S2C Forum Archives
Main Section => Welcome to our virtual Pub Meeting ... => Topic started by: Gareth on September 20, 2020, 07:17:53 PM
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The fuel gauge in ‘Strike’ seems to never get to empty! It got as far as just above the line on E, then conked. Luckily had a can in the back. 150 miles from brimmed to empty.
43.4 litres to fill it. / 4.55 = 9.54 gallons.
150 / 9.54 = 15.7 mpg.
Mainly short local journeys. This is pretty much the same as my 109, maybe a little better. The 109 generally needs filling after 130 miles or so.
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Tonka turned in 21 mpg (pre the recent engine) rebuild on the return trip to Devon last year, long motorway miles. I found that stopping every 100-150 miles to refuel fitted in well with my need for a "comfort break" and a leg stretch, so a +/- 200 mile range on the one tank seems fine - I'll not bother fixing the leaking tank under the passenger seat and am thinking about making a "secure" storage locker of it instead.
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I would suggest that 16 mpg, even for short trips is on the low side, could be nearer to 20 and certainly well over 20 on a longish run.
:RHD
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In its defence, I’m still running it in. The brakes are much better than they were but still need adjusting regularly, and there is a little bit of drag.
One thing that does make me wonder if there is something to do is the throttle. It’s pretty light and with the pitching fore and aft that an 88 is known for, my foot does bounce on the throttle a bit making the car kangaroo over bigger bumps. This must make the accelerator pump more fuel in. I might try a stronger spring if I can find one.
He does bounce around much more than my 109, which is a limo by comparison. It’s on parabolics and 235 radial AT2’s, so is bound to be better. The 88 is much nippier though on its 600x16 cross plys!
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Just back from a wee jaunt up North in the S3. Glasgow to Nethy Bridge then Nairn then Kenmore then back to Glasgow and a few wee excursions inbetween. Just a shade under 400 miles. 23.6 mpg average. On a Weber carb,overdrive, standard gearing, 7.50 G90 tyres and slightly wider bore exhaust that was bought 2nd hand so no idea of make. Does give a nice burble on the over run and down changing. Never went above 50mph tho.
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One thing that does make me wonder if there is something to do is the throttle. It’s pretty light and with the pitching fore and aft that an 88 is known for, my foot does bounce on the throttle a bit making the car kangaroo over bigger bumps.
It's a characteristic of the 88" chassis - it will bounce or pitch more compared to a 109".
Mounting the spare on the bonnet and fitting a winch on the front (doesn't have to work) both help put some weight over the front axle.
Fitting a throttle cable will help calm things down and give a smoother throttle action.
:RHD
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Yes I had thought about a cable. The solid mechanical linkage it has is not proportional. There is more relative movement of the spindle the more you press the pedal.
Now my confidence in the car is good, I’ll take it for a longer run and see if that makes it better. 17 did somewhat disappoint me. I was expecting better.
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Hi,
My practice is to remove the tank sender unit, and bend the arm a smidgen, so that the gauge reads empty, well before I run out... the gauge is then "pessimistic".
I always "brim" my tanks, so the garage pump "clicks off" when it's full.
"Full to full" is the most accurate way of measuring fuel consumption.
Thinks (sorry!) ... somebody should invent a pocket calculator thingy, into which you can key the current recorded mileage, and how much fuel you have just added, and it displays the mpg from new. (or since last reset)
OK ... OK ... what happens when you forget one time?
Start again ... somebody should invent a credit card thingy, that lives plugged into your dash-board, but is moved to a similar slot on the forecout pump. There has to be an easier way. ??? Flow meter in the filler pipe?
Probably easier on an electric car.
602 (An unreasonable man)
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... somebody should invent a credit card thingy, that lives plugged into your dash-board .....
Already done! Got an IPhone with Shell app, and Apple Pay. Dead easy. Also loads of apps for fuel use and mileage calculations.
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Already done !
Most - all modern cars monitor fuel consumption and can continuously display fuel consumption; how many miles to you next fill up; average mpg; current mpg; and much more.
:RHD
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Hi Gareth. For what it's worth, I've had my 88" SII Petro 2286cc for 20 years now, and I've religiously documented every fill-up over that time, and recorded every mile. (Sad I know, but I've the time to do it, and worsening fuel consumption is often a good indicator of a problem developing....).
