Surprisingly Economical

Just had a weekend down in Newquay (from Cheshire) and averaged 46 mpg. Not bad for a large, heavy saloon (Rover 75), with an automatic gearbox. The BMW common-rail diesel engine helps! The type of roads make a big difference, of course, my journey was mainly motorway and dual carriageway - albeit undertaken at high cruising speed with two passengers plus our luggage.

Kev

And to think I used to cheer when my old Sierra XR4i (2.8 V6) broke 20 mpg. On a run. When driven gently!! (groans!!)

Dan

Know the feeling well! I used to gloat to my workmates when I got over 15mpg from my old 735i, or

20+mpg from the 3L senator. Now I'm in the land of frugal living: 25-28mpg from my 520i Tourer. Ah well, I just couldn't see myself in a 1.1 Fiesta! JB

Hmmm, I think I can beat that. I had a Ford Granada that managed 20mpg around town when warmed up and I got 32mpg on a 75 mile run. No, I didn't switch the engine off and coast for most of it. :-P

In contrast, I'm currently getting a constant 40-46mpg from a 306 D-turbo even though I have a medical problem[1] that makes my right foot rather heavy...

[1] Accelerous Pressus Fuelglugga Syndrome.

Tom.

There must have been something wrong, my xr4x4 gives over thirty mpg on a reasonable length run at speeds of 90 ish with passengers and luggage. 20 plus around town though.

MrCheerful

Dan Post made the world a better place for us by saying..

I managed 32 out of one of them :-p

I'm amazed it was that bad - assuming you weren't thrashing it. My SD1 EFI of a similar age will better 30 at legal speeds, and it's an auto.

What exactly is a "sports saloon"? Volvo S60? Saab 9-3? Mazda 6?

Next there'll be "sports" people carriers.

Groan.

-- James

I suppose the hot versions of the above would be, as would things like the more performance orientated BMWs, Mercedes and Alfa Romeos.

Heh.... too late, Vauxhall have already done it with.....

I think it's an Alfa 75. Which is more sports saloon than your average sports saloon, if you see what I mean.

Heh.

I like to think of it as an Alfetta GTV in sensible clothes ;-)

I reckon something like a lexus gs300 counts as a sports saloon.

MrCheerful

My best out of the 4i was 32 which was an "all motorway" run of 130 miles at between 70 and 80. As soon as it hit town speeds though it would plummet. My best in terms of realistic average was 22, which considering it never bettered 15 around town, was about right. I only had it for four months which was through a (bad) winter too, so lots of choke and defrost running time. I'm told they're noticeably more economical in summer.

A sports saloon in my mind is a saloon that can be used to compete in motorsport, the same thing goes for a sports car. Anything else is just the marketing droids trying to sell product. Compete does imply some chance of success btw.

"Sporty" is probably a more correct word to use...

-- James

That'll be the Alfa 75 then. ETCC winners back in the early '90s.

As was it's successor, the 155 and the 156 after that..... ISTR the 156 has won the ETCC several years in a row, including this year.

Ah - right. I'm not going to say what the SD1 *actually* averages including short town runs. I'd not be able to sleep.

I have memories of single figures whilst driving from Oxford to Cambridge

Dave Plowman made the world a better place for us by saying..

My SD1 Vitesse was great on fuel on a run. 33-34 was possible. Spose the astronomic gearing in 5th helped.

that's bad considering you can get 20 + mpg on a run driven gently from a Similar engine in a 'coachbuilt' Transit Ambulance