppose.

Does your C30 have a digital fuel guage? Trying to work out how accurate they are. In the past, some of my cars have shown 50% left when it's more like 30% left. Hard to know on a car when you first get it

Edited by gman88667733 on Thursday 15th July 07:37

[Whataguy]

I have what should be the same engine in a smaller V40, but with an automatic.

Best mpg cruising long distance on the motorway is 47, not bad but not exceptional for a diesel.

Off the motorway it tends to get 40-42mpg on average on a mix of roads.

Shorter trips it will drop into the thirties.

[gman88667733]

So with my fairly short commute that is quite hilly, am I looking at high 30s best case, really?
I don't mind too much, as long as it's about right. Just don't want to think I'm getting less than I should be!

[tonyvid]

I would reset the trip counters completely and try a tank full from fresh. I run my 2014 D4 5pot manual on the posh stuff from Shell which definitely makes it more perky and seems to do about 80 miles more per tank. My commute is dual carriageway most of the way(66miles) so about as good as it gets for cruising at the limit but I do get about 800miles per tank and in the low to mid 50s for MPG. I filled it the other day and it was 69L for 780 miles. The gauge seems pretty linear, about 100ish per bar but the first few seem to last a little longer than the last! Mine had a slow start in life so is only on about 47k miles now.

[51mes]

gman88667733 said:

V60 D4 manual.

gman88667733 said:

My commute is 8 miles each way, but on the way home it's very hilly and not ideal for economy.

That is your problem - 8 miles will not be long enough to warm the car up - so the engine will not be fully warm before you are turning it off.

On a longer run more is achievable but it's a 2litre lump so will take a level of warming up.

S

[gman88667733]

51mes said:

gman88667733 said:

V60 D4 manual.

gman88667733 said:

My commute is 8 miles each way, but on the way home it's very hilly and not ideal for economy.

That is your problem - 8 miles will not be long enough to warm the car up - so the engine will not be fully warm before you are turning it off.

On a longer run more is achievable but it's a 2litre lump so will take a level of warming up.

S

The temp guage seems to show running temp after only a few miles weirdly.

[gman88667733]

tonyvid said:

I would reset the trip counters completely and try a tank full from fresh. I run my 2014 D4 5pot manual on the posh stuff from Shell which definitely makes it more perky and seems to do about 80 miles more per tank. My commute is dual carriageway most of the way(66miles) so about as good as it gets for cruising at the limit but I do get about 800miles per tank and in the low to mid 50s for MPG. I filled it the other day and it was 69L for 780 miles. The gauge seems pretty linear, about 100ish per bar but the first few seem to last a little longer than the last! Mine had a slow start in life so is only on about 47k miles now.

Does resetting the trip computers reset average mpg? When I cycle through the guage cluster options, the average MPG only shows 35.8mpg. I'm sure I reset it when i filled up...I imagine that's higher than it is as well.
I'll check MPG properly when I fill up tomorrow to see.

[tonyvid]

Yes, it does reset all the figures. Press the end of the stalk, go to trip(or whatever it is called) and "reset both" or press in the reset half way down the stalk, reset t1, rest t2. I think...I just do it without looking these days!

[gman88667733]

Okay. To be fair, this is my first tank with the car and I haven't exactly been driving it with economy in mind....
I'm not sure any car would get good MPG on my commute home

[vaud]

I have a v60 d5 4wd and get about 32mpg on short local runs and about 38-40 on smooth motorway runs.

[gman88667733]

vaud said:

I have a v60 d5 4wd and get about 32mpg on short local runs and about 38-40 on smooth motorway runs.

So mine should be a bit better given its the D4 and 2wd.
Most seem to get high 40s on a run and low 40s on shorter trips.

[vaud]

gman88667733 said:

So mine should be a bit better given its the D4 and 2wd.
Most seem to get high 40s on a run and low 40s on shorter trips.

It's the 8 miles that will be hurting.

[gman88667733]

vaud said:

It's the 8 miles that will be hurting.

Yeah. I try to keep the revs up to help a bit. My partner's commute is more open roads and a bit longer, so she may take it a few days a week to help. We tend to do a good few miles at the weekend too.
But yes, my commute isn't ideal for economy on any vehicle. My dad's B class Mercedes would do 50ish overall and since moving to the same village that I live in, it went down to mid 30s on the commute back.

[gman88667733]

First tank done, when I filled up it worked out at 38.2mpg for the 3/4 of a tank i'd used.

Weirdly, when I got the car, I reset both T1 and T2 and the avg fuel economy reads 35.8mpg. I've reset both again and it still shows the same figure. Not sure how to reset the average economy readout? Obviously it is incorrect and normally the readout shows more than the actual fuel economy.

Either way, I'm happy with 38 given my relatively harsh commute for the bulk of the tank of fuel. On a very long trip, I have no doubts it'd do high 40's, low 50's if driven sensibly.

[Whataguy]

There could be 3 separate trip displays -

T1 and T2 are just mileage logs

If you press the end of the indicator stalk to get the menu, then rotate the wheel on the stalk until you get reset/trip computer - press the end of the stalk to select, then use the wheel to scroll down to reset all and finally press the button again.

There may also be a separate trip display in your main centre display. Press my car, select trip info, then menu and finally reset to reset that one. I have mine set to only display single trips and auto reset after a few hours, but the default could be set to lifetime average.

[LochTay]

2013 V70 D3 manual here.

Commute, if I do it, is 6 miles. Around town or commute I see a suggested 42(ish), i calculated it once and it was really 40(ish) mpg.

Long run, just me, it easily gets early 50's.

Loaded with bikes, boats, kids etc on Highland roads around us it still hits mid 40's.

[gman88667733]

Trip computer suggests my average after a few days commuting is about 36mpg. Probably about right.

On a longer run I expect it'd go way over 40.

I can't be too critical, it is a very comfy car with a good engine that I didn't pay an awful lot for!

[Sidecar Man]

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/volvo/v60-201...