My vehicle is completely standard, no overdrive, running on 205/80R16 General Grabber AT tyres at 30psi, and virtually every run is short. My nearest petrol station is 3.5 miles away, nearest supermarket 5 miles, the local tip 3 miles, etc etc...
My vehicle runs very well, is serviced regularly, and I use good quality fuel. It starts on the button, pulls well, has a new fuel tank fitted, and has no petrol leaks that I can see.
My average fuel consumption measured over those 20 years is 16.7 mpg. The highest I achieved was 18.4, and the lowest was 13.9.
Just thought I'd offer this up. :RHD
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That’s comforting! Mine is really running well. All new stuff so as far as I know the only bit that may be dragging it down is the brakes.
When I took my 109 to Morocco back in 2007 (story in last B2L) we recorded the fuel and it averaged about 15mpg over 4000 miles! That was heavily loaded and lots of off-road driving though, along with lots of mountains and lots of motorways. So a good average I reckon.
I’m not losing sleep over it.
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Best consumption I got out of my S3 2.25 P. on a long easy run was 22mpg, worst circa 3.5mpg climbing Cadair Idris ( When it was allowed back in the 1970's ) .Short journeys really hit the fuel consumption . In my 2A Half Ton ,going to work when it was 4.7 miles was 14 mpg , moved house so now a 20 mile run across country = 20mpg. It was easy to check with two tank, just put 10 galls. in each tank and zero the trip, when the engine falter's , switch tanks and read off the miles and divide by 10 for mpg.
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The 2.5 petrol in my Series 3, using Series 3 carburation and manifolds returns just over 16mpg on average. Best 22, worst about 15. Overdrive fitted with 7.50 G90's on Wolf wheels.
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Average over 6000 miles is 19.6. That includes runs, laning, short trips.
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Hi Gareth. For what it's worth, I've had my 88" SII Petro 2286cc for 20 years now, and I've religiously documented every fill-up over that time, and recorded every mile. (Sad I know, but I've the time to do it, and worsening fuel consumption is often a good indicator of a problem developing....).
My vehicle is completely standard, no overdrive, running on 205/80R16 General Grabber AT tyres at 30psi, and virtually every run is short. My nearest petrol station is 3.5 miles away, nearest supermarket 5 miles, the local tip 3 miles, etc etc...
My vehicle runs very well, is serviced regularly, and I use good quality fuel. It starts on the button, pulls well, has a new fuel tank fitted, and has no petrol leaks that I can see.
My average fuel consumption measured over those 20 years is 16.7 mpg. The highest I achieved was 18.4, and the lowest was 13.9.
Just thought I'd offer this up. :RHD
Interesting to read this as that's similar to my consumption (with same tyre size). I do hammer along the A roads at 50/55 though which doesn't help!
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My Series 3, I monitored the fuel and milage over a year from 1st of Jan to the same a year later. This included towing a caravan to and from rallies and holidays. general running about like shopping, to and from work, taking the dogs out. Basically, I just used it as my normal runabout for a year. It was a 2286 petrol 109 with a Weber Carb. 750 tyres and overdrive and otherwise standard running gear. The Ol'Gal returned 16mpg average over the whole year. Some runs out it was just over 23mpg, but mooching around the town was probably about 10mpg.
It has a TDi in it now, so we are looking at High 20's and over 30 on a run.
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I'm a little disappointed with all your figures, I would have expected something a little nearer my own experiences.
17/18 mpg on cold short trips.
23/24 mpg on longer trips, cruising at 55mph.
on 6.50 x-ply tyres with overdrive, electronic ignition and a 9:1 CR head.
:petrol_pump
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I suspect Wittsend it's the more efficient cylinder head on your engine that gives the better fuel consumption.
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Yes, 9-1 will certainly help. Both of mine are 7-1, both on Zenith 361’s.
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On a run my Rover 10 88" ex mil 7:1 head, Weber carb, 650 tyres and overdrive will also do 22-23mpg. Again only achieved by staying under 50mph. Possibly the overdrive and Weber carb helps?
