190 2.6 economy?

[steve-o]

Hi all, my first post so here goes.
What mpg should i expect (if i buy the car) from a 2.6L 190, i'm not a racing driver and i do a lot of trips on the motorway, i'm thinking of using the 190 to go to France and Spain, the car has a manual gearbox.
My manual C 180 Esprit managed 42 mpg on our last trip to France. I don't expect a six cylinder car to be as economical but i'm curious.
Do any of you think i'm mad to take a 20 year old 220,000 mile car to Spain in the summer? the car has been regularly serviced and drives really well, to use that old salesmans line, you would think it was a five year old car etc
Alternatively i could use my sons 190 2.0 that is also a manual and has just been run in, only 140,000 miles....
Looking forward to your comments and advice.

 

[neilrr]

I have a 1990 190E 2.6 Sportline Auto which is my daily thrash.

On the motorway at around 70 ish it does about 6.8 miles per litre / 31 mpg give or take & around normal A & B roads about 6.3ish mpl (28-29 mpg). This is using kickdown all the time, revving it high up the tach & pretty much driving as though petrol was free. If you have a lighter foot than me you will do better but TBH I think the car thrives on it.

I'd have no hesitation in jumping in my car right now without any preparation & driving to Scotland & back. If everything has been kept up they are reliable & dependable.

 

[steve-o]

Hi,
thanks for the prompt reply, i think i would be able to better that by between 10 and 20% so i'm guessing i would get 35 to 36 mpg on a run of 400+ miles
What do you think?
If so that means i would need around a tankful to get to Paris, sounds good to me.

 

[neilrr]

I'd be surprised if you could get 20% more. I can't be bothered to pussyfoot around to that extent but by all means have a go & report back.

 

[219]

I didn't get that much , I reckon , with my 2.6 automatic : similarlydriven I'd reckon on mid to high 20's in normal use , probably more like 30 on a run .

I also had a 2 litre 190E automatic which I once drove to Cardiff and back in24 hours , round trip of 1100 or so miles and got 42mpg over the two and a bit tankfuls brimming each time .

Even my automatic W126 500SEL will do 25mpg on a run . These cars are more economical than a lot of people think .

I have had lots of Mercs of a similar age and mileage - wouldn't hesitate to take any of them abroad .

 

[steve-o]

I didn't get that much , I reckon , with my 2.6 automatic : similarlydriven I'd reckon on mid to high 20's in normal use , probably more like 30 on a run .

I also had a 2 litre 190E automatic which I once drove to Cardiff and back in24 hours , round trip of 1100 or so miles and got 42mpg over the two and a bit tankfuls brimming each time .

Even my automatic W126 500SEL will do 25mpg on a run . These cars are more economical than a lot of people think .

I have had lots of Mercs of a similar age and mileage - wouldn't hesitate to take any of them abroad .

Hmmm maybe the 2.0 would be a better option then, i intend to take the car to France in about a month and if all goes well drive to Spain in June.
The 2.6 is a great car though......

 

[Will]

Take the 2.6 and enjoy the effortless cruising

The difference between the two cars on long runs will only be slight (10% approx), around town a different story but I imagine driving to France or Spain will be a decent run.

It's going to cost a fair few £££ in fuel anyway, I wouldn't base my decision of the car chosen purely on fuel costs.

Will

 

[neilrr]

+ 1.

Always buy the 2.6 instead of the 2.0.

 

[Will]

+ 1.

Always buy the 2.6 instead of the 2.0.

Wouldn't say 'always', if you were just pootling around town and wanted the cheaper servicing/insurance/parts/fuel costs - I guess an M102 makes sense

But for open road driving and cruising, the effortless power of the M103 2.6 makes a lot of sense

Will

 

[ss201]

Take the 2.6! Have it fully serviced before you go and enjoy the ride. As it's a manual, it will cruise better at motorway speeds than the autos that I own (3 x 2.6). That lovely straight six will just purr all day long and have the extra power should you need to accelerate out of trouble. Having owned 2 x 1.8 + 1 x 2.0 (all good cars) I still rate the 2.6 as by far the best. have a good holiday! My LPG converted 2.6 has 195k miles and still lookslike this.....

 

[219]

The other pertinent question is how many occupants in thecar ?

The W201 are great cars , but room in the back is a bit limited if more than two adults going on a long trip . If you have three or more adults in the car over a long distance , I'd venture you'd be better with something a bit roomier for comfort and would suggest W124/W210/W126 - cost to buy and run should not be too far different to W201 .

 

[Grahamcol]

This is for SS201. Your 190 looks fantastic, especially for nearly 200k miles. Although I have two 202's ( 1 x C200, 1 x C280 V6) I'm a great fan of the 201 (190) especially in 2.6 litre form. It's so nice to see someone looking after their cars the way I do.

