As demanded by some...

1000km is ~625miles.

My 306 Diesel does 550 miles on about 50litres, which I think is mid to high 40s MPG wise.

That's correct but you must see it in context: these 7 clones with dieselengines were there about 10 years ago. Diesel engines were not so performant as the TDI's now.

I guess if one takes the engine out of a Lupo (who claims 3l diesel for 100 km) and puts it in a Lotus 7 clone or Elise, the fuel efficiency will be better in the Lotussen due to their lower weight. I am a bit reluctant to take aerodynamics into account but the frontal surface of the Lotusses will be lower that the Lupo.

Correct me if I am wrong: the people who want a super-low-consumation car are not the speeding kind nor those who throw their car into corners.

I think that a slowly driven Lotus Diesel will "outperform" the vastly expensif

3L Lupo if fuel usage is the benchmark. It remains a bit "out of the blue" not the least because my interests in Lotus diesels as super economy car is a bit overshadowed by the others things Lotus stands for.

Tom De Moor

I'm sure you are correct, I posted my car's figures to allow Abo to put your figures into context. I don't think my fuel consumption is very impressive. My 306 is non turbo. It is an estate, and on a scale of 1 to slow, it's damn slow! Damn slow in this case does not mean good fuel economy.

Heh, I wouldn't know, you should direct that sort of comment at Dervman. (c: The sort of person that buys a 7 replica is not usually the sort of person who gives a damn about fuel economy.

Mated to a good Turbo Diesel engine, and the right gearing I think a 7 replica could be quite entertaining.

Yup. Thinking about it, an easy way of looking at it is that 10 miles to a litre = 45.46mpg, so that's 10% above that.

I did also once work out a simple way to convert from l/100km to mpg, but I can't remember it now, and really can't be arsed to do the simple "math" again to work it out.

if i remember isnt it 4.55 litres to the uk gallon?

That's Wales for you.

That's a typical resident of Newport for you.

True, although the drag coefficient of a '7 is pretty bad.

Nice write-up, by the way. I particularly like the 'scruff of the neck' bit :-)

Funny, so does mine! :)

Agreed but it is a bit self-defeating: (turbo-)diesels are for the long haul, built for high mileage applications.

On one hand I can hardly imagine somebody doing 100.000 km (60 k miles) per year in a lotus 7-esk, on the other hand corrosion and normal roadwear will eat the chassis in half the lifespan of the engine.

This said: I agree with your theory of "150 Turbo-dieseled horses in a 7 should be very entretaining". Maybe even too entertaining which wouldn't exclude that the nexth morning the owner goes superchip shopping.

Tom De Moor

But consigned to the back when driving in convoy, I'm not chewing derv fumes :)

Tom De Moor wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.telenet.be:

Personally, I think turbos are a waste of time on a diesel. The whole point of diesel is economy, and turbos interfere with that. A petrol with a turbo to make progress, a normally aspirated diesel, preferably pre HDi, for plugging along. Petrol costs 6 pence less a litre where I live, so use more of it. What happened to the days when diesel cost less than petrol?

Douglas Payne wrote in news:4q70gaFlk1itU1 @individual.net:

That's 50 mpg by my reckoning. What is the best way to calculate mpg from litres to gallons? I multiply litres by 0.22 to get gallons, then divide mileage by gallons. ie. 50 litres multiplied by 0.22 = 11. Then

550 miles divided by 11 = 50.

Tom De Moor wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.telenet.be:

Excellent story except for the above snip. It makes me ashamed that I live in the same country as the above. I sincerely hope it does not flavour your experience of Britain, and I sincerely hope you instilled some manners in the idiots you came across.

The rest of the story makes me madly jealous. I hope you enjoy your Elise. :-)

Not always, a turbocharger allows you to recycle some energy that would otherwise be chucked out the back of the car, or use taller gearing - both can improve (reduce) consumption.

Yeah I have no complaints. I have a 2000 Saab 9-3 TiD. It's an... unusual... vehicle compared to some of my previous choices. It isn't sporty, it isn't even especially quiet, but it's hugely comfortable and has a lazy slice of overtaking punch. Oh and it's a nice colour: I like it...

:)

It won't be difficult. The 1.4 HDI / TDCi fits, as does the 1.6. The 1.8 TDCi is reputed to be a little heavy. The 2.0 HDI / TDCi in various varieties will go though... just...

Yes. Except you'd really want the 1.4 16v HDI, tweaked, since you don't especially want the engine to outlast the car by too much... :)

Hmm. Yes. So you'd tweak it to shorten the lifespan...

Well, actually, this is the sort of thing I'd do *providing* it had a heater and decent weather proofing.

Oh, as you are... :p

Your assumption is wrong: turbo'd engines are more economical than atmosferic ones. It 's a fact.

Side effect is that a turbo -which is but an airpump- permits higher outputs because an engine power is not restricted by the energy you can put in (the fuel) but by the air needed to burn it.

Here in the company: 1.9 NA diesels (68 HP) in small vans need around 9l /100 km (the vans are loaded, city driving etc), the 1.6 Turbo diesels (75 HP) need around 7.5 l/100 km. Their workload is identical. Highway use sees the economy of the turbo-diesel go to 5-6 l/100 km while the NA struggle around 7l/100km.

If turbo's were less economical, you won't find them on trucks, etc.

Those days are still here (in Belgium)

1l diesel = .85 Eur 1l 95 Ron = 1 eur 1l 98 Ron = 1.3 Eur

Tom De Moor

There are idiots in every country: in Holland you can't park a nice car in the street or some drugged punk feels the need to vandalise it.

I really like the UK for its mentality, most people are indeed very nice.

It wasn't the aim: I am -fingers crossed!- more or less normal. So what I can, you can too. There is no reason why not.

Thanks!

Tom De Moor

My 1.9D van seems to drink a shocking amount of diseasel. I do drive it everywhere with my foot on the floor, but if you don't, you wouldn't get anywhere (and, IIRC there's f*ck all difference between the efficiency of a diesel and a petrol at full load).