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Thinks... I shall have to do a reasonable run to see what impact the engine rebuild has had... I have a need to visit Dundee that provides the excuse for a 120 mile round trip, much of which is motorway standard dual carriageway.
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On our Rutland weekend I covered just over 400 miles including the 2 days laning and YOD has done over 25mpg. It consistently clocks 30mpg on road runs. It did blow a bit of oil out when I thrashed it on the Motorway.
Peter
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That is impressive! Petrol or diesel?
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33mpg on long run from my 12J diesel hybrid cruising at 55mph on 7.50 tyres. Possibly due in part to using the original 2.3 injection pump although no noticeable power loss.
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Diesel Gareth, it is a late S3 5 bearing engine in good condition with 750s and an overdrive. It has always been consistent at 30 until you go off tarmac
Peter
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Motor road tested a petrol 88in soft top in about 1973 and got 17MPG - which to be honest was my recollection from using a family S2a (1966) in the early 70's.
I seem to recall in their handbook before the destruction insructions the Military suggested range calculations should be based on 14MPG - and to be fair that would have covered FFR with large altenators, and other vehicles with the screened igntion which didn't have vacuum advance units. (As well as service boots!)
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Doesn't Wittsend live in Norfolk? The only places to practise hill starts are railway bridges? May that explain the excellent MPG figures?
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Doesn't Wittsend live in Norfolk? The only places to practise hill starts are railway bridges? May that explain the excellent MPG figures?
Good point Tim. I thought your figure was annoyingly high so I assumed all your trips are downhill. I live in Bath, loads of short trips sometimes in 2nd so I average 16 at best.
Earlier this year I watched as consumption slowly worsened down to 13mpg. This was cured with the carb, distributor and cylinder head removal during lockdown. Conclusion was the 20 year old Luminition electronic timing where the springs on the black disk were broken.
So, it’s definitely worth monitoring your fuel consumption. It will tell you when something’s going wrong.
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Norfolk isn't as flat as people make out !
On a round trip to Ypres, Belgium my LWT managed just a tad under 24 mpg, some hills were involved.
For sure terrain must have a bearing on your fuel consumption, someone in the Lakes won't do as well as someone in Norfolk.
:farmer
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Norfolk isn't as flat as people make out !
On a round trip to Ypres, Belgium my LWT managed just a tad under 24 mpg, some hills were involved.
For sure terrain must have a bearing on your fuel consumption, someone in the Lakes won't do as well as someone in Norfolk.
:farmer
Belgium? I drove to Belgium once in a van, on the way back the first hill I encountered was coming out of Dover!
Edited to change 'only' to 'first'.
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It’s pretty hilly around here. On the edge of the Peaks, so most runs out either involve going into town with lots of stop start, or going to the Peaks with plenty of 3rd or even 2nd gear hills. Having said that, for every up there is a down!
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We've got a few hills here, too ;) and you have to keep 2 gallons in the tank to make sure the pickup doesn't suck air when you point up one of them. This reduces the useful capacity to 50 liters (45 to be safe) and maximizes my range at about 160 miles (109 sixpot). It'll do a few dozen more miles than that, but then I start biting my fingernails.
-Jeremy
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Now you are trolling us Alan. The highest hill around Ypres is Kemmel, the locals warned us about the "mountain" when we did the 3-day walk around the old Salient battlefield, we walked over it without noticing..... Kemmel is less than 450ft high, the surrounding countryside is at about 300ft.
I suppose if your reference point is Beacon Hill, highest point in Norfolk, that extra 100ft in elevation could seem quite Alpine
:whistle
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I live up a hill and along a half mile of rough track. Each trip , of 10 to 20 miles starts and finishes with stop/start for 3 gates
I'm averaging 16-17mpg. 2.25 petrol 88 FWHs, no o/d max speed 55 downhill with the wind behind me.
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I thought it was all flat between Norfolk and Belgium :whistle
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I thought it was all flat between Norfolk and Belgium :whistle
....and quite wet. :tiphat
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There's quite a big hill going over the Dartford crossing :thud
Maybe no hills but I was cruising on good roads at 55 to 60 mph :first
You can read all about my adventures in the LWT in B2L issue #106 (2013) page 27 - also made the front cover