 

[nullogik]

42mpg in an automatic 2.0 190E! To get 40+mpg from an 190 Auto, I find it hard to believe. From a diesel 190 with a manual gearbox I would assume its absolutely possible.

As an experiment during a trip from London to Birmingham, I decided to try and maximise the fuel economy by driving at a steady 55-60mph and "feathering" the throttle. I also slip streamed behind large lorries. I achieved 33mpg, however there was some heavy traffic heading out of London city so you could perhaps add 2 or 3 mpg more to that figure.

Similar threads on the 190 forum show that most people never top more than 34-35mpg max in a petrol automatic 190.

 

[neilrr]

I found a manual 190 D 2.5 hardly any less thirsty than my 190E 2.6 because it has to be floored in every single gear until you reach cruising speed in an (unsuccessful) attempt to overcome the lack of power.

If fuel economy is your primary concern buy something newer & designed for economy. I understand it's a buyer's market for some Toyotas now.

 

[219]

That is the figure I arrived at , having brimmed the tank at the outset of the journey , leaving my home in Ayrshire and travelling over to Falkirk to pick up my daughter who came along for the run . We left at something like midnight and drove down the M74/M6 easily able to maintain a steady 70 mph on the empty roads , arriving in Cardiff at approx 8 am , having stopped once for fuel and a break .

I was going to Cardiff to pick up a set of doors for my Ponton from Brian Gunney , the 190SL specialist who sometimes breaks Pontons as they share a lot of parts . I had removed the back seat from the 190 and managed to get three of the doors in there , but had to put no 4 on the roofrack , so the return journey was with additional wind resistance .

Having taken a good break in Cardiff before setting off again , we travelled back up an A road , instead of crossing the Severn Bridge and returning the way we had come , before rejoining the M6 .

At all times I kept to the speed limits and avoided harsh acceleration , there was a further fuel stop at Forton services on the way back up , dropping the doors off at my mum's in the East before dropping daughter off and returning home close to midnight .

The next day , I brimmed the tank once more and calculated the consumption across the three fills - I was pleasantly surprised by the result .

I did post about this journey over on the 190 forum when I did it 3 or 4 years ago .

I have heard of others with manual 190E's getting 45 mpg on a run , certainly 30+ in day to day driving is easily achievable .

 

[manalishi]

I'll bet that today's old 190Es are VERY variable in economy. It's not a very smart FI system, and a lot will be badly maintained.

Back in the '90s (when my first 2.0 auto was in fine fettle) I got just over 40mpg (brim-to-brim) on purely A-road/motorway run from Essex to Yorkshire and back. I normally got 30mpg in typical N London + M25 driving.

Back then I rarely used kickdown and never changed gear with the selector, so it was probably best-possible-scenario.

By way of comparison, my W124 280E gets around 24mpg in the same sort of traffic (not checked it on a long motorway run yet), and I'd expect a 190E 2.6 to be about the same.

 

[219]

My cars tend to be well maintained , as I do everything myself and know them to be 'spot on' .

 

[Will]

My 2.5-16 Auto would return over 30mpg on motorway runs even when driven at pretty high speeds and including inevitable traffic etc, and around 35mpg driven more carefully.

A well maintained 1.8 or 2.0, driven carefully and in light traffic conditions should be capable of slightly more. I would have though high 30s or even 40mpg should be possible in some circumstances

Will

 

[neilrr]

Just brimmed my 2.6.

344 miles of non motorway, normal driving, longest trip about 15 or so miles one way, all A roads or smaller used 56 litres.

That works out at 6.14 miles per litre or 27.89 miles per Imperial gallon. The car turned over 155,000 on this tankful.

 

[steve-o]

Thanks for the advice guys.
There are 3 of us going on the trip and the old workhorse the `93 C 180 Esprit is going to be the car of (little) choice because my son wants the 190 2.6
The fishing equipment will fit inside the C with the rear seat folded down it's a saloon and it did belong to my other son for a quite a while so i think i know it a little.
I too keep my cars in reasonable condition but this one has had quite a hard life, i have a few jobs to do before we go.
Replacing the wiper (column) stalk, fixing the intermittent speedometer, a full and proper service when i intend to replace plug leads etc to make sure i don't experience the 4000 rpm misfire and i think a couple of cheap (er) tyres might be called for too.
This one has 200,000 miles on the mileometer and i have no idea if it's correct because sometimes the speed does not register at all.

Never mind, i will not be in a big hurry, just nice to look at all those old Citroens and Peugeots and look at the drivers whilst thinking to my self....
regardez ce que vous pourriez avoir achete ( i think that's right anyway)