What does mine do to the Gallon

[fogman]

when i was using mine day to day i was putting £50 a week minimum in it

[BoxCleva]

[Roo]

[john (smifffy)]

i got 32mpg coming back from cornwall in summer

i recon i get 25mpg using it every day around town i put about £35 to £40 in every 2 weeks for about 200 miles


its about 124.9p to 1.28.9p a liter for petrol around where i live

[fogman]

[RatCav]

I love my 2.8 ... 1900 miles a month at 35mpg. Thats A and B roads as well with a 2 mile dual carraige way half way to work where I floor it to clear the cobwebs out.

[fogman]

[andytats]

i've just did mine 183 miles 40l so that is 20.79 a gallon

[RatCav]

[jmc]

Hi ratcav
Very impressd with the 35mpg for your 2.8 thats up to what my 2.3 used to do
Can what you did to your 2.8 be done on 2.5?

[RatCav]

Trying to not drift off topic but every engine has a limit on its economy no matter what you do. Regular sevicing always helps including oil and air filters. I watch my tyre pressures like a hawk and maintain 32 psi (easier as I have my own air compressor for filling it). Air-con systems, even when not used, drag on the engine and tons when they are being used as the pulleys are being driven all the time and drag on the engine. My power steering pump was failing and binding also dragging on the engine so I had an improvement when that was replaced. The EGR's on the 2.8 have a nasty reputation for sticking. I didn't have much of a choice in blanking them as I replaced my exhaust manifold with one that didn't have the feed from the exhaust to the EGR's so I blanked them as well and also pulled off the associated vacuum hoses. I replaced the rear brake pads and disks and spent ages cleaning up the mechanisms to make sure they worked perfectly and didn't bind at all using copious amounts of copper slip. I am constantly tweaking things as well. Just little things like cleaning stuff when I remove them and puting it back properly. When I first got my Trooper I was unemployed and had loads of time on my hands over the summer. I spent quite a bit of it outside working on her getting to know how things work. Replacing/repairing anything I could and getting her up to spec. I all I think it has paid off.

Another thing I do is be careful of how I drive. Change gear sooner using the torque of the engine to pull in lower revs in higher gears (I can trundle at 20-25mph in 5th gear without the engine struggling). I use the engine to brake an awful lot and always make sure I have plenty of room between me and the car infront to utilise this as often as I can. I have the grunt to overtake things if needs be but I am of the opinion it doesn't make any difference in the long run. I have done my journey to work (42 miles down the A140 from Norwich to Ipswich) taking it easy and steadily. Sticking to the speed limit and smooth gentle acceleration. I then hammered it the next day. Overatking as often as possible, late braking and really pushing things to the limit. The fast, reckless, and crazy journey took me 5 mins less for far far less economy and I am sure people thought I was a twonk as well. I always use shell diesel as the station is on my route to work and is one of the cheapest in the area. I have tried all sorts of fuel over the yeras and shell always seems better. No smoke, engine feels perkier and more responsive and to be honest I am getting 35mpg so it cannot be bad. When you consider the difference the extra couple of pence for Shell over say Tesco's and the milage I do (1900 miles a month) the saving on switching to a cheaper brand for pump prices is outweighed by the savings I get from mpg. No matter what you do with a car for economy though its always overshadowed by how you actually drive the car.

As for what can be done with the 2.5 I cannot be sure. A regular service schedule is always a winner. Don't forget the filters both air and oil. Keeping the diff and gearbox oils topped up as well. I don't know if the EGR's can be balnked or removed as some Vauxhall ECU controlled cars require the EGR's to be functional to run properly. Some people blank the port and just hang the connected EGR next to it so it still works but doesn't actually do anything and the engine gets the nice clean inducted air, but again I cannot tell you if thats a viable option. Above all driving technique is a bit factor. You are never going to win a drag race (unless you are in a V6 ) so don't rise to the occasion (though I can put a gary boy in a Corsa in his place especially with the Lotus handling kit I have) and save your fuel.

Hope this helps.

[jason]

Nice one

[th4neuk]

Must be the roof racks and lights that are killing the economy worse than the tyres though surely??

Cheers

Alan

[jason]

Yep i would say so,wind drag but am happy with doing 20 mpg with all the kit on it

[fogman]

[jmc]

Ratcav, thank you for your long ,clear and informative post.
I too keep an eye on my tyre pressures every Friday, as I too have a compressor at work and have no excuse not to. I have found that it makes an amazing difference if they are under pressure to the performance and to the mpg.
I havent checked the oil in the boxes or diffs
I could try Shell for the next few fills to test as there is one close to me.I use Tescos as we collect the points.
I do try to drive as flowingly as possible, (I am the worlds slowest driver) I went on a speed awareness course recently and this helped to drive within the speed limit and not get wound up by tailgaters.
Not sure when I did the air filter, last year I think ,and I haven't changed the fuel filter yet, so these are things I could do.
I think that it just seems to be that some engines are more economical than others, rifleman gets 38mpg out of his 2.5 which is 10 miles more per gallon than mine

[RatCav]

Unfortunatly as I said even though you may have the same engine I can guarantee it has had a different life over the years compared to another. My economy is one of the best I have come accross for a 2.8 even compared to other Troopers of the same ilk (and mine is less aerodynamic with the high roof modification which makes it more of a breeze block). Mine has had an easy life of it being in the family since it was imported 15 years ago and I know its history. An engine that has had a hard life will show greater signs of wear on its internals and that can show itself as poorer economy. My old Cavalier 2.0 16v SRi whenI first got it ran fine, but I noticed over the years it started using more fuel and generally get tired. When it comes to this the only way to recify it is to do major work such as engine strip down and reconditioning. If you start looking after things like regular services, using better fuel (Shell as I said is a good clean fuel and consistantly good) over time you may well notice a difference. I cannot remember wether its the 2.2 DTI or 2.5 TD that suffers from clogged inlet manifold butterflys but this again can affect things. Breather pipes, and split vacuum lines again hamper performance. In all good maintenance is the key.

[jammywagonwheel]

[jmc]

Thanks for more thoughts ratcav your 2.8 does do exceptionally well ...I am sort of ok with what mpg I get at the moment, VX book lists 2.5's as 27mpg and it does better than that. I will see how I feel if fuel goes up any more.
We will be getting a little car for my daughter fairly soon to learn in so may use that to get to work and back in and have the frontera parked there to be used when needed.

[RatCav]

No probs ... good luck and stick